Singer Natalie Mejia Reflects on Fame, Motherhood, and Her New Album, “Holy Exodus”
Pop star Natalie Mejia has experienced the many highs and lows fame and the music industry have to offer. After bursting into the spotlight at just 19 years old as a winning contestant on the CW reality show The Pussycat Dolls Present, she toured the world as a member of the pop group Girlicious. Now she is continuing her career as a solo artist. Her first Christian pop album, Holy Exodus, features 7 tracks in which she reflects on her career and her faith.
Speaking with The Collision, she recalled, “I started doing music at a very young age . . . and the big dream and the big goal was to get the big record deal and put out music that the world would hear.” But she found that achieving success so early in life brought challenges. “It was an exciting time, but I was also navigating who I was becoming and becoming that young woman in the spotlight.”
Throughout life’s ups and downs, she continued to deepen her Christian faith: “I always believed in God. A lot of my career in music was learning to understand that I was given a gift and a purpose, and I wanted to share that blessing with the world. But I didn’t know exactly how I wanted to explore that. I decided to dedicate my life and go closer to God . . . I wanted to do something that reflected that closeness and that relationship and what a pivotal turn that took in my life.”
That journey of faith ultimately led to the creation of her latest album, Holy Exodus. One of the songs, a cautionary track called “Happen to You,” features the confessional lyrics, “These scars don’t bleed, they tell the story.”
Reflecting on those lyrics, Mejia admitted, “My emotions got the best of me. I didn’t always make the best decisions . . . I think we all as human beings go through different things in our lives that we’re not proud of . . . I just really want to become a person that feels good in this relationship with God.”
Another significant event that transformed her worldview was becoming a mother. “It’s changed me so much for the better,” she shared. “As a young woman, especially in the spotlight, I think I was always considering myself and my own emotions and what I wanted to do and who I thought I should become. When I had my first child, I felt like I was more selfless. I knew how to love someone outside of myself and to make sacrifices. It’s the purest form of love that I have felt. God knew what he was doing when he blessed me with kids.”
Natalie Mejia’s career has been a journey, and it’s far from over. Holy Exodus ends with the heartfelt, vulnerable ballad, “Go From Here,” in which she expresses her lingering fears and doubts. She explained, “I didn’t want to end [the album] with a period. I wanted to end it with a question mark, because there’s more to come.”
While the album is deeply personal, she hopes it encourages listeners. She shared that her goals for this album go deeper than earning her commercial success or accolades: “For me, it was really telling my story, my own personal viewpoint. It felt like a diary. I did write all the songs on the album, so it felt very personal and truthful to where I am now and what my relationship with God has become. That was really my hope, to share how God changed my life and how my love for God has been the biggest blessing. I just hope that is felt and perceived when people listen to the album.”
Holy Exodus is available now wherever music is sold.
