March 26, 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.
Flowerovlove wears CHANEL
There’s no denying that over the past few years pop music has not only dominated the charts but broader culture too. UK artists have played a big role in this, from Charli xcx and Dua Lipa to rising stars such as Rachel Chinouriri, Maisie Peters or South London’s Joyce Cissé, better known by her stage name, Flowerovlove.
At only 19, Cissé has been releasing dreamy bubblegum pop tracks since her mid-teens, but broke out in 2020 after putting out her debut EP, Think Flower. “I want to make clean pop,” she tells me from her New York hotel room; later she’ll head off to Brooklyn to play a gig. Towards the end of 2024, she released her latest EP, Ache in My Tooth, a collection of earworm anthems and her cleanest pop yet – in comparison to her earlier, indie-leaning sound. The incredibly catchy lead single, Breaking News (about harbouring a major crush), has already racked up 13 million streams and counting. “Every song on the EP tells the story of my love life that vear, of falling in love.” she says.
She tells me her dream collaborator is Harry Styles and. like him, Cissé is a fashion girly. “I’m obsessed with my own style,” she says, describing it as preppy, inspired by ’90s nostalgia like Clueless and Sister, Sister. If you don’t vet recognise Flowerovlove from her music, you might from her Gucci campaigns, or from the front row. Her favourite brands? Prada and Chanel, of course.
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
