Kelsea Ballerini (born September 12, 1993) is a Country Music singer from Tennessee.

Ballerini signed to the independent Black River label when she was only 19, and two years later she issued her debut single "Love Me Like You Mean It". The song went on to become a surprise #1 on the country music charts, making not only for the first #1 for the small independent Black River label, but also the first time since Carrie Underwood that a female country artist had topped the charts with her debut single. Her debut album The First Time launched three more hits in "Dibs", "Peter Pan", and "Yeah Boy", while her second album Unapologetically includes the #1 hit "Legends".

Due to her relative youth and mostly self-penned songs, Ballerini has been seen as a parallel to a younger Taylor Swift.

Albums:

• The First Time (2016)
• Unapologetically (2018)
• kelsea (2020)
• ballerini (2020)
• SUBJECT TO CHANGE (2023)
• Rolling Up The Welcome Mat (EP) (2023)
• Patterns (2024)

Tropes present in her work:

• all lowercase letters: The album kelsea and all of its songs are rendered in lowercase.
• Anti-Love Song: "I Hate Love Songs" is about how she hates all of the usual romantic tropes, but still loves her man anyway.
• Blatant Lies: In "hole in the bottle", she claims she doesn't miss her ex and the bottle of wine is just leaking.
• Break-Up Song: "Legends" recalls a former relationship, saying that the two were "legends" before they broke up.
• Even the Guys Want Him: Suggested in "Dibs", which contains lyrics such as "I know everybody wants you".
• Everytown, America: The subject of "half of my hometown"... except at the end, where she and guest vocalist Kenny Chesney reveal that the song is about their shared hometown of Knoxville, Tennessee.
• Immaturity Insult: "Peter Pan," which compares her ex's Commitment Issues to that of the deliberately stunted growth of the fictional character.
• Loudness War: Her first two albums were produced by amateurs, and it shows. "Peter Pan" in particular has noticeable clipping.
• The Mistress: "the other girl" is about two women who ponder which of them is this trope and which is the "main" girl to an unfaithful boyfriend.
• Shout-Out: "Peter Pan" contains obvious parallels to Peter Pan, comparing the male in the song to a boy who will never grow up.
• Unplugged Version: ballerini is an acoustic remix of kelsea. Current live performances and a recent re-recording of "Love Me Like You Mean It" has a completely different melody compared to the original and is an acoustic recording of it. Compare the original: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2r6N2JQQwg0 with the re-recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBKoK29E-gI