Ryan Sykes traces the roots of approval on latest release “People Pleasing”

In "People Pleasing," co-written with Elia Konstantarakos, Ryan Sykes faces an adult reckoning with a childhood insecurity. It's personal, how the need for approval can start early and creep in quietly, following us into later life without getting too complicated. The lyric "It's my birthday I'm turning 7, and no one likes me" captures that feeling and places it in a open childhood moment. Then the song turns into a meditation on unlearning those habits and finding an independent voice. "People Pleasing" is about the hard learning process, you can't always be accepted if you please everyone else.