PinkPantheress has shed light on getting recognition as a Black woman in electronic music, saying she can often feel “overlooked” and misunderstood.
The British singer-songwriter and record producer recently spoke to The Hollywood Reporter, saying that while she enjoyed the viral moment ‘Fancy That’ track ‘Illegal’ provided, it was hard to get “taken seriously” and rise through the ranks.
“People are less willing to listen to electronic music that is made by a Black woman. That’s just fact,” she said. “There’s some considerations I would like to get as an artist which I might not be getting right now, since maybe it’s harder to put me into a genre.”
Touching on meeting Paramore’s Hayley Williams, who she described as a huge inspiration, she continued: “When I have these pinch me moments, it’s like, ‘Wow, I really need to hold on to this, because I don’t know when the next one will be.
“I suppose it’s harder for me to be taken seriously and rise the ranks.”
It echoes comments she made to NME in 2023, where she said she was glad to be representing her own unique blend of alt-pop and drum’n’bass as a Black woman. “It’s another example of Black people managing to spearhead a whole genre of music, and I’m really glad I’m the one doing that,” she told us.
“I always give credit to my influences, if it’s Lily Allen, Imogen Heap, even someone like Kaytranada — I’ve always said he’s one of my main influences. Black people making this type of music specifically, it’s quite sparse. If I have to shout out anyone it’s Nia Archives, who is another Black woman who was doing drum’n’bass before me.”
Now, following the release of ‘Fancy That’ – which was listed on NME’s list of the best albums of 2025 so far – she said she felt like she was “cutting through” the mainstream and is now in a “very privileged position musically”.
However, the ‘Boy’s A Liar’ artist added that it still feels like she’s being “overlooked, simply because there’s a lot of people that don’t necessarily understand what I represent, nor do they want to take a look because I think it just doesn’t make sense for them.”
“Having that person challenging the way a pop star should look or be — which is what I do, unintentionally and sometimes intentionally — it just doesn’t translate to a lot of people,” she said.
She continues to surprise fans, recently joking that her whole life felt like “side missions at this point” after being awarded with an honorary doctorate in music by the University of Kent. Likewise, she made headlines this month after sharing that she had won a trophy after taking part in a chess tournament for under-25s.
“All I aim to do is stay authentic and consistent,” she said. “And occasionally, what I enjoy doing is [saying], ‘Well actually, I’m gonna prove you wrong, and I’m gonna do this, you are gonna like it.’ And then once you like it, you’re gonna realize: ‘Wait, I don’t know why I never gave her a chance in the first place.’”
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