Who Makes PinkPantheress' Beats?
The London-based artist PinkPantheress is currently making waves in the music industry. If you’re anything like me, you’re living under a rock without TikTok and almost exclusively listening to rap music, so you haven’t. But a lot of people have. And for good reason.
PinkPantheress is twenty years old and has been making music for about four years. Recently, she’s blown up on TikTok, amassing millions of likes and almost a million followers in the past year. Her music can be described as a mix between pop and hyper-pop. Despite my general avoidance of such genres, I can’t stop listening to some of her songs. For example, as I’ve been her song “Passion” has been on a non-stop loop for me. Something about the combination of pinkpantheress’ soft voice, the tempo, and the dark bass makes for an encapsulating track that arouses feelings of coziness, love, and dance parties with pink and blue lights.
There’s something about her music that sets it apart from traditional hyper-pop and leaves it in this gray area between hyper-pop and pop. It keeps some instrumentation and the tempo from hyper-pop, but her vocals are still elegant. On “Break It Off,” you can hear the softness of her voice despite the crazy drum break making me feel like I’m on a bullet train. It’s a weird dichotomy––I feel like I’m going super fast from the break but I also feel like I’m in space with her vocals, especially with the echo from her “Hey!” chant. The song is probably supposed to feel hectic, but in a good way. I think its music video reinforces that.
What makes me even more drawn to her music is the fact that she produces on a lot of her songs. Her biggest song, “Pain,” was exclusively produced by her, and a majority of her other tracks are the same way. She has also worked with Mura Masa, Oscar Scheller, and many up and coming producers like IZCO and Jkarri.
Jkarri
Jkarri is a producer based in South East London. In an interview on Lost in the Mix, Jkarri said that after his production on “Passion,” he’s been hit up by a lot of new artists, which is exciting even though it differs from his style of working off waves of inspiration. Jkarri is currently attending university and studying sound design on top of working with and playing guitar for Osquello and Bel Cobain. He also works with close friend IZCO and says the two have lots of new music on the way.
IZCO
IZCO (Izzy Cofie) is a Hackney native and co-producer on “Passion.” According to a collaboration with Adidas, IZCO began producing with Logic Pro X at the age of eleven. Jkarri describes IZCO’s signature style as “jungle breaks,” and IZCO said that his strengths are in the realms of rhythm and drum patterns. He’s also really into sampling due to the endless possibilities it presents and the appreciation it shows to the original artist.
Oscar Scheller
Oscar Scheller produced “Noticed I Cried,” and currently resides in North London. Growing up, he was always drawn to music and attended art school. He began producing in his bedroom. Scheller’s style is darker and heavy-hearted. In an interview with Impose Magazine, he stated that, “Music has really been therapy for me…I’ve used it either to understand or reflect on things, and at points to survive traumas.” Scheller works heavily with Ashnikko, who’s music can be described as a mix of hip-hop and punky electro-pop. On top of that, he’s also worked with Doja Cat, Brooke Candy, and Lady Gaga.
Mura Masa
Hailing from the island of Guernsey, Mura Masa (Alexander Crossan) holds a massive spot in the world of electronic music. He produced PinkPantheress’s “Just for me.” His song “Love$ick” featuring A$AP Rocky reached number one on the U.S. and U.K. viral charts. While he’s made huge waves as an electronic musician, his bounds are limitless. Crossan’s most recent project R.Y.C (Raw Youth Collage) was heavily influenced by his love for bands like Joy Division and New Order. According to his interview with The FADER, Crossan said he, “skipped the difficult second album” and “went straight to the third one.” It’s a great album, one where you can hear the roots of his electronic style mixed with rock, punk, and indie.