Amassing over 11 million views on YouTube and a combined following of over 100,000 across Instagram and TicTok, it is safe to say singer-songwriter Penelope Robin is making her name known throughout the internet. Despite her young age and early rise to fame, Penelope exudes an aura of maturity and poise while discussing her role in spreading awareness to social and environmental issues. Penelope is a passionate animal rights activist and autism awareness advocate - just to name a few. To learn more about Penelope and her work, please read further in our exclusive interview below.

Where are you based?
Hi! I live in Miami :)

How old are you?
Wait what? Haha :) How old do you think I am? ;)

How did you get into music?
I guess I grew up around music. My dad is a music producer so I was in a recording studio since I was a baby. I would sleep right there in the control room while they were playing tracks and recording instruments and vocals…so music is part of my life, I wouldn’t know how to live without it. So when I was about seven, I convinced my dad (after much begging) to sit at the piano and write a song with me. After we recorded that first song, I just couldn’t stop singing and writing, and now here we are :)

What made you decide to team up with 99 GoonSquad?
I actually followed them on TikTok and I saw that they were producers and they did tracks all the time. So I reached out and asked if they would like to collab with me and they answered and said yes!

Can you tell us a little bit about your new song “4 Leaf Clover”?
4 Leaf Clover is special because it talks about how you always have to chase your dream and believe in yourself. You can never stop trying! And even though the song talks about getting lucky and finding your 4 Leaf Clover, it really is about you believing in yourself and working hard towards your dream so that your luck presents itself in success.

You are involved with a ton of social causes! It is wonderful to see someone so young already making waves. What made you decide to make this a priority so early on in your career?
Well, as much as I’d like to say it was all me, the truth is that my mom is the one that got me started with social causes and helping in any way I could. She told me that if my dream was to become a singer, that I had to use my voice to do good, and I loved that. So I started trying to hep with things that were special to me. I loooove animals, so I got involved with animal rescues. I also have friends that have autism so I was invited to sing at their school and do other events as well, so I did. And now I just want to send a message to the world that not everyone is the same and we have to love people and accept them just the way they are. We have to learn how to understand their differences. I also love our oceans, and of course our ocean animals, so I find that it’s important to create awareness on how we can help reduce the impact of single use plastic. It’s up to us kids to change the way we do things if we want to make our planet a better place.

You are an animal rights activist. Why is this so important to you?
Animals are so incredible. They are innocent and sweet and they love you unconditionally. How could you not be an animal lover! I think that if they could speak they would just say I love you all day long! lol That’s how my dog makes me feel….he just loves me. So I think we have to be their voice. We have to speak for them because not everyone is kind to animals, and we need to try to protect them from those people.

Can you tell us a little bit about #adoptyourbestie?
So #AdoptYourBestie….I was actually scheduled to do a photo shoot and I asked my friends at 100+ Abandoned Dogs of Everglades Florida if I could maybe take some of the pictures with rescue dogs and create a GoFundMe page to raise awareness of their amazing and selfless dedication. They said of course! So we did…I have to say, it’s been pretty hard to raise money though! If only every follower I had donated $1 can you image how much that would help! Come on guys! Help me out here!!

You are also involved in educating and inspiring others about autism awareness. Can you tell us a little about that and why it is important to you?
I have some friends with autism, and from the day I met them I noticed they were sort of left out. It just didn’t feel right. I wanted them to feel welcome and special. So I came up to them and just sat with them and waited until they interacted with me. Sometimes they just want to know you’re there, other times they talk with you. One way or the other, we need to make the effort because to them it means soo much to know you are trying.

Finally, you are very passionate about the environment! Can you tell us a little bit about your work with EcoPod and their alternative to single use plastics?
Ecopod is an amazing product! They are refilling stations where you can refill your containers of detergent, soaps, shampoo, etc. Imagine how much plastic we would eliminate if we all refilled our containers and stopped creating so much plastic waste. It hurts our environment, our oceans, our animals. It’s overwhelming when you actually look at how much plastic is thrown out every day. We can’t recycle it all no matter how hard we try. So we have to stop using so much of it.

Can you tell us about your song “World Full Of Love”?
I wrote World Full of Love with Patxi Pastor and my dad C-Rod. Patxi is the founder of Celebration of the Sea and he is truly my mentor when it comes to Saving our Oceans. He has dedicated his life to exploring the oceans and finding ways to save them! We all got together and wrote World Full of Love for Earth Day this year and the idea is to send a message that we all just have to come together, and that it’s never too late.

Did you participate in the Climate Strike?
Unfortunately I didn’t :( I’m home schooled so my parents couldn’t take me that day because of work, but my brother Anthony went with his school so I heard all about it and watched it on social media…but I was so proud of everyone that went and hope that I can be there for the next one! :)

What do you think should be done to help save our environment?
I think the most important thing right now is to start educating our kids as to what has to be done to start saving our planet. If we start as kids, we can make a huge difference in the way things are done in the future.

What would you like to see more individuals do to help the environment?
I think there are many ways you can hep. I would love to see more people simply be more responsible about plastic. It’s a HUGE problem and many really don’t take it seriously. Start by changing the way you think about plastic…it doesn’t decompose, so when you throw it out it will stay that way for years and years. Start using recyclable bags, stop using straws, try finding alternatives to your home care products such as refilling stations or eco friendly lines that are using products that don’t hurt our environment. If everyone just came together it would really make a difference.

What is your motto in life?
I’m like Nike…lol ‘Just do it!’

To learn more about Penelope Robin, please follow her via the following platforms below:
www.peneloperobin.com
Instagram: @thepennyrobin
Tiktok: @thepennrobin
Facebook: @peneloperobin
YouTube: @Peneloperobin

And for 99 GoonSquad:
www.99goonsquad.com
Instagram: @99goonsquad
Facebook: @Julianjovani
YouTube: @99goonsquad

All photography is by LANATO.

Penelope Robin Sings for Mother Nature