Jumping on tracks with everyone from Rina Sawayama to Rico Nasty, and to the queen of rap herself, Missy Elliott, Bree Runway has only been on the scene a couple of years. But she’s already established herself as one of the most exciting artists to emerge from London’s music scene.
The Hackney pop star is making waves with her shape-shifting and ever-evolving take on sound, which blends frenetic freestyles with elements of R&B and dancehall. Self-recorded over lockdown in her bedroom, the artist’s debut mixtape 2000AND4EVA featured some of our favourite tracks of 2020, with its genre-hopping mix of pop anthems and witty one-liners like, “Skin dark like the window tinted / I’m already better than this next bitch”.
As for her style, it’s equally disruptive. Whether it’s donning ice-blue wigs and five-inch nails in “Little Nokia”, or dripping in diamonds in baddie anthem “ATM”, Bree Runway is constantly reinventing herself.
Fresh off her performance at Dazed Live, the 28-year-old has made appearances on Lady Gaga’s Chromatica remix album and cameoed in Chloe Bailey’s “Have Mercy” music video. With potential collabs with Megan Thee Stallion and Doja Cat on the way, the multihyphenate is bringing her DIY approach to the mainstream – and we can’t help but go “APESHIT” for it.
In an exclusive video with Dazed, Bree Runway gives us the A-Z on all her favourite things, from her go-to restaurant to Chanel and KAWS. She also taps into her recording process, explaining why Beats headphones are her studio essentials. “That’s what I use to check my mixes,” she explains. “When I get a mix back from a song, I listen to it on several different headphones. But my Beats are a major determining factor of whether the song is crap or not.”
Watch the video below for Dazed’s guide to Bree Runway. When you’re finished, head over to the Dazed YouTube and check out our A-Z with Chinese rapper Jackson Wang. Then, dive into South Africa’s Amapiano scene with musician Moonchild Sanelly.
