Kenzie Ziegler Is 'Stepping Out of My Comfort Zone' with 'Anatomy': 'It's Very Personal' (Exclusive)

Kenzie Ziegler wants you to get to know her a little better.

The 19-year-old singer released her single “Anatomy” on Friday, giving listeners a inside look into a part of her childhood that she previously kept out of the public eye. The wistful ballad reveals Ziegler’s tumultuous relationship with her father, and she tells PEOPLE exclusively that she hopes it touches someone who can connect with the lyrics.

“I was very hesitant to release it at first just because it is so personal, and I don't think a lot of people know that about me,” Ziegler says of the role her father has played in her life. “But I also think that it could really help some people that are exactly like me to relate to this and not feel alone.”

She adds: "I definitely am stepping out of my comfort zone and being authentic in a different way that’s not just on social media — I’m telling my story.”

Ziegler, who has a large social media presence with nearly 15 million Instagram followers, says originally, this song wasn’t meant to be heard by her fans. The former Dance Moms star explains that when she turned 18 last year, she began seeing a therapist, who encouraged her to write her estranged dad a letter explaining her emotions.

“I did not want to do that at all,” Ziegler admits. “So I wrote a song and I sent it to her, and I was like, ‘Here's my letter,’ and then I ended up actually really, really loving the song. So something great really came out of it.”

The song reveals the internal struggles Ziegler felt when she was trying to hide the sadness her father caused her growing up.

The chorus goes: "It's just anatomy/ you're only half of me/ still you don't know me at all/ you've been my missing piece/ so why aren't you missing me/ guess that I meant less than I thought."

It continues with, "It's just anatomy/ hate that you're half of me"

Ziegler reveals that this is “my favorite song I’ve done” because every lyric means so much to her, so when it came to making the music video, she put a lot of pressure on it being “perfect.”

“I wanted everything to just feel so authentic and real and raw and not overproduced,” she explains. “But you know, I really just wanted it to just be about the song.”

The former reality star had taken a long break from dancing, only returning to it recently — which she documented in a YouTube video shared with her fans — so dancing in the music video was special. Ziegler also reveals that she had another sentimental element behind the scenes — her sister.

“From the second I heard the song, I was like, ‘Oh, I have to dance in it and Maddie has to choreograph it,’” she shares. “It was awesome for her to choreograph it because yes, she is such an amazing dancer and choreographer, but also because the song was so personal to me that it just felt like home while she was on set and just being a part of it as well."

She adds, “We grew up the same, so it kind of was a moment for us to share together, and it was super emotional.”

In the video, clips cut from Ziegler to a more kid-like version of her dancing, flashing between the two to represent the artist coming into her own.

“The video is mainly about me healing my inner child,” she says. “So it was really awesome getting to dance with a kind of younger version of myself and go back into that and the strategic feeling of me dancing.”

Most of the song reflects on how her father's behavior when Ziegler was young impacts her life all these years later.

The song goes: "I've dated shitty people/ cause of how you treated mom/ now I'm with somebody good/ but I'm still feeling numb/ cause of trust issues"

The next line continues to explain how he has interfered with her relationships — this time with her own sister.

"lying to my sister/ like I never miss you / say you'll visit/ empty promise/ God I wish that for once you'd be honest"

Because the song was born in a setting as private as therapy, waiting on the world to react to it has been scary, but Ziegler says even more important were her mom and sister, who “both had very little words when they heard the song.”

“They were just crying and were very silent, which was honestly really awesome,” she reveals. “Because that's kind of what I wanted the song to be. I wanted people to be able to feel it.”

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Ziegler says being a musician was her “childhood dream,” and it is “really crazy” to be pursuing it now. Throughout the rest of the year, she says she plans on releasing new songs — leading up to an album.

“I finally feel like I've found my sound,” she confesses.