After moving to
New York City in 2009, Violet gained attention after winning $100,000 in a YouTube competition by receiving the most comments on her video entry. In 2011, Violet was featured in fellow YouTube creator Nanalew's unofficial music video for the song "
Sail" by
Awolnation. The video went viral and has since amassed over 370 million views. On September 24, 2012, Violet appeared in the music video for
Family Force 5's "Cray Button" ft.
Lecrae.
2014–2018: Maybe Trapped Mostly Troubled and Halloway EP Violet released her first album
Maybe Trapped Mostly Troubled on March 18, 2014. The album was produced by Seth Earnest at
Maker Studios, with John Zappin as A&R. Despite the lack of attention from traditional media sources, the record debuted at number 10 on the
Billboard Heatseekers chart and sold 5,000 copies in the first three months. Violet released the lead single "Dream" from her EP
Halloway on September 16, 2016. The full EP was released October 14, 2016. She released videos for all songs on the project.
2018–2022: Bad Ideas In 2018, Violet revealed she was working on her second album,
Bad Ideas. She promoted it with The Experience On November 5, Violet was featured on a remix of the
I Dont Know How but They Found Me song "New Invention."
2022–2025: My God! in 2023 as an opener for
Half Alive On February 15, 2022, Violet released "Yes Mom", the first single from her third studio album. She then opened for
Cavetown on his 2022 US Tour, alongside
Addison Grace. On May 29,
Daysormay released a version of their song "Role Model" featuring Violet. On June 1, Violet released the single "Breakdown", alongside the announcement of her Rise of the Phoenix tour with openers Will Joseph Cook and Daysormay, which ran from August to October 2022. On August 9, Violet released the single Kitchen Song, followed by a voice memo version of the song on August 16. On September 7, Violet featured on Will Joseph Cook's single "Gummy", which also appeared on his album
Every Single Thing (2022). Violet then opened for Cavetown's 2022 UK and Europe Tour along with
Orla Gartland from October to November 2022. On March 21, 2023, Violet released the single "You Are Not My Friend". In April and May 2023, Violet toured as an opening act for the for
Half Alive's “Conditions of a Punk” tour. On June 9, Violet released the single "My God!", and announced her third studio album
My God!, which released on July 14, 2023. Violet embarked on My God! The Tour in the United States and Europe to support the album, with
Frances Forever as the opener, from July to September 2023. On July 13, Violet released a video for her song "Bad Bitch", followed by the release of a single version of "Play with Fire", featuring Frances Forever, on August 16. She released My Body My Buddy originally in August 2024 and then later Gender Neutral in December 2024
2026–present: There Will Be Joy On January 6, 2026, Tessa Violet announced her fourth studio album,
There Will Be Joy, and released the first single "Knowing". The song was produced by
Cavetown. ==Influences==