Maggie Rogers brought her homework to class at NYU, the most recent edit of her latest demo, having no idea that Pharrell Williams would be there to hear and critique it. The 22-year-old folk-pop artist played “Alaska,” a vibrant eclectic blend of folk harmony and lyrics, electric percussion, with samples of crickets, trees falling, and streams she recorded herself while hiking.

“Wow, I have zero, zero, zero notes. I’ve never heard anyone like you before,” says Pharrell after the track wraps.

Three months later, the video of their encounter went viral and has now been watched 2.5 million times on YouTube. That popularity led to her first EP, Now That The Light Is Fading, which has garnered over 40 million spins on Spotify.

“I’ve been studying and preparing to do this my entire life [but] I never imagined in a million years that this is the way it would happen,” she tells BBC.

Maggie doesn’t see an issue with combining the electronic and the natural. She’s aiming to make “pop music that feels as organic as possible,” using techniques like creating rhythms by patting her jeans (on “Alaska”) along with lilting multi-track vocals for a simple yet layered effect.

What occurs to us as most evidently inspiring about Maggie as an artist is her self-contained focus on her work. To have been able to live in a city like New York and keep herself, and therefore her music, so connected to her passion for nature is no small feat. And it’s pretty incredible to hear such a young artist having grown into her own uniqueness so quickly.

”I had made quiet music my entire life,” she says. “I was ready to make something that was loud.”

We’re turning it up, too.

Follow KFOG on Instagram for live updates on her KFOG Private Concert March 23rd, and catch her complete concert after the show here.