Growing up in a musical family influenced Bennett's interest in music. Her mother once aspired to be a DJ and her uncle is a reggae producer from Jamaica. As she explained, "I began wishing I could take credit for some of my favorite songs. That was when I started to make my own – I only began singing on my own songs when I really started writing." When Bennett was 14, she built a small music studio in her home and worked on sound engineering before getting into production. For the first half of her high school years, Syd attended Palisades Charter High School. She felt left out and had few friends at Palisades and moved to the Hamilton Music Academy, which she considered a more open-minded school. In a series of interviews, Syd opened up about being gay. Although she is comfortable with her sexuality, she does not want it to define her career. She worries that talk of her personal life will overshadow her music and has even said that she hates the wordlesbian.
Musical career
Syd began making music while she was still living with her parents. Syd's stage name was given to her by her older brother, Ty, as a kid. After growing out of it, she reclaimed the name when she joined Odd Future. Most of the group's original songs were recorded in Syd's house, also known as "The Trap". On February 27, 2011, Syd self-released her debut instrumental extended play, Raunchboots. In 2014, Syd opened for Eminem at Wembley Stadium as part of the Odd Future collective. Regarding the group’s reunion at the time, she later said "OK, cool, this is better now that I’m not depressed but I still don’t necessarily want to be here." On March 11, 2016, Syd officially announced her departure from Odd Future. On January 13, 2017, Syd's debut solo single "All About Me" was released. It was produced by The Internet cohort Steve Lacy. On January 24, 2017, her second solo single "Body" was released in anticipation for her album in collaboration with Columbia Records, Fin which was released on February 3, 2017. On May 18, 2017, Syd starred together with Korean R&B artist Dean in his music video for their collaboration "love". On September 7, 2017, Syd released "Always Never Home" which is a three track EP. "Always Never Home" is the follow-up to her debut solo album Fin. Syd was featured on Lil Uzi Vert's second studio albumEternal Atake on the song "Urgency", which was released on March 6, 2020.
