On the fashion front, that has meant assembling a group of creative heavy hitters. Mo enlisted the talents of stylist Monica Rose, makeup artist Mylah Morales, and hairstylist Larry Sims, to create a series of visual identities for the album’s music videos and to push her look beyond the expected. “What I love about all three of them is that they listen to what I want and I listen to what they want,” said Mo, who switches from sleek dominatrix to fresh-faced ingenue in the span of one video. “It’s an exchange of ideas and a true collaboration.” The group, who exchanged references over email and text, cites everything from Who’s That Girl?–era Madonna to Mo’s Indonesian heritage as a source of inspiration. The resulting mélange is distinctive, with baju adat traditional headdresses, Balmain, and vintage Chanel getting equal play.

“What I love about Agnez is how willing she is to take risks,” said Rose, whose avant-garde selections for Mo are worlds away from the laid-back Calabasas style the stylist helped to popularize. “She never says no and she’s always open to suggestions and input, which is a rare quality.” Mo’s adaptability also helps to make the job exciting for Sims. “She’s a chameleon,” he said. “To me, it’s almost reminiscent of when I started to work with Lupita [Nyong’o], because Agnez is just so game and eager to play.” The sentiment was echoed by Morales, who compares Mo to that other pop star turned fashion influencer, Rihanna: “Agnez has her vision of what she wants, and that is essential when you’re working with an artist.”

But for Mo, the fruition of her ideas isn’t just about a great wardrobe; sharing her story remains paramount, even if it’s occasionally at odds with the music industry’s narrow view of female artists of color. “I don’t think that the music you’re hearing [from me] is the first thing that comes to mind when people look at me,” she says. “They look at my face and they think, ‘Oh, she’s Asian, so [the music] is going to be like this’—I’ve [gone] through a lot of people who’ve tried to tell me what do do.”

Even her status as a fashion rule-breaker comes with its own set of challenges. Though, like many in pop, she’s translated her style into an eponymous clothing line, and frequently steps out in attention-grabbing runway looks, Mo isn’t one for style without substance. “I don’t want to create something different simply for the sake of being different; that’s not my purpose,” she says. “My purpose is just to be myself, to create with authenticity. I grew up seeing a lot of different cultures, listening to all kinds of music, learning all these references—that’s what made me who I am today. Those are a part of me, and that’s something that I want people to see.” With the video already racking up 13.2 million views and counting on Vevo, it’s clear that she’s only just getting started.