Mitsuki Miyawaki, known more commonly as Mitski, is one of the most known artists, being placed 228th out of millions of artists out there. Her most recent albums, The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We, had two completely sold out tours spanning from January all the way to September. She is very well known and loved across the world, but how did her music career start? Turns out, her beginnings aren’t what people expect it to be.
Mitski started her music career at Purchase College’s Conservatory of Music, where she was studying studio composition. Her first album, Lush, started out as a school project, in which she self-released on January 31st, 2012. To many of her fans’ shock, this album only was graded a C by her professor. Regardless of this harsh grade, she kept pursuing this passion, and stuck to it.
Her second album, Retired From Sad New Career in Business, was her senior project, which featured a 60-piece student orchestra. This album was also self released on August 1st, 2013. This was her last album that wasn’t under a record label. From there, she has released 5 more albums and her popularity has only been increasing through the years.
These albums include Bury Me at Makeout Creek, released on November 11th, 2014, Puberty 2, released on June 17th, 2016, Be The Cowboy, released on August 17th, 2018, Laurel Hell, released on February 4th, 2022, and her latest album, The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We, released on September 15th, 2023.
Mitski has been through two record labels, Bury Me at Makeout Creek being under Double Double Whammy, and the other albums after that all being under Dead Ocean.
The career of being a songwriter and artist is an uncertain job, and many people feel anxious and unsure about being able to make it in the music industry. However, Mitski’s story is a great example of how someone can make it big as long as they don’t give up. Keep following your heart and someday, you could be the next Mitski