Name: Bree Runway

Where She’s From: Hackney, East London

When She Started: 2014

Genre: Pop

File Next To: Normani, Ebony Bones, Gwen Stefani

Sounds like: “Destruction, freedom, colours, and happiness!”

First Music That Inspired Her: “The early 2000s MTV era literally sparked a dangerous fire in me. Acts such as Timbaland, Missy Elliott, Britney and also the Pharrell collaboration era were all insane! It all showed me that you can really carve out your own lane, thrive in it and make timeless work that’s spoken about for years and years to come.”

Bree Runway is a renegade, bridging the gap between what an old pop star looks and feels like and what it means to be one in 2019. Beginning in secondary school, the East London artist turned to music technology classes as a source of productivity. She tells us that this is where she began to produce her own tracks and delve into songwriting. Despite her strong passions for both, fear initially stopped Runway from pursuing music further as an early teenager.

Trading doubt for determination, she embraced social media and used it to build a loyal following through her EPs RNWY 01 and Bouji. The singer’s potent delivery and light husk allowed her introductory trap-pop sound to resonate online, gaining early co-signs from industry peers, such as Lancey Foxx. As Runway explains it, she can “jump on anything and make it hot.” Visually, even as an independent artist, the Hackney-raised talent has always provided well-packaged music videos, bringing her songs to life. “Butterfly”, for example, was directed by herself and shot by her runway model best friend, Leomie Anderson.

Bree Runway’s attention to detail and consistency landed her a recording contract with Virgin EMI in 2018. In the months that followed, she honed in on her vulnerability, creating a true-to-form label debut entitled Be Runway. The EP’s first release, “2 On”, tackled self-perfection and the struggle to fit in, with the punchy, anthemic track tapping into the confident side of the creator and demonstrating an expression that is beyond comparison. Commenting on both the single and its accompanying visual, Runway said that she’s “always been the ‘weird, black girl’” and that she’s refusing to shy away from it at this point in her career. As a project, Be Runway articulated a clear growth and signs of an act truly aware of who they are and how they should sound.

Bree Runway arrives at a time where the pop music market still has a way to go in the diversity stakes, but she’s quick to tell TRENCH that she is “hella bold, fearless and free” in her pursuit of superstardom. Watch her go!