Paris Hilton says 'someone needed to save pop music' as she releases new album that reflects on her life
Paris Hilton has always looked to music as a way to express herself.
In a new interview with the Associated Press ahead of the release of her new album, "Infinite Icon," the DJ and mom of two opened up about the inspiration behind her sophomore album and explained why it has a "deeper" meaning than what she's released in the past.
"Music has always been such a huge passion for me," Hilton, who released her debut album, "Paris," in 2006, told the AP. "Someone needed to come and save pop music. So I’m here."
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"My first album was very much on just how my life was at that point. It was my Party Girl-era. The songs are just very carefree and fun and all about going out looking hot and having a great time," she continued. "This album definitely has a lot more deeper meaning to it, and I just wanted the songs to really reflect on my life and my journey and be introspective."
Hilton's lead single, "I'm Free," which features Rina Sawayama, is an ode to the TV personality's life in the spotlight and overcoming the trauma she's faced.
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"Going through what I went through at Provo Canyon school, it was just so traumatizing and so painful. And I remember the first song that I heard, when I got out of there, when I got out was ‘Free’ by Ultra Naté," she said.
Hilton said she used that moment as inspiration for the album, which brought together an all-star team of women including Sia, Megan Thee Stallion, Megan Trainor and Maria Becerra.
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"It was really important to me to really do this album with all women," she said. "I just wanted to have this album really be about empowering women," she adds. "Just songs for my girls, my gays, and songs for people to feel alive to. I want everyone who listens to this album to feel like their own unapologetic icon."
Ahead of the release, Hilton took to social media to share the stunning album cover with fans.
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"I truly put my heart and soul into making this second album for my amazing fans, and I can’t wait for you all to finally experience it on September 6th," she wrote at the time.
"I am so proud of you," Selma Blair commented. "Incredible you. I love you."
"I cannot stop listening," another fan wrote.
The album drop comes four years after Hilton alleged she had been the victim of emotional and physical abuse as a teen attending Utah's Provo Canyon School.
In 2020, Hilton said she was the victim of a "parent-approved kidnapping" when she was a misbehaving 16-year-old, with two men dragging her out of her home and into a congregate-care facility.
Hilton alleged staffers at the Canyon School beat her and forced her to sit naked in solitary confinement rooms as punishment, among other things.
"I was choked, slapped across the face, spied on while showering and deprived of sleep," she alleged. "I was called vulgar names and forced to take medication without a diagnosis. At one Utah facility, I was locked in solitary confinement in a room where the walls were covered in scratch marks and blood stains."
The hotel heiress also testified about her experience in the documentary "This is Paris."
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Since then, Hilton has made a point to advocate for reforms in the juvenile justice system.
"I'm doing everything I can in my power to fight for these children because these are children who come from families that can't help and support them and children from the juvenile justice system, foster care system. And they have no voice," Hilton said on "Fox & Friends" in 2023.
"So I'm really just turning my pain into a purpose and using my platform to help make a difference and save children's lives because hundreds of children have died in the name of treatment in these places."
The Associated Press and Fox News Digital's Tracy Wright contributed to this post.