“I’m always writing,” says Simone. “It’s therapeutic for me, like a muscle I need to exercise every day.”

Such devotion to craft helps explain the rising 17-year-old star’s prolific output over the past year. Born and raised in New York City, Simone grew up surrounded by music thanks in part to her father, who kept the family’s apartment stocked full of instruments and frequently shared albums and mixes with his kids. Musical theater was Simone’s first passion, and by the time she was ten, she’d already fallen madly in love with Broadway and appeared in a slew of productions through the YMCA.

By the time she hit middle school, Simone was writing her own songs and playing open mic nights at venues like The Bitter End. Not even old enough to drive, let alone drink, she soon found herself onstage regularly in bars and clubs around the city, honing her chops in front of live audiences as much as humanly possible. With a mix of mesmerizing performance clips and down-to-earth, straight-to-camera videos documenting daily life, Simone quickly went viral on TikTok, racking up millions of likes from fans around the world who could relate to both her unabashed ambition and dry, self-deprecating sense of humor.

At 17, she already sings of hope and heartbreak and humility with a keen self-awareness that speaks well beyond her years. Simone’s songs may have been therapeutic for to write, but truth be told, they’re even more therapeutic to listen to.