Precious Pepala is calling out modern dating with ‘Dream Cheater’

Precious Pepala’s face doesn’t lie. “I’m very opinionated,” she tells me. “I’m always going to give advice to people in relationships because I just can’t hide how I feel.” But when it comes to getting into one, the artist admits that, like many in the throes of love, she truthfully has “no clue” how — all thanks to the “terrifying” modern dating scene. That is where the twenty-year-old’s new single ‘Dream Cheater’ comes in. A twisted tale of jealousy and infidelity, the story is told through the eyes of Rosey, a character Pepala invented to expose the most toxic traits within us all.

For those that don’t know Pepala already, the Sheffield-based artist blew up overnight (aged just seventeen) after she posted a TikTok cover of Alec Benjamin’s ‘Water Fountain’, which gained two and a half million views. “It was so random,” she reflects, adding that she “didn’t want to post the video because I’m…” — cue total disbelief on my part — “…singing so badly”. Fast forward three years and Pepala, who professes to be incredibly hard on herself, has surely disproved her “luck”-based success theory with an array of notable career moments. 

This year, she toured with Victor Ray, played at festivals including Brighton’s Great Escape and released brand new music under Modern Sky UK for the first time. However, it would be impossible to chat to Pepala without discussing her breakout track. In 2023, she released her intriguingly relatable ‘Pls Cheat On Me’. The Freaky Friday inverse of ‘Dream Cheater’, it’s now amassed over ten million streams on Spotify. It’s a reaction Papala describes as deeply “empowering”. Though she admits: “a particular group of people didn’t get it and there was a common denominator there… men.” Papala’s response? “Even Beyoncé has haters. I’m just going to have some fun.”

Congratulations on the release of ‘Dream Cheater’! How does it feel to have it out in the world?

It’s so fun because I’ve kind of just leaned into this unhinged persona off the back of ‘Pls Cheat On Me’. When I was promoting that I posted this TikTok and I was like, I’m on a date with a guy and he gives me the ick. And all the comments were from these men, these boys, that were just so upset, saying, Oh, this is what’s wrong with women. And I was like, Wait, I could lean into this, say some toxic things. But it’s not real. So far, the response has been really positive.

Those comments are really mean… How do you handle trolling like that?

You can’t really respond to hate comments. It’s the same energy if someone is rude to you in public — you ignore them, replay the conversation at home and then you’re like, I wish I had said this. But recently, I’ve noticed that [the trolling has] been insane. I was sat talking with my mum the other day, telling her about my comments, and she couldn’t believe how mean people were. Mostly it’ll be some twelve-year-old boy or a man who clearly hates women (based on his Instagram). I get a lot of comments like ‘You’re gonna go to hell’ because of my religious upbringing, but you just have to laugh. Otherwise, you’ll cry. I’m very sensitive.

What inspired this shift from writing directly about your own experiences with religion, etc. to telling love stories through the character of Rosey?

I’ve also always wanted to write about love and relationships, but I really dislike the idea of writing a love song with no twists or turns, and I’ve never experienced a relationship like that. ‘Pls Cheat on Me’ is so dramatic and extra for no reason, and I was like, What’s the most dramatic way that I could write an EP of love songs? That’s when we started talking about this character of Rosey. She is a version of me, of my friends — she’s made up of everyone’s toxic human mistakes.

What is your most Rosey-like dating experience?

I would have to say being love-bombed… It happens to my friends a lot, too, and I have to look at them and say, This is not good. You’re getting love bombed! I feel like most people should be able to see the signs, but they don’t. Though if someone tells me this person isn’t good for you, I’m always like, You don’t know, you don’t know anything….

On the topic of dating, I have to ask — do you think boyfriends are embarrassing?

I do. I think relationships in general are. Toxic relationships are so glamourised on social media. There are these ‘I hate my boyfriend’ trends or ‘if he cheats, you cheat back’ mentalities, which I thought were just a joke, but for some people, it’s actually a reality. I think people don’t want their friends and families to know what’s going on in their relationship because it’s embarrassing.

Was ‘Pls Cheat On Me’ made in response to this growing theme?

A hundred thousand percent. I was sat in my room just scrolling, and I saw a video of this girl saying, My boyfriend’s so sweet but sometimes I wish he’d give me a reason to leave him because I’m just not in love with him anymore. I thought this was insane, so I called up Jordan, who I write all my stuff with, and I was like, We should write a song about this. I get comments from people all the time being like, I’m too scared to sing this because I feel like I’m gonna manifest this for myself.

What do you think of loyalty testers on TikTok?

It’s just so silly. If you feel the need to do it in the first place, do you really trust your partner? I’m actually very boring about all this stuff. I joke about it on social media, but the reality is I’m just not here for it.

How do you deal with all the challenges that come with modern dating?

Honestly, I don’t know the answer. It’s just scary times. People have no decorum and no shame. I wish someone would tell me.

Can you tell us what’s next?

So the EP [Rosey] is hopefully going to come out in April next year, if everything goes to plan — but it never does. I’ve got a headline show in Sheffield in December, and then I’m playing some acoustic songs for a ‘hang out’ — I hate the term ‘meet and greet’ — in London next week. So that’ll be fun. I’m excited.

Listen to ‘Dream Cheater’ here.