Hailey Picardi Opens Up About ‘Scars to Prove It’
Hailey Picardi is starting to take up more space, but nothing about her music feels inflated. Even as her audience grows, her writing remains strikingly direct, rooted in emotion rather than performance. That honesty has quickly become one of the clearest markers of her early rise. And in just a handful of releases, the 19-year-old singer-songwriter has built real momentum around songs that feel vulnerable, personal, and easy to return to.
Her latest single, “hide and seek,” continues that trend while expanding the atmosphere around it. Centered on the magnetic pull between two people who keep finding their way back to each other, the song carries a softness that never undercuts its emotional weight. Instead, it settles in gradually, letting ambient production and lyrical tension move together. That balance between restraint and feeling has become one of Picardi’s strengths, and it makes “hide and seek” a compelling addition to her debut EP, scars to prove it.
The project follows earlier magnetic singles like “car crash,” “double edged sword,” and “teach you to love me,” each one helping introduce an artist with a sharp instinct for emotional detail. Picardi’s connection with listeners also reaches beyond the songs themselves. Through TikTok Live, where her warmth and openness have given her an almost big-sister presence, she has built a community that responds to the person behind the music as much as the music itself.
With scars to prove it now out in the world, Picardi is putting forward a body of work that feels clear in its identity and unforced in its voice. Below, she opens up about “hide and seek,” the emotional core of the EP, and what it means to share so much of herself so early in her career.
Your new single “hide and seek” centers on a connection that keeps pulling two people back to each other. What was it about that kind of emotional push and pull that felt worth exploring in this song?
Hailey Picardi: I think the inevitability of the connection was what felt worth exploring. The fact that no matter the circumstance or distance, we are always going to find our way back to one another.
There’s something very soft and atmospheric about the world of “hide and seek.” How did you want the song to feel, beyond just what it says lyrically?
Hailey Picardi: I wanted the song to feel very earthy and whimsical, as if you can feel me traveling the world in an attempt to escape. I wanted the four on the floor beat that comes in for the second verse to emulate the feeling of my walking pace picking up and slowly turning to running in the second chorus.
Your debut EP, scars to prove it, is a really compelling title. What did that phrase come to represent for you across this body of work?
Hailey Picardi: Thank you! “scars to prove it” comes from a song on the EP called “chaotic” where I open up about my distorted perception of love. The lyrical context of the phrase is ‘I was loved, and I knew it, I’ve got scars here to prove it.’ I think this line represents a theme revealed in almost every song on the EP: that what I thought was love wasn’t actually love.
Across songs like “car crash,” “double edged sword,” “teach you to love me,” and now “hide and seek,” there’s a real sense of emotional honesty in your work. Do you feel like this project captures a specific chapter of your life, or more of an ongoing pattern you’ve had to unpack?
Hailey Picardi: Definitely both of those things. For example, as much as “car crash” was written about a specific instance, the song is also an expression of a character trait I’ve struggled with for a while: trying to take on the weight of other people’s burdens as a result of my empathy.
You’ve built such a strong connection with people through TikTok Live, and a lot of that seems tied to your vulnerability. How has that relationship with your audience shaped the kind of artist you want to be?
Hailey Picardi: With my singing covers and original song posts, you only get to see so much of my personality. I love that on live, people can see how much more dynamic I am as a person. I get the chance to express the spectrum of my lighthearted humor all the way to my deepest thoughts and feelings. I’ve always known I would be incredibly transparent as an artist. I don’t think there’s a level of vulnerability I’m afraid to reach, and going live is where they’ve been able to see that about me.
You’ve released a lot in a short span of time, and the response has been huge. What has this past stretch taught you about your instincts, both creatively and personally?
Hailey Picardi: When I write something I really connect to, I believe others will feel the same way. It’s so affirming to see how, through releasing this music, I should continue to trust my gut. It’s also taught me that I’m allowed to be my exact self because my crowd of people exists out there. I’ve felt different all my life and never felt like I could fully fit in. I remember asking myself, “will the world connect with me?”, only to end up finding out how many people do.
Finally, when you were putting scars to prove it together, what made a song feel essential to the story of the EP?
Hailey Picardi: As I was writing these songs, I was focused on being as authentic as possible, wanting to capture a specific emotion or event. Upon retrospect, I realized there was an overall theme that connects each of these songs, and that’s when I thought to name the EP scars to prove it.
