Griff has without doubt been the breakthrough sound of 2021. The Brit Award winning artist, producer, designer and all-round star became the first female artist to go top 5 with a mixtape on this summer’s acclaimed One Foot In Front Of The Other: featuring the anthemic hit single ‘Black Hole’, Griff followed up with recent single ‘One Night’, before finally taking her astonishingly accomplished live show out on the road for her first official dates
All of which is far removed from Griff’s origin-story. Born in the sleepy town of Kings Langley, she started writing music aged fifteen, also realising at an early age - from her Chinese-Jamaican heritage to their lively family household, who also foster children - that she was different. Griff found inspiration from strong pop heroes like Lorde, Banks and Taylor Swift (now, famously, a fan) as well as, increasingly, from the lack of representation in her industry. Suitably, Griff taught herself to produce music, turned a casual Textiles A-Level into making many of her own clothes (including her and her band’s performance outfits for the BRITs), and adopted an iconic bubble-ponytail before she had released her first ever EP.
In the last year or so, Griff has - largely, confined in that same bedroom - found herself hailed the new queen of British Pop: a steep learning curve for any young artist, making her breakthrough all the remarkable having been done over Zoom. For songs often written about feeling out of control, it’s remarkable to find a young artist as in control (and now, determined to make a difference) as Griff. As she ventures out to her devoted fanbase for the first time IRL, what cuts through in Griff’s work is the importance of friendship, family, and the importance of ultimately only listening to yourself. Catch her live, whilst you still can
