flowerovlove is blooming

As soon as flowerovlove appears, the 20-year-old singer is oozing the same girly-pop energy that she does on stage and social media. She compliments my “lip combo”, we bond over a shared dislike for dating actors — “How can I know anything [they’re] fucking saying is true?” — and we discuss our fur babies (the “breaking news” singer’s is a two-year-old cocker spaniel).

It wouldn’t be hard to mistake flowerovlove (real name Joyce Cisse) for a regular, sweet Gen Z girl. That is, if the stellar dress sense that comes with featuring in Gucci campaigns and sitting front row at Chanel at Paris Fashion Week didn’t give her away. “I’m not really playing a character,” says the singer-songwriter, known for her glitter-pop sound and matching style. “I’m genuinely super-girly and obsessed with little skirts and socks and cute shoes and mini bows.” It’s true — even flowerovlove’s Instagram bio reads “mini skirt warrior”. And those three words underpin the artist perfectly. She’s sweet as candy but possesses a dogged confidence and don’t-fuck-with-me attitude that speaks to something far more nuanced. “I’m such a lover girl,” she admits. “But I’m
also a nonchalant queen.”

It’s this same kind of juxtaposition that flowerovlove explores on her debut EP, ache in my tooth, which dropped last October. Across the record’s six songs — which the artist describes as a “love letter in terms of how my love life went that year” — flowerovlove goes through the motions from infatuation to heartbreak. “Love can be so sweet that it hurts,” she says. “Like how toothaches hurt, also because of something so sweet.” When it comes to discussing relationships, flowerovlove has a self-assuredness beyond her years. “As much as that lover side of me is very much there, I will not accept shit,” she affirms. “Like, if I ask you to jump, I want you to do a backflip. You have to go above and beyond.”

That self-possession can also be seen in how the south Londoner has pursued her music career — she feels no uncertainty about whether she’s in the right industry. And with her having ticked off a headline tour across the UK and US, as well as a Glastonbury debut last year (plus an upcoming slot at Lollapalooza), that comes as no surprise. “I think I’m good at stuff, but I think I’m great at this,” she effuses. “Music is just everything. It’s the only thing I actually give a shit about.” It’s this passion and aptitude for self-expression that makes my chat with the pop princess so easy.

This excerpt was taken from HUNGER Issue 34: Fight Back. Stay tuned for the full story.