a) PinkPantheress aka Vicky Walker, is an English singer / songwriter / producer, who has blown up online this past year. Her distinctly high pitched and catchy vocals on top of modernised jungle and drum ‘n’ bass instrumentals set her apart from other online musical artists and trends.
b) While studying film at the University of the Arts London, Vicky created a TikTok account by the username PinkPantheress. As she posted her music on the platform, it went viral, leading to a signing at Parlophone Records. Her most popular song on tiktok is “Just for me” which has over 2 million videos created with the sound. The #pinkpantheress tag on Tiktok has 191 million views attributed to the videos that obtain the hashtag.
c) Pinkpantheress has a fairly small online presence for an artist of her magnitude who gained her following online. However, she’s played 3 solo shows in and around London so far. And with more gigs on the way, playing huge festivals like Reading & Leeds in the UK, and Primavera Sound in Los Angeles, one has to think something is working in terms of her management and marketing.
d) For a lot of online artists, especially those on Tiktok, longevity is their kryptonite. They blow up, have their moment, and fall just as quickly as they rose. However, I think the case is different for PinkPantheress. While her come up through Tiktok is one many artists have followed, I think the business side of her career has done well so far to keep her career alive, and I think if she continues to play her cards right, her longevity will be a landmark that other small artists online can follow for years to come.
e) What I’ve learnt, and I think others will take away from PinkPantheress’ story and career so far, is that while the road she took is a busy one, the uniqueness and genre-bending style of her music surpasses all of that. So the first step in achieving music stardom, longevity included, is to simply make good music. I think her entrance into the industry is absolutely repeatable, and anyone can do it. She started from her college dorm and in less than a year is on the main stage at Reading. There’s no reason why any one person can’t replicate her path into musical stardom and notoriety.
f)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PinkPantheress#Career
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10382161/TikTok-sensation-PinkPantheress-posh-daughter-statistics-professor-civil-servant.html
https://www.musicweek.com/talent/read/inside-pinkpantheress-groundbreaking-campaign-with-parlophone-spotify-and-up-close-management/084919PinkPantheress
https://www.songkick.com/artists/10176925-pinkpantheress
https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/m7e3xa/pinkpantheress-
Time With Me – Pinkpantheress
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQyrXIyZM0g&list=PLl0lBgbhKo3uoB0It9e57y6lxtVx6h3zM&index=1
I’ve been listening to Pinkpantheress for a couple months, starting with her small discography on SoundCloud. Time With Me is one of her songs that I discovered more recently, and it’s quickly become one of my favourites of hers. Pinkpantheress’ sound has influences of DnB & electronica and uses funk samples in a couple of her tracks. I love this track specifically because of its funny lyrics, its dirty jazzy chords, and the quick but laid back drums.
Frank Ocean – Songs for Women
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2VRjNmYyts&list=PLl0lBgbhKo3uoB0It9e57y6lxtVx6h3zM&index=2
I listen to a lot of Frank Ocean, but I had never heard this song because it’s only available on SoundCloud. I love the instrumental of this song, produced by Happy Perez, but what I love even more is the lyrics. On the surface, it’s a funny song about how Frank likes to use his musical talent to attract women, but as I dove deeper into the lyrics I realised that the song is about Frank deciding whether to rue or revel in his conflicted feelings about women. On one hand his musical talent gives him leverage with the ladies, but the struggle and effort of creating the music pushes his love interest further away, as they spend less time together.
Baraka – I’ll be There
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxcz83OFB1g&list=PLl0lBgbhKo3uoB0It9e57y6lxtVx6h3zM&index=4
I found this song while scrolling through old Jungle/DnB mixes on YouTube. It was released in 1995, and after searching for the DJ on google I could find 2 pieces of information about him: His real name is John Lisners, and a blurry picture of him with sunglasses and a hat on. Despite the fact that he’s virtually unknown and a very mysterious figure, I’ll be There is a very popular jungle classic and the comments on the YouTube Video regard it as one of the greatest Jungle tracks of all time. I see where they’re coming from. This track is near perfect, from the bouncing lead synth, to the fast, hard hitting drums, to the breakdowns where he chops each sound up and switches them around to create a new but old sound.
G Moore – Dash
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30KdUA-2Is0&list=PLl0lBgbhKo3uoB0It9e57y6lxtVx6h3zM&index=3
Like Pinkpantheress, I discovered G Moore on SoundCloud not long ago. Admittedly, I knew this song before I started this assignment, but I wanted to talk about and share with the class one part of the song that I love. At around 0:45, there’s a breakdown before the chorus that includes cutting the drums and introducing a new vocal line; one that is chopped up parts of G Moore singing the same hook. I love this part of the song because it’s something new and fresh that I’ve never heard before. I’m hoping that G Moore expands his discography more with this type of vocal chop and it becomes a trend among SoundCloud rappers.
Midnight Blue – Thelonious Monk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUJokFtH8JM&list=PLl0lBgbhKo3uoB0It9e57y6lxtVx6h3zM&index=5
I found this song on another deep YouTube dive, this time videos of old jazz legends and their songs. I had heard of Thelonious Monk but never dove deep into his music. I listen to a lot of jazz, and as a jazz guitar player, always appreciate when I hear a guitar-centered song. The tone and the solos of the guitar made me fall in love with the song instantly. The song sounds like a mix of old school blues and old school smooth jazz, a mashup which I greatly appreciate.