FEATURE:
Modern Heroines
PHOTO CREDIT: Conor Cunningham
Part Eighty-One: Bree Runway
___________
AS one of the three nominees…
for this year’s Rising Star prize at the BRITs (the winner will be announced on 10th December), I wanted to shine a light on Bree Runway. Although she is a relatively new artist on the block. I feel she is a future icon and someone who is going to have an incredible future. I will come to a few interviews in a minute, so that we can find out more about her intentions, background and power. The 2000and4Eva mixtape was released last year. I believe Bree Runway is planning an album next year, though she has released/appeared on songs since her mixtape came out. I want to illustrate a positive review of Bree Runway’s incredible mixtape. This is what The Forty-Five had to say about a fantastic release:
“Bree Runway’s YouTube channel description reads: ‘it’s like Lady Gaga and Lil Kim had a love child”. Writing about Bree already feels like writing about a star like Gaga, and that’s not just because she recently covered ‘Paparazzi’, though her performance cements what we already knew: the pop kingdom is Bree’s for the taking.
‘2000And4Eva’ is more than a love letter to the year 2000 – the record illuminates a path between eighties/nineties pop and female pop artistry of today. The nine tracks flaunt Bree’s hard graft in mixing genres and generations to invent something fresh, a mission the self-defined ‘alternative black girl’ first embarked on with a self-released debut EP in 2015. Back then, her DIY creative spirit and visual edginess shone out from her Hackney bedroom. By 2017 she was dancing on stage with Years & Years’ Olly Alexander. By 2018, she’d signed to EMI.
A dedicated scholar of MTV, Bree is steeped in the aura of past decades. The theatrics of Madonna and Kiss, the gated reverb of Phil Collins, a Grace Jones flamboyance, sitcom scenes, chunky pink phones, leather jackets and leg-warmers: eighties cues sit alongside rap and r’n’b wisdom from artists like Missy Elliott and Timbaland.
Yet Bree’s songs are never trapped by nostalgia. Watch the ‘Damn Daniel’ music video and you start to believe she actually invented the eighties. The best song on the mixtape, it’s also a strong contender for best pop song of 2020, so dangerously catchy you’ll find yourself singing “if you fuck with him, he’ll fuck all your friends” aloud in the supermarket. The final minute of ‘Damn Daniel’ is possibly the most glorious minute of pop this year. ‘4 Nicole Thea & Baby Reign’ is a brief but emotional tribute to a lost friend, while ‘Little Nokia’ bleeds together rap and crunchy guitar, Claire’s Accessories in grown-up song form, chains, spikes and all. Elsewhere, her lines range from the funny – “Snatchin’ everybody wigs, now they look like thumbs” – to the all-out flex: “He only hit me with a tеxt when he want that goddess-level sex”. Bree doesn’t take herself seriously – and she takes herself as seriously as death.
‘Apeshit’, the single that snared praise from Missy Elliott, finds nice significance in sharing mixtape space with ‘ATM’, which Missy actually guests on, but it’s testament to Bree’s artistic strength that this isn’t even the most important moment on the record. On ‘Rolls Royce’ she draws out the n-word just long enough to remind you of that black square you posted on Instagram in June. This year, while everyone was busy pledging ‘to understand’, Bree got on with squaring up to the obstacles in her way through sheer talent and determination.
‘2000and4Eva’ is not very long, and we already know four of its tracks. We want an album! But Bree Runway already carries herself like a star: she doesn’t need to rush. She’s busy blasting aside the expectations of her race and gender, seeing how many boxes she can rip open before deciding what to do with their contents. Watch out, Gagas and Dua Lipas of the world: Bree Runway is on her way. Actually, she’s already here”.
The first interview takes us back to late last year. DIY inducted Bree Runway into their Class of 2021. Among other things, Bree Runway talked about putting her mixtape together. There is a real sense of confidence and excitement that comes through when she speaks:
“And it shows. For ‘2000AND4EVA’, Bree amassed a small crew of exciting female artists to jump on her songs (Rico Nasty and Maliibu Miitch, alongside Tate and Missy) - women who celebrate their differences and won’t be defined by industry standards.
“When you’re stepping out into music, you can think, ‘I better do what people would like and I better do what’s popular’,” she says of her earlier, R&B-focused sound. “But again, the choice thing: if it doesn’t feel good and it doesn’t feel completely natural to you, then don’t do it. I’m so much more than what I was doing when I first started. The amount of people that listen to me, the different countries, the amount of fan accounts... The conversations are different, the opportunities are different, everything is different. That saying is true: when you work hard for a year, things can really really change.”
Being a pop star in 2021 is harder than it was twenty years ago. In the early noughties, Lady Gaga could control the image she projected to the world, not setting foot outside without an encasing of bubble wrap, a dress made of flesh or, at the very least, a really, really uncomfortable pair of shoes. It all helped build the cult of Gaga. But in an always-on social media age where everyone, famous or not, is expected to share constantly, is that level of stardom still achievable?
PHOTO CREDIT: Hannah Diamond
“There’s a Bree Runway gloss, and I love my stuff looking star-studded, but sometimes I don’t mind breaking out of character and showing people how silly I am or how funny in a very non-corny way, because I actually am really funny, aren’t I?”
Oh. We’re supposed to answer. “Yes, yes. You’re really funny, yes.” It’s the only hint we’ve had all day that Bree needs any kind of validation. We’re kind of flattered.
Watching her glide through today’s photoshoot, directing the photographer, stylist and make-up artist, it’s obvious we’re seeing a real visionary at work - someone whose career is going to twist and turn in lots of exciting, unforeseen ways. With artists like Rihanna and Madonna building business empires alongside their musical output, is Runway Enterprises something we can expect in future?
“Oh definitely,” she confirms. “Just like I said about me being more than one genre, there’s definitely more to me as a woman as a whole. I’m into fashion, I’m into tech, I’m into cars. There’s so much more that lies ahead. I’d love to do a collaboration with Lamborghini - that would be sick.
“A pop star needs to be a chameleon,” she continues. “Your ability to switch and adapt needs to be on 10. A pop star needs to be a fashion icon. And a pop star needs to be any genre they want to be at any time.”
With so much achieved in this, the most unconventional of times, it’s undeniable that 2021 is going to be a behemoth of a year for Bree. She’s keeping tight-lipped about what’s next, although we’re sure it’s already mapped out on a vision board somewhere.
“What’s coming is that Bree Runway is going to change the game,” she says, with a glint in her eye”.
Actually, there is another 2020 interview that is worth sourcing. It seems, reading this interview from DORK that the lure of MTV and the power of music videos helped captivate Bree Runway at a young age:
“Pledging no allegiances to any genre, always expect the unexpected with Bree. She’s got big dreams and a 20/20 vision that’d have you thinking she’s been doing this for decades.
In a way, she has. Born in Hackney, Bree grew up glued to the telly, watching music videos on MTV which influenced her own artistry later on (the ‘APESHIT’ video is so Missy Elliot, it got co-signed by the legend herself). A born performer, she’d put on shows for her family as a kid, organising the whole thing herself.
“My mum used to go to work, and me and my cousin would be left at home, and we would always watch MTV. That inspired me to start hosting mini-concerts to my family members,” she says over the phone from London, where she’s performing the decidedly less glam task of combing banana from a hair mask out of her hair.
“So I’d organise the line-up, and I would decide which cousin would be singing and which cousin would dance and which cousin would rap, and then I’d tell the adults that we’re gonna come down by eight o’clock, I need everyone’s sat down and then we’d perform for them. Then that carried through to primary school and stuff. I would do performances, and my mum was almost like our own Tina Knowles because she’d make our costumes for us. And she’s still very involved in my costume stuff today.”
When it comes to inspiration, she’s got no end of it. From actual Michelle Obama coming to Bree’s school (yes, really), watching her sing and encouraging her to pursue music (“She had a lot of time for me that day, and she gave me some very inspirational words, I have to thank her for that”), to the icons she grew up watching, she’s constantly motivated to create bold and distinctive art.
The confidence she exudes today, however, has taken a long time to build up. She mentions she was wary about the idea of becoming an artist due to how she was bullied over her dark skin as a child.
“I was never fully confident enough to go for music completely, though, so I would start and stop a lot. I was just aware of how much more you’re seen when you’re an artist, you’re more open to the public, and because of how much I was bullied growing up, I didn’t want to put myself in that position. But with age and just being exposed to more artists, like Lady Gaga, Grace Jones, because I saw pieces of myself in them, they kind of inspired me to just go for it no matter what people think about you. Some people think they’re crazy, some people think they’re amazing, but at the end of the day it doesn’t really matter, because they’re still icons.”
But learning to love herself was crucial to who she is as an artist today. Click on any of her music videos or check the replies to her tweets and you’ll find many young Black girls telling Bree what an inspiration she is and how she’s everything they wanted to see in a pop star growing up. The video for ‘Big Racks’ kicks off with statistics about racism in the workplace, and throughout she’s shown experiencing various microaggressions, and eventually covering her face in white plasters to assimilate”.
Last year was definitely a big one for Bree Runway. Even though it was strange for all artists, she did enjoy some real success and recognition. Vogue profiled her earlier in the year, where we get a sense of how things have exploded this past year:
“It’s been a rollercoaster year for everyone, but yours also took you to record highs in your career. How have you been finding it?
I split up with management at the top of the year, so I’ve been working solo, and still having to produce music videos and stuff. There’s the help of the team, of course, but I have just jumped over every single hurdle this year. The rewards have been rude. Getting 4Music “Artist of the month.” Cardi B found me; Saweetie; Doja can’t stop singing my praises. It’s really like, “What? What the hell?!” Fans always say, “You should be on like a gazillion eyes” – but it’s just not about the superficial stuff for me, it’s about the eyes that are watching you. That is so important. The impact you’re leaving on other Black girls to get more creative or think without limit.
Usually you build local buzz, then national, then international, but with you, it feels like it’s been everything at once.
You can’t make it up. I’m so happy that the biggest stars in the world recognise me and rate what I’m doing. It’s so crazy how the love changes when it crosses over to a global thing. In the UK, everyone’s quite conservative. No-one wants to look like a fan. Then your music gets passed over to people who are not afraid to make you feel like you’re the hottest thing on the planet. We really got to loosen up here, seriously.
What’s your biggest artistic inspiration?
Everyday life. I can make music out of anything. Even that phone ringing, I could sample that. I grew up listening to Missy, Britney, Kelis, Lil Kim, Grace Jones, all the eccentric, out-there women. And men like Freddie Mercury, David Bowie. Those are my peopledem. I’m currently listening to old Latin music from like the 1970s, old Daddy Yankee, and also Kate Bush. I don’t want to sound shady but music was just more experimental before. I feel like people experimented with sounds and crossed genres. It just gives me assurance in myself that what I’m doing isn’t so strange or left. It’s been done in different ways. You just need to focus on nourishing your way. I’m from here, but I don't make Afropop or Afroswing or whatever. My genre is very much a fluid thing. You close your eyes for a minute… She’s a country singer. Oh, she’s a rock star. This is my comfort, this quirky eccentric world.
What are you working on at the moment?
I’m going to start working on the debut album. I already have a concept for it. I want it to be a true embodiment of everything I am, which is everything. I haven’t really started singing on music yet, but I can sing. That’s the rebel in me being like, just because I have a nice voice doesn’t mean I have to be a singer. But, I’m gonna sing more on the album.
What’s your biggest dream?
I have so many. One is to be a leading example of the fact that a Black girl can do anything, and Black girls are everything. I want to be a huge advocate for that. What you expect from us all — oop, there’s more, much, much more to what you expect, and what you think we should be doing. I want to be a huge example of that — global. Like, “If Bree did it, I can do it.”
You once said you were scared of fame; how are you feeling now?
I feel good. I was only afraid of being more famous because I was afraid of being seen. I thought people were gonna say the things about me they said in school. It’s definitely about silencing the inner child that has been hurt and bullied and just assuring her that we’re all good – like, it’s not the same anymore, babe. We got this. And it’s been great. People receive it. They love it. They actually love me for me. So it’s just like, what were them hoes talking about again?”.
Before closing up, there is another interview I want to source. Bree Runway is a star who is definitely primed for amazing success and a huge legacy. THE FACE chatted with her back in May. The broad and unconventional source of inspiration means her music and sound is different to anything else. She is definitely changing the shape of Pop and Rap:
“You’ve got to fake it ‘till you make it,” she says of her evolution from a performance-shy child to a fearless pop innovator. “I’m a very outlandish person in how I dress.” (Think Lil’ Kim meets Lizzie McGuire, styled in Jean Paul Gaultier.) “I just had to own the fact that I was going to get stared at. Then I realised that a lot of the same people who were staring started looking like me or doing what I do. It’s only weird because you’re the only one doing it. When they see how much it works for you, they all want a piece of it.”
Disrupting pop’s status quo with an ever-evolving, shape-shifting sound, Runway’s lane is as wide as it is long, switching gears between genres on each and every track. Released last November, debut mixtape 2000and4Eva is a case in point. Throwback hip-hop and electro? Check. Futuristic reggae? Check. Hard-hitting punk rap? Check. Club-ready bangers? Duh.
When you look back at the biggest pop stars of the past few decades – Madonna, Britney Spears, Beyoncé – the one quality they all share is the ability to reinvent themselves. Typically, this sound and image revamp is ushered in with a new album cycle, presenting fans with a fresh “era” to mark the occasion. But Bree Runway is yet to release her debut album and we’ve already seen her take on more genres than most artists will cover throughout their entire careers, packaged with jaw-dropping aesthetics each time.
She’s straddled a giant, Y2K mobile phone in the music video for Little Nokia, channelled Shania Twain’s That Don’t Impress Me Much leopard print ensemble for Damn Daniel, and in What Do I Tell My Friends? twerked over her murder victim’s bloodied body. For Runway, it’s less of a reinvention and more a showcase of her versatility. We’re not witnessing her first era; we’re being invited into her universe, one that’s only set to expand as her star continues to rise.
“Going to the studio and making a fresh sound every single day? That’s as easy as breathing to me,” says Runway, matter-of-factly. “It would be more pressure to look at Spotify statistics, see what the most popular songs are and try to replicate them.”
A lot of her influences are a far cry from the sounds currently in the charts. She listens to Ghanaian highlife artists such as Daddy Lumba to soak up the genre’s unique percussion. She delves into the catalogues of late-Seventies/early-Eighties American funk pioneers Zapp to analyse their use of vocoders. She plays soca, calypso music that originated in Trinidad, because, well, she just likes it.
But it all started with Britney – the video for her 2001 classic I’m A Slave 4 U, to be specific. She first saw it at a sleepover with her cousin. MTV was on in the background, as young Brenda lay on the floor pretending to be asleep. “I turned around and saw Britney Spears’ belly out on the TV and she was doing her sweaty choreo. I had to wake my cousin up!” She spent the next day gripped to the screen, waiting to see the music video again. “Britney Spears did pop in such a cutting-edge way and her collaborating with Pharrell, that whole era, was just great. She was a pure example of what a pop star is.”
It’s fitting, then, that Runway’s first single of 2021, Hot Hot, upholds I’m A Slave 4 U’s raunchy, sweaty legacy. Titillating viewers as she flips her hair and washes a car in the music video, the track is a summer scorcher, reminding us all that “You can never ever do it like a Brenda”.
Now, Runway is preparing to reach her next career milestone: the debut album. At first, this felt like a daunting task, the pressure to “strike while the iron is hot” being at odds with her instinct to wait until she was in the “perfect place to write an album”. But the week after we speak, she’s clearly found her groove, teasing her Instagram followers with a photo in the studio.
“It’s going to be an extension of my work, but on the highest level,” she promises confidently. “You’re going to be getting variety. I’m going to try some things that I haven’t tried before. I’m going to be singing way more. It’s going to be sick.”
Runway’s journey isn’t only about her own success, though. There are personal goals she’d like to achieve (there’s a big one she’s about to tick off – a feature on a Lady Gaga record). But above all, she wants to inspire others.
“I would love to continue to impact the lives of Black women around the world,” she says, acknowledging the positive effect seeing someone like her on TV might have had when she was younger. “And I would love to birth a generation of stand-out kids, who were the underdogs growing up but have something unique in them and, because of me, they don’t feel like they have to play it down.” Bree Runway pauses briefly, searching for the right words to prophesise her own impact. “I want to see artists that are just on some other shit”.
Whether she is named as the BRITs’ Rising Star or not, Bree Runway is already a star and is someone in a league of her own! I will end with a playlist of the best tracks from Bree Runway to date. She is a sensational and inspiring artist who has…
A whole lot more to say.