Cheap Queen (album)

*This article is about **the album**. You may be looking for **the song**.*

## Alternate covers

### Producer(s)

King Princess (also exec.), Mike Malchicoff, Tim Anderson, Teo Halm, Kid Harpoon

## Singles

1. "Cheap Queen"
May 31, 2019
2. "Prophet"
July 19, 2019
3. "Ain't Together"
September 3, 2019
4. "Hit The Back"
October 3, 2019
5. "Ohio"
February 11, 2020 (deluxe edition only)

***Cheap Queen*** is the debut studio album by King Princess. It was announced in an interview with *Billboard* on July 24, 2018 and was released on October 25, 2019.

## Background

After the great success of her debut single, "1950", which was certified platinum, and her debut EP, *Make My Bed*, which topped charts, most notably #1 on the Official New Zealand Heatseeker Album Charts, King Princess told *Billboard* that she has been working on her debut album and is hoping to be able to put it out before 2018 ends.

"*[...] Finish this damn record and put it out, hopefully within the year*"
—King Princess on when the album will be released

She later confirmed again that she is working on an album in an interview with *Harper's Bazaar* .

"*I got to live this crazy life, I got to write about it, and now I've got this record that I'm really proud of too. It's not done, but when I put it out, it's gonna be good.*"
—King Princess on her debut album

On October 19, 2018 she told *ABC* that she is almost done with the album. In the same interview she also confirmed that a few of the songs on this album were recorded at her father's, Oliver Straus, studio:

"*I did a couple tracks at my Dad's studio... his equipment is just incredible. It makes me feel happy there's a little bit of home on the record.*"
—King Princess to *ABC*

She went on to perform multiple songs like "Homegirl", "Best Friend", "Ohio" and "Waiting On This House To Burn Down" (then titled "House Burn Down") at her King Princess Tour and later on her Pussy Is God Tour which are all confirmed to be featured on her debut album.

On March 3, 2019 Fiona Apple posted a mute video of her listening to King Princess' upcoming debut album and capitoned it with "Mikaela gave me her album yesterday...". The video has since been deleted but fans uploaded it to streaming services, such as YouTube. On March 12, 2019 announced that she is "deep in the [...] making" of the album.

King Princess announced that her first single got mastered on April 22, 2019 and that "it sounds alright". Moreover, she has been spotted in the studio with Mike Malchicoff and Nick Long, indicating that both are involved in the making of this album.

On May 9, 2019 King Princess confirmed that she is working on the music video for the album's lead single and that she "ha[s] an album" indicating that it's mastered.

Ruby Caster, a friend of King Princess, also revealed that the album cover had been finished as of May 22, 2019..

The lead single, "Cheap Queen", was released on May 31, 2019. "Useless Phrases", the album's first promotional single, was released on June 13, 2019 and the album's second single, "Prophet", was released on July 19, 2019.

On July 19, 2019 King Princess revealed via *Billboard* and *RollingStone* that her debut album would be titled *Cheap Queen*. She also released "Ain't Together" as the album's third single the same day.

The album's track list and release date were announced via *Apple Music* on September 3, 2019. On October 3, 2013 "Hit The Back" was released as the album's fourth single.

On September 17, 2019, Quincy Banks announced that the album would be available on vinyl upon its release.

On January 3, 2020 announced that a deluxe edition of her debut album would be released. *Consequence of Sound* revealed the release date, the additional five bonus tracks and cover art of the deluxe edition on February 11, 2020 the same day "Ohio" was released as the deluxe album's fifth single.

### Cover art

Ruby Caster, a friend of King Princess, also revealed that the album cover had been finished as of May 22, 2019. The cover art was shot by Michael Bailey Gates and her makeup was done by Kail Kennedy.  The album's logo on the cover art was designed and made by Quincy Banks.

## Sound and writing

From the unreleased songs performed at the King Princess Tour it became clear that the album has a broader spectrum in terms of genres and has moved on to more rock influenced sounds. When asked about the album's sound King Princess herself described the sound this way:

"*It’s definitely more rocky than… I think definitely the breadth of genre is wider, but that’s because it’s an album and it has to encompass all of my shit. I would say it’s definitely wider, and it’s an album that I am very proud of so far. It kind of goes beyond me — there’s a lot about the world. I knew I wanted to write a record that was less about me, and me being hot, and more about what I care about. Do you know what I mean? [...] A lot of it is first person and personal, but some of it is about the world.*"
—King Princess about the album's sound and topic's

In an interview with *Exclaim!* King Princess talked about the sound of her debut album:

"*I want somebody to listen to my record while smoking a fat blunt, just sobbing. That's how I would like it consumed: best consumed stoned and sad.*"
—King Princess

She also talked about producing the album and the writing of it with *Exclaim!*:

"*I produced the whole record with my engineer. It's really fun, as a producer, to be like, 'on this record I'm going to explore.' Not every song sounds the same, and I like that. I hope it makes people feel like music is evolving, but I'd be nothing without the classics. I hope people listen and feel nostalgic and like there's progression being made at the same time.*"
—King Princess

Furthermore King Princess called the lead single and title track, "Cheap Queen", to be a great summation of of just the whole record just in one song" and that it encompasses "all the themes [of the album]: friendship, gays, heartbroken, [...] being broken."

In an interview with *Billboard* King Princess also announced that Father John Misty, who has woked with the likes of Beyoncé, Lady Gaga and Lana Del Rey, can be heard playing drums on one of her songs - which was later revealed to be "Ain't Together". She also confirmed in the same interview that Tobias Jesso Jr. would be featured on one of the songs on the album.

In an interview with *The Recording Academy* on August 2, 2019 King Princess talked about the production and style of the songs:

"*All the songs are different in different ways, but the production and my voice is the through-line. I really want people to listen through start to finish, and listen to the story when I'm singing, and the words. Because as much as I love production, it's like production is just kind of like the clothes that are worn by the lyrics. Really my goal is to have everything feel like it was meant to be. There's fast songs, there's slow songs, and all this other good shit on there. There are songs that are more conceptual, and songs that are pop songs*"
—King Princess

In the same interview King Princess also stated that, like her debut EP *Make My Bed*, she also produced her entire debut album. She also talked about who helped with co-production:

"*Yeah, I produced the whole thing. My co-producer is my engineer, but I produce everything. A couple people came by and helped out on songs. My friend Tim Anderson helped produce "Prophet." My friend Teo has a song on the record. He's a really talented producer, young and grew up in the studio with Mark, kind of, a little bit these last few years. He was around for that whole thing, so it was just really cool that people in my direct community worked on the record.*"
—King Princess

## Release

In an interview with *Oyster* King Princess was asked about when the album was going to be released and corrected her first statements of a 2018 release and said the following:

"*It could be February, it could be March. I would hope it would be the first quarter of next year.*"
—King Princess about the album's release date

On December 31, 2018 King Princess confirmed that the release date has been pushed back for unknown reasons and also confirmed that the album will have at least eight songs. She also said that "you're [her fans] are all gunna cry your gay eyeballs out".

During her Pussy Is God Tour, King Princess performed even more unreleased songs that she confirmed would be featured on her debut album. Even though she shared little information about the project then she revealed that it was coming "soon" to her fans on February 8, 2018. On February 19, 2019 King Princess shared a photo of a license plate reading "I'M SPEEDING PLS HELP" via social media which she captioned with "I'm shook by my record! It comes very soon!".

On March 5, 2019 King Princess stated that her record is "very close" to being released.

On May 24, 2019 a fan asked King Princess to drop the album to which she replied "It's literally on its way". On May 25, 2019 during her Pussy Is God Tour in Boston she stated that she "has an album and a single comes out in like a week".

In an episode of the *Nialler9* podcast on July 4, 2019 King Princess revealed that her debut album will be released in October 2019. She reaffirmed the release date in an interview with *Billboard* to be October 2019 but also noted that "I [she] just don't [doesn't] know for sure".

The album's release date was confirmed to be October 25, 2019 via Apple Music. The album's release was followed by the announcement of a deluxe edition and "Ohio". The deluxe's edition's release date was confirmed to be February 14, 2020 by *Consequence of Sound*.

### Formats

The standard version of the album is available as CD, digital download, streaming and vinyl. The deluxe edition has so far only been confirmed to be available as digital download and streaming.

## Tour

King Princess previously performed unreleased songs that are confirmed to be featured on her debut album on both her King Princess Tour and Pussy Is God Tour.

On July 20, 2019 King Princess announced the Cheap Queen Tour in support of her debut album.

## Tracklist

### Cut tracks

* "Better"
* "House Burn Down"
* "Miss America"
* Collaboration with Charli XCX

## Singles

The lead single, "Cheap Queen", was released on May 31, 2019.

The second single, "Prophet", was released on July 19, 2019.

On September 3, 2019 "Ain't Together" was released as the album's third single.

The fourth single "Hit The Back" was released on October 3, 2019.

"Ohio" was released as the fifth single of the deluxe edition on February 11, 2020 and does not appear on the standard edition.

### Promotional singles

"Useless Phrases" was released on June 13, 2019 as the album's first promotional single.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 *Apple Music* - Cheap Queen
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 *Consequence of Sound* - "King Princess Announces Cheap Queen Deluxe Edition, Finally Releases “Ohio”: Stream"
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 *Billboard* - "King Princess On Working With Mark Ronson and Finishing Her Debut Album Within the Year"
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 *Spotify* - "'Sick of the slick' with guests Wyvern Lingo & King Princess"
5. ↑ *ARIA* - Platinum Certificiation
6. ↑ *New Zealand Charts* - #1 Heatseeker Albums
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 *Harper's Bazaar* - "King Princess Is Here To Make Queer Youth Feel Like Royalty"
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 *ABC* - "King Princess on reappropriating White Stripes and her "extra as hell" family history"
9. ↑ *Amplify* - "King Princess Previews Material From Upcoming Album at Sold-Out LA Show"
10. ↑ *YouTube* - "Fiona Apple rockin out to the new album by King Princess"
11. ↑ *Instagram* - "I’m deep in the galaxy rn making this hoe for you all
12. ↑ *Twitter* - @kingprincess69: "my first single jus got mastered and it sounds alright !"
13. ↑ *Twitter* - "📲 | Mikaela’s Instagram story!"
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 *Instagram via Tumblr* - Screenshot of a conversation between Ruby and Mikaela, posted to Ruby's Instagram story
15. ↑ *Billboard* - "King Princess Announces Debut Album 'Cheap Queen': Listen to 'Prophet' Now"
16. ↑ *RollingStone* - "King Princess Announces Debut Album ‘Cheap Queen,’ New Song ‘Prophet’"
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 *Instagram* @quincybanks "@kingprincess69 ‘cheap queen’ logo design by me for the album out 10/25 – an honor to be a part and excited for everyone to listen :’ )"
18. ↑ *Twitter* - "who want cheap queen deluxe edition ?"
19. ↑ *Instagram* - @michaelbaileygates "King Princess, for Cheap Queen"
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 *Oyster* - "King Princess On Her Duty As A Queer Pop Icon, Plus Some Sneaky Album Release Info"
21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 *Exclaim!* - King Princess's New Album Is 'Best Consumed Stoned and Sad'
22. ↑ *Twitter* - Clip from a Pandora Interview
23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 *Billboard* - "King Princess Discusses Meme Culture, Producing & Working With Father John Misty on Her Debut Album"
24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 *The Recording Academy* - "King Princess Talks Working With "Master Of Sound" Mark Ronson & Remixing Meryl Streep's 'Big Little Lies' Shriek"
25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 *Instagram* - "my album is gunna be between 8 to 40 tracks and will come out between now and 2030 cheers"
26. ↑ *Tumblr* - kingprincess69 (fan account) - "I was at the tour"
27. ↑ *Tumblr* - Picture of setlist
28. ↑ *Instagram via Twitter* - "📲 | King Princess talking to the crowd last night about her album! || via: justycekaelin on Instagram"
29. ↑ *Instagram* - @kingprincess69 "I’m shook by my record! It comes very soon!"
30. ↑ *Instagram* - "record very close. until then, we go for it"
31. ↑ *Twitter* - @kingprincess69 - "It's literally on its way girl
32. ↑ *Tumblr* - Video of KP at her PIG Tour in Boston
33. ↑ *Instagram* - @kingprincess69 - "motherfucking cheap queen tour honey! we gunna have so much fun I can’t wait to play you all my songs :))))) tickets on sale next Friday !!!"
34. ↑ *Twitter* - Beats 1 - ".@KingPrincess69 has a new track coming early next month and she's working on a song with @charli\_xcx!"
35. ↑ *Twitter* - @kingprincess69 - "cheap queen coming to u this Friday can you even believe it ?!"
36. ↑ *Instagram* - @kingprincess69 - "Prophet is out on Friday my loves ;)"
37. ↑ *Twitter* - "new song let’s go <3 Thank u to my special @darkwaves @Malchicoff and @justtranter !! We made this together and I love u all. Special thanks to miss father john misty for ur drums"
38. ↑ *Twitter* - "Hit The Back. the anthem for bottoms everywhere. Out Thursday."

 Released