PinkPantheress burst into 2021 with a series of charming and inventive singles that placed her high-pitched, breathy vocals over fast beats built around easily recognizable samples. It was as if the English singer and producer was trying to insert herself into pop music history from behind a laptop in her bedroom, which is pretty much what ended up happening.
In 2023, his song “Boy's a Liar Pt. 2,” a collaboration with Ice Spice, peaked at No. 3 on Billboard's Hot 100; Several months later, she landed a song on Greta Gerwig's hit “Barbie” soundtrack. Last year she toured as the opening act for Olivia Rodrigo, and now she's nominated for her first two Grammy Awards: dance/electronic album for this year's “Fancy That” and dance-pop recording for the project's opening track, “Illegal.”
With nine songs in just 20 minutes, “Fancy That” maintains the TikTok-era economy of PinkPantheress' early work. It's also filled with samples from artists like Underworld, Basement Jaxx and Panic! at the Disco: Perhaps one of the reasons the singer, 24, describes it as a mixtape rather than an album. (An accompanying remix set, “Fancy Some More?”, features appearances by Basement Jaxx, Kylie Minogue, Sugababes, Ravyn Lenae and Groove Armada, among many others.)
However, “Fancy That” also displays an expanding emotional palette: it's funny, melancholic, horny, brooding, and unimpressed. He talked about it over a matcha latte in Los Angeles, where he lives when he's not in London. “If you're a musician, it's sold as the place to be,” he says of Los Angeles. “I was trying not to like it, but I really like it.”
You are enjoying the city in spite of yourself.
I think for me it was just a matter of: when I get comfortable somewhere, I don't enjoy the exploration. What I know for sure is where I stay.
Because?
It's something to do with the way my brain works; I don't think it's a choice. My brain associates change (different environments and travel) with fear. I don't go on vacation for that reason. I find it very difficult because I don't really feel safe. It doesn't matter where you are.
What are you doing in Los Angeles?
I go out with my friends. I get food. I do all the usual things. But it has taken me years. When I first got here, I wasn't like, Oh my god, the Hollywood sign! It was like, let me find my balance. I think getting my house was when I was good. I don't like the stress of going out somewhere and worrying about how I present myself to people.
If you're in a restaurant, it's hard for you not to think about the fact that someone might know who you are.
Sometimes, if I'm not disguised well enough.
What are the costumes?
I think I'm going to stop wearing my hair down in public.
So, pop stardom: nice or not?
It's as absurd as everyone says. But it's 100% what I always wanted to be. So I can't complain now.
I mean, you could.
But I won't do it.
Would that be bad form?
I firmly believe that my words will have an effect on everything I do in the future. So if I felt comfortable complaining about my job, when I worked so hard to get here, then that will stay with me and be reflected in my behavior.
Do you drive?
I love driving. That's another reason I like it here: because I know how to drive.
Do you like driving here more than in London?
I have a better car here. Well, I don't actually have a car in London anymore. The police took him away.
Because?
Don't know.
You must know it.
Actually I just don't know. I literally got there and it was gone, and I thought: Good. It was very cheap, like 2,000 pounds.
What kind of car was it?
A Peugeot 208.
in a recent interview with Zane Lowe, you named the people you called your blueprints: MIA, Kelela, and Tinashe. everyone is fine–considered pioneers, but I would say that none of them are pop superstars. That made me wonder: Do you want to be at the top of pop?
I feel like to be at the top of pop, I would have to make a lot of compromises in my artistic choices. However, if the post-“Brat” era has taught us anything about music, it's that you can be as experimental as you want, and if it translates, it will translate. So it's actually not necessarily an overly formulaic recipe, as one might think.
Do I want to be at the top of pop? I think that might be too much pressure. I don't enjoy having to explain myself and I worry that being older will force me to explain myself a lot. However, I want to be well thought of. I want to be influential. And I don't want to have to worry, How well will this work? It's less about the best and more about having a very loyal fan base, which I prioritize above all else.
I spoke with Lorde recently, and she told me that it hurts her to be understood even though she wishes she didn't. You said you don't like explaining things. But do you feel obligated to do it?
I would say I definitely didn't explain myself enough from the beginning. And unfortunately that was a crucial mistake because, if I had been responsible for explaining my music and my musical mind from the beginning, maybe they would take me more as a producer now. But because I didn't, and because of the way I present myself, I think people take me as more superficial pop, and I'm really not; I'm actually completely an art girl, like all the women I've mentioned.
So I went from not explaining to explaining too much. I hated that too, because then people asked me more questions. Now I don't want to explain anything.
You have the Sugababes on your remix album. Great example of an act that is loved in England but could not be arrested in the United States. Why do you think some UK acts crossover and others don't?
If you have someone on your marketing team who puts America first, I'm 99% sure they can always do it. I don't think Americans will be put off by Britishness; I don't think the music is too crazy for them to understand. The reason I did well in the United States was because I used a platform where the majority of users are Americans.
You mean TikTok. Did you use TikTok because it was the platform you were good at or because you knew it was the platform with the greatest reach?
I had no idea how it worked; I only thought about what has greater scope. I am a child of the Internet. I've always been online.
What's wrong with the Internet?
There was a time when I wouldn't have said anything.
At what age?
Sixteen years old, even older, honestly. All the momentum of material generated has made it incredibly different. When I was on the Internet, you wouldn't have to doubt any post you saw.
Whereas now you have to ask yourself if something is real or AI.
Is this propaganda or not? That's bad.
Is TikTok still fun?
I don't really use social media at all, so I don't know.
Just make your posts.
And immerse. Or I interact with people who help me in my craft. I love people who make fan edits, so I'll interact with them. But I don't really move around.
Did anyone tell you, “Listen, you need to stop scrolling”?
No. I don't really have any vices, so I didn't have any problems with that.
Everyone is addicted to scrolling.
Hell no, I'm not. If I want to stop something, I can stop it right now.
You drink? Smoking weed?
I can't take any drugs. I get drunk once or twice a month and that's my limit. I make sure to tell that.
Why are there no drugs?
I'm a hypochondriac.
What are you afraid of happening?
Dying. Plus, I just don't find it enjoyable. When I get drunk, that is the most chaos I can experience in my inner being.
Dying?
Too much cocaine could kill you and cause an arrhythmic heart. And like I said, if I'm afraid of something, I'm not going to take a step toward it.
“I don't think being British puts Americans off,” says PinkPantheress. “I don't think music is too crazy for them to understand.”
(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)
Who said no to being on the remix album?
Nobody said no. But I don't ask people who I know are going to say no, I just refuse to ask them. There was one person who said, “Oh, I saw this too late.” [makes “Yeah, right” face]. And one person didn't respond. Maybe two people didn't respond.
Were your feelings hurt?
No, yes. Maybe. When it comes to roles and all that, I totally get it: I understand how a singer's mind works. I think people who get hurt maybe don't put themselves in their shoes.
Surely by now you've said no to people.
It's a horrible feeling. And I try to make it work as much as possible. But sometimes it just doesn't make sense. The vibrations are off.
Have you heard Lily Allen's album?
Yeah.
Thoughts?
Really good. And serious.
she is just lying down all your affairs.
She's British, that's what we do.
Are the British essentially serious?
I think there is something in our music that is extremely serious. That's why right now you have someone like Adele or someone like Raye. You can feel them bleeding. They're bleeding out on stage, bleeding out on the pieces of paper.
Beyond what we've talked about, I know virtually nothing about your personal life.
Exactly.
Whereas now I know a ton about Lily Allen. What do you think of that impulse to throw everything into the world?
What I love about Lily Allen is that she's always been very honest from day 1. She's an open book in interviews, she's an open book everywhere. It works for her because it makes her so likable and it makes her music so much more likable because we feel like we're really experiencing her as a human being.
I would love to be that serious. I just don't think I've gone through half of what she went through in her life. Because I'm so afraid, I end up not getting into very exciting or controversial situations, and that could translate into boring. But I wouldn't say I'm a boring person. I enjoy the mundaneness of interacting with others and the excitement of being myself. In fact, I'm obsessed with myself. When I'm with my best friend, we have a lot of fun together. Other people say, “What the fuck?”
you are in Coachella next year. You've talked about festivals not being your ideal place to perform.
I'm definitely better now, for sure. Two years ago, I was pretty screwed.
What did you learn from the tour you just finished?
Oh, very much. I learned that I am in control of my body. I learned that I am in control of almost every element when I am on stage. One thing I realize as I talk is that the reason I don't like drugs is because I like total control. When I'm on stage, for some reason, I always imagine that I'm going to lose control: I'll have to faint or I'll have to run. I don't know why, but that's my biggest fear when acting and that's why I've always been quite nervous.
But doing that tour made me realize that I can choose if I want to have a good time right now. And I chose to have a good time, it was a really fun experience. I'm still learning to dance. I'm still learning how to look good on stage. I think I have a pretty strange build, which makes me look long. And when you have a long shape and long limbs, you look bad dancing.
You're taller than I expected.
Every person says that.
Why do we all think you're going to be shorter?
My voice is quite high. I also think I shrink, less in physical terms and more in how I represent myself. I'm not like [shouts]”I'm here!” I'm more like [whispers]”I'm here.”
