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Today marks the arrival of PARIS WYA’s third EP, a collection of songs that are more honed in than ever. The experience of being a student at Cornell by day and a popstar by night molded the music into a shape that represents her singular perspective. We chatted with the dreamy pop champion about sourcing unlikely inspiration for her creative process, from everything to hospitality classes to strength-training in the gym: 

MANNEQUIN is your third EP, what's different this time? What have you learned that you took with you for this process? 

This EP feels like a new beginning to my music. My previous two projects lived in a similar world. I'm still quite new to the industry, and when I first started I don't think that it fully represented me as an artist. MANNEQUIN is a lot more vulnerable. Overall, it just takes a very different direction. It's more dreamy. ethereal, feminine, and I think it showcases my voice as a singer and skills as a lyricist.

Was there anything different in terms of process? 

The first two were super experimental. Pretty much every song that was created in the first two EPs were improvised, stacked, and played around with so many different genres. That was a really valuable process in terms of finding myself as an artist. For MANNEQUIN we focused a lot more on dialing in on a sound and a brand, being very intricate with the musicality of it all. I worked with Adrian Cota, who produced most of the songs on this EP. We have him to thank for helping me create this new world and sound. Before we even got started, we put together a playlist of about 20 songs that we wanted to use as inspiration. Some of those artists included, The 1975, my favorite band Valley, and Ariana Grande's Eternal Sunshine, and Sabrina Carpenter's new sound. We focused more on trying to make the universe feel cohesive. 

Tell us about being a student during the day and a popstar at night. How do you think it changes your experience as an artist? 

That's a really good question. I've been a student for as long as I can remember, pretty much my entire life. It’s a defining part of my identity. I grew up between Asia, Europe, and the US. As a student in all these different places, music was always the one common thread through it all. Through collecting different experiences, even from different education systems, I gained parts of my identity that I love putting into my music. Growing up in Asia taught me a lot of discipline and how to work hard. I have a French passport as well, hence the name PARIS. Europe taught me how to be spontaneous and how to love life. Going to school in the U.S. taught me how to dream. The culmination of all three have really influenced my music. I'm a student at Cornell and my major is actually hotel administration. I made a deal with my parents that I would go to college for a more practical degree, and then after I graduate I can move to L.A. and follow my dreams of being a pop star. I picked hospitality as my major because I felt like it intersects with entertainment. It's all about providing people with the best possible experience, which is a big priority for a popstar. The life experiences you get from college are so valuable for writing music. As much as I hate to admit it, a lot of MANNEQUIN was inspired by my first college relationship and I wouldn't have had experience if I was never a student. This EP is a lot more personal than the previous music I was making, I felt like I was playing a character in a lot of those songs, putting myself in somebody else's shoes. All of the songs in this body of work are very personal. 

It’s interesting what you said about hospitality, because it's so true. Fan experiences are such a big thing and I feel like artists are always trying to think of how to make fan activations that are engaging and fun to actually connect with your fans. I never thought about that connection. 

On top of hospitality, I'm also part of business clubs, an a capella group, and a sorority. I've learned so many different skills that I didn't expect to be valuable in the music industry, but learning about finance, entrepreneurship is so helpful. Being an artist really is being an entrepreneur, but instead of building a product, you're building a brand.

You mentioned it, but who are your biggest inspirations in general? I can definitely hear Ariana Grande in there.

Dua Lipa is one of my favorite artists. I recently saw her live. Also, Tate McRae, I love how modern her sound is. Sabrina Carpenter's new music is very feminine, but also super pop. I really like when sounds feel dreamy and soft without losing the pop sound. 

What's your songwriting process? 

I really like starting a song from scratch and finishing it the day of. There's something super cool about being thrown in a room with different writers and different producers, pouring my heart out and making a complete world out of nothing. I like starting with some form of melody, because I personally think that’s my strongest skill. Melodies come naturally and sometimes lyrics come at the end. A lot of it has to do with what mood we were in that day. I like to feel the vibe of the room. If it's a rainy day we lean towards making a sad song. If it's super sunny, we make something really upbeat.

What was your process for choosing the singles?

The process for this EP was kind of split into two halves in terms of the singles coming together. I started working with Adrian in December 2024. We made six songs in total that are on MANNEQUIN. Last summer, I was in LA and met a new team who I collaborated with. Morgan Reid, Amira and Zach Poor, we felt like to make the EP even more complete. We wanted a super high energy song, which is when we made “Hate You More”. We wrote that all together in one day. I was really struggling to think of a title for this EP and a lot of the songs were about a boy, so I wanted one song to just be about me. That was how we came up with MANNEQUIN, which was the last song I wrote and it's the title track.

How did you decide to put the title track last?

I tried listening to the EP in all sorts of different orders. I put them in the order that they were actually written, which feels like the different stages of grief. The last song is “MANNEQUIN” because it feels like an acceptance of ‘it is what it is.’ It’s a very grounded song that acknowledges reality. It feels so right.

Give us a recommendation that’s not music.

This is so random, but I think everyone should get into weightlifting. Growing up, I played a lot of sports and I was always a dancer. When I got to college, I felt kind of lost without having any sort of physical outlet. I found myself feeling super lethargic and unmotivated. My freshman summer internship was in wealth management in Singapore, and my boss's wife was a personal trainer. She completely changed my life because I fell in love with strength training and lifting weights. Some of the craziest lyrics come to me when I'm in the middle of my sets. I'm always writing ideas into my notes app and recording little voice memos. I've put my friends onto strength training because a lot of women are scared to get started in the gym, because it feels intimidating. But, that's one thing that's completely changed my life and indirectly, made me a better musician. 

That's so true. As a woman, when you hear ‘strength training’ you’re like, ‘I don't need to get ripped’ but I've noticed such a difference in my posture and so many things that you wouldn't think of. There’s a very masculine idea of it. Working out actually does help everything in my life, especially creativity. 

People don't talk about it a lot, but after I go to the gym, I'm way more creative. Lifting changes your entire aura. 

Who are your OnesToWatch?

The first person who comes to mind, because she's also a Chinese American artist, is Emei. I mean, she's getting pretty big! She was actually my sister's classmate at Yale, so she introduced me to her before she started blowing up. I like to say that I knew her music before she got big. She's so in touch with her brand. Also, I love Snow Wife!

Listen to MANNEQUIN below: