April 28, 2025 |
In 2025, the UK’s music scene is a sublime, bubbling broth made up of many ingredients. It’s rich with the flavour of countless genres, each thriving in their own right. Pop, rap, rave, R&B, jazz, jungle, neo-soul, indie, electronic, you name it – in every corner we have world-class pioneers leading the way and, simultaneously, ripping up the rule book. Featured inside 10 Magazine Issue 74, a portfolio of musicians all vary in age, genre, background, sexuality and stages of career. What they share, however, is self-assuredness, determination and confidence.
As someone who has interviewed many musicians over the years, it’s obvious when an artist doesn’t yet have faith in their own work. After speaking to each of the following rising stars, I found it refreshing to have come across a group of 10 artists, all dramatically different. who so clearly know themselves and what they want. They’re even going as far as to set boundaries and take the necessary time to pause between projects. Whether it’s JGrrey moving to the coast, Nabihah Iqbal heading to the Catskills for a two-month artist retreat or Cari taking a moment of reflection by revisiting the shop she once worked in, these artists are making the music that they want to make, when they want to make it. Oh, and they all happen to be women. Best get to know them now before you have to scramble for arena tickets – if anyone can do it, it’s this bunch.
George wears leggings by MISSONI
For any young person from West London who dreams of a career in music, there is one venue above all that marks the pinnacle of success: Shepherd’s Bush Empire. “I used to walk past it every day and be like, ‘Oh my God. One day I’m gonna play there.’ So I think that would feel huge for me,” says George Riley. She may not have headlined the Empire just yet, but she did play Brixton Academy last summer while supporting Janelle Monáe on tour. “She is just a powerhouse!” she tells me.
Riley, 27, grew up hopping around the capital’s music scene, going to gigs, raves and house parties, while listening to the likes of Madonna, Janet Jackson, Liberty X, Daniel Bedingfield and Mis-Teeq. Right now, though, she’s obsessed with Jade Thirlwall from Little Mix and what the future of alternative pop might look like. She sees herself as part of that future and has a new EP to support her claim. “I’m thinking Britney [Spears] Blackout,” she laughs, describing her new project. “Not that it sounds like that. But just in this ‘more is more’ consumerist culture, being on TikTok and being a caricature of myself, making things that feel big and fun and a bit silly. It’s been a fun process.”
At first, she took the EP in a “super pop” direction before reeling it in and figuring out where she wanted to sit in the pop sphere. “This has been my opportunity to make something that’s fun and a bit more representative of my personality,” she tells me. Though, both alarmingly and hilariously, the two words she uses to describe the project are: “toxic femininity”. We can’t wait.
Taken from 10 Magazine Issue 74 – MUSIC, TALENT, CREATIVE – on newsstands now. Order your copy here.
SOUNDS OF THE UK
Portrait ANNA STOKLAND
Text ISOBEL VAN DYKE
Fashion assistant GEORGIA EDWARDS
Production ZAC APOSTOLOU and SONYA MAZURYK
