Oliva Rodrigo kicked off her debut period with her song “drivers license” in January 2021 and wrapped it up after receiving seven Grammy nominations, including all the “Big Four” categories, and walking away with three awards total. She won Best Pop Vocal Album for her album SOUR, Best Pop Solo Performance for “drivers license,” and Best New Artist. It was something of a victory lap—a celebration for having had the most successful debut of 2021.

There seemed to be a simple explanation for the explosive response that “drivers license” received at the time of its release that led to it repeatedly breaking Spotify’s daily streaming record. First, there was her stage presence in Disney TV shows that combine music and teenage drama, such as Bizaardvark and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. Second, the public took an interest in the details of her love life rumored to be the inspiration behind “drivers license.” But those explanations can only go as far as to justify a passing enthusiasm. “drivers license” becoming a mega hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 weeks and SOUR sitting at number one on the Billboard 200 for five weeks to become one of the most successful albums of 2021 spells a wholly different level of success.

So now we must ask what it is about Rodrigo that makes her so different. What makes her a heroine among Generation Z teenage girls, yet so attractive to a wider audience of different generations at the same time? “drivers license” and SOUR are the stories of an eighteen-year-old high schooler told herself in the way most comfortable to her. Few would ever expect such a complex musical career for an eighteen-year-old girl. But there’s no need to make it out to be some kind of magic by over inflating her success and calling it unprecedented musical genius. Maybe we can just look at her brief history for exactly what it is.

As she has said in many interviews, songwriting, playing instruments and singing was a part of Rodrigo’s life before she even started school. At home, she listened to alternative rock music from the 1990s and early 2000s, a favorite of her parents’—No Doubt, Pearl Jam, The White Stripes and Green Day, to name a few. The first time she went to a concert was to see Weezer. 1990s musicians also feature prominently in the pre-show soundtrack playing at shows on the tour she recently kicked off, including Michelle Branch, Fiona Apple and the Cardigans; the band covers songs by Avril Lavigne and Veruca Salt during the concerts. It seems only natural that she would put together an all-women band, who accompany her not only during performances but also at all public events.

It’s a well-established fact that Rodrigo is a fan of Taylor Swift and looks to her as the exemplar of songwriting. Behind this is the lyrical style distinct to country music, where immensely personal, highly detailed stories become lyrics. Swift herself once called it the charm of country music, a sentiment Rodrigo echoes in the Disney+ documentary driving home 2 u. And so we find her to be honest and straightforward when she confesses her concern that her songs might not be entirely relatable, given they reflect the extraordinary background of someone who was homeschooled all the while working for Disney.

And here is likely the reason her songs revolve around the emotions of teenage love: “I’m a teenage girl, I write about stuff that I feel really intensely—and I feel heartbreak and longing really intensely—and I think that’s authentic and natural.” Anger, jealousy, and sadness are typically suppressed feelings that are not so easily expressed. When it comes to teenage girls, they’re especially frowned upon. But those feelings certainly do exist, and they are what Rodrigo has chosen to sing about.

Their intensity is a destructive emotion that can make you feel like a breakup unfolding before your very eyes spells the end of all love, and this is where the vivid specifics of “deja vu” come in: “I’ll bet that she knows Billy Joel / ’Cause you played her ‘Uptown Girl’ / You’re singing it together / Now I bet you even tell her / How you love her / In between the chorus and the verse,” the teenage girl cries out, winning the sympathy of everybody who’s been through the same phase of life.

SOUR contains everything Olivia Rodrigo has ever seen or heard. That includes not only her songs but also the fact that she successfully secured rights to her masters when signing her very first recording contract. If you’re 18 now and make full use of everything you, too, have learned to date, there might be nothing you can’t achieve. No matter what Rodrigo might later write as an adult, the era of “drivers license” and SOUR will forever remain an honest record of select parts of her youthful days. Didn’t we used to call this kind of person a rock star?