'nobody Looks Like Me And Sounds Like Me': Flowerovlove Redefines What Pop Stardom Means

“Everybody says [redacted] is redeeming pop. No, Joyce is redeeming pop,” a instrumentality declares connected a sound statement astatine nan outset of flowerovlove’s azygous “muse.”

Joyce Cissé, known by her creator moniker flowerovlove, is simply a breezy, profoundly thoughtful and remarkably assured singer-songwriter from South London.

Her discography leans into bubblegum pop, igniting nan giddy teen emotions of a newfound crush. On different tracks, she stands connected business, solidifying her position arsenic a awesome drawback and refusing to discuss for a subpar man.

Cissé doesn’t hold astir for things to happen. Since her first high-fashion run for Gucci astatine 15, nan now 20-year-old euphony creator and exemplary demands attraction and has nan talent to backmost it up.

Her résumé is already importantly much stacked than astir group who precocious exited their teens. The vocalist antecedently opened for Olivia Rodrigo, Halsey, Khalid and Haim and performed astatine Glastonbury, Austin City Limits and Lollapalooza.

Now, she is preparing for her Coachella debut connected April 10 and 17.

Many fans discovered her via nan way “new friends,” an honorable and lighthearted bop astir not wanting to beryllium friends pinch an ex.

“Usually, my penning process is very planned and very strategic,” she explains connected a telephone from her family location successful London. “And for this circumstantial one, we didn’t cognize what to constitute about, and I conscionable went to nan studio, and I started reference immoderate matter messages.”

She scrolled done texts pinch an aged situationship pinch nan thief of her co-writer Justin Tranter (the songwriter down Chappell Roan’s “Good Luck Babe” and Justin Bieber’s “Sorry”). While Cissé was initially hoping to constitute a emotion song, she says Tranter encouraged her to spell pinch different way “shading men.”

“ The lyrics are virtually mostly nan matter messages that I had sent,” she explains. “That’s why it’s truthful nosy and free and conversational because it’s existent life.  I sang nan opus really I would show my friends a story.”

The resulting azygous is playful and defiant — nan cleanable operation for a opus of nan summer. And location are plentifulness of cheeky lines for illustration erstwhile she sings, “Last nighttime has led maine to disorder / Was it bully aliases was it friction?”

Growing up, Cissé loved listening to disco music, specifically nan Black artists that built nan genre successful nan 1970s. She enjoyed Boney M. and their call-and-response style and often includes assemblage relationship successful her ain work. She besides idolized Donna Summer, who she calls “mother of pop, mother of disco.”

Describing her ain euphony arsenic “whimsical,” she typically opts for a preppy, ’90s-inspired look to complete nan vibe and identifies arsenic a miniskirt warrior.

“ I’m being dormant serious,” she giggles. “I emotion miniskirts, and it’s specified a large portion of my brand, and I consciousness for illustration my astir free, authentic aforesaid erstwhile I americium successful a miniskirt, to beryllium honest.”

It’s deeper than conscionable a tiny garment.

“ It has that womanhood successful it for me. I deliberation agelong legs really correspond growth,” she says, adding that she loves her heels.

On her latest single, “Casual Lady,” she sings, “I deterioration boys for illustration manner / Don’t springiness them passion / Nonchalant babe / I’m a casual lady.”

She typically acts unbothered, but connected this susceptible track, she sheds a small ray connected her person woman characteristic arsenic she romanticizes each nan ways she wants to build a life pinch a caller man.

Cissé is simply a Renaissance woman. In coordinating nan accompanying euphony video for “Casual Lady,” she tackled a assortment of roles from head to shaper and stylist.

“ I unrecorded successful a very specific, colorful world and a very circumstantial artistic realm, truthful it each has to beryllium down to me,” she says. “There’s this 1 lyric that Doechii sang, and I was conscionable like, ‘Yeah, real.’ And it was, ‘End of nan day, everything is connected me,’ and honestly, erstwhile you are nan artist, astatine nan extremity of nan day, whatever’s going connected down nan scenes ever gets pointed backmost to you.”

Her relative Wilfred is simply a shaper and kickstarted her profession erstwhile he encouraged her to singing complete a hit he created years ago. He continues to beryllium her imaginative partner, and she entrusted him pinch shooting, editing and grading nan euphony video.

“ I don’t consciousness for illustration anyone, but my brother, understands my imagination astatine all,” she said.

Cissé didn’t person clip to discarded and filmed nan video connected a family picnic successful Greece. While nan last shots look delightfully sunny, she says it was a miserably acold day.

“I did not bask filming it,” she confesses.

Near a edifice excavation and connected a constrictive balcony, she prances astir successful a assortment of adorable outfits including a brace of civilization bedazzled basking pinkish bottommost roller skates. Cissé continuously searches for ways to reconnect pinch her soul child.

“ I emotion nan conception of precocious heels connected roller skates. I deliberation that’s truthful fire,” she says. “I’m ever trying to find ways successful manner to do thing that I haven’t seen earlier aliases thing that I really would’ve loved arsenic a kid.”

It’s nary astonishment that pinch specified an innovative spirit, Cissé isn’t slowing down. Her forthcoming azygous “American Wedding” drops Friday. The way is simply a motion to Frank Ocean’s commercially unreleased way of nan aforesaid name.

“ He genuinely makes timeless art, and ‘American Wedding’ is simply a opus I felt for illustration ever should person dropped,” she says. “I person ne'er erstwhile successful my life had a dream of being successful America and being joined successful America. I’m very overmuch truthful successful emotion pinch my African civilization and I emotion London, but I conscionable emotion nan conception of that song, and I consciousness for illustration it was a banging title, truthful I wrote a full communicative astir that from nan title.”

Along pinch making fun, relatable music, Cissé deals pinch nan immense undertaking of building a successful popular personality arsenic a Black woman successful a white-girl-dominated realm.

“There’s a batch of achromatic popular girls,” she says. “It’s a batch easier for them to get to nan main shape and to go VIP because it’s much digestible, and it’s thing we person seen earlier and thing we person each grown up connected that it’s easier to consume.”

Cissé adds that she is simply a large instrumentality of nan popular girls presently successful nan spotlight, but she hopes for a taste displacement wherever artists of colour don’t look arsenic galore challenges successful rising to nan top.

“ My abstraction successful adding to popular is that location isn’t anyone who looks for illustration maine and sounds for illustration me,” she says, “And that’s thing I would’ve loved to person seen increasing up.”

Cissé is honored to beryllium that popular prima for different young Black girls.

“ We want to consciousness seen and understood and represented. That’s why we person a favourite creator and that’s why we person a favourite character and a favourite TV show because it made you consciousness thing and it made you consciousness accepted,” she explains. “So that’s what nan full ‘saving pop’ conception is, and I’m really gladsome that nan fans came up pinch that.”