PinkPantheress. Photo by HELLE ARENSBAK/Ritzau Scanpix/AFP via Getty Images
The whitewashing of electronic music is a well-documented issue, and PinkPantheress has spoken out on how bias has affected her own career during a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
“People are less willing to listen to electronic music that is made by a Black woman. That’s just fact,” she told the publication. Later, she said that hang-ups about genre are another significant hurdle she faces. “There’s some considerations I would like to get as an artist which I might not be getting right now, since maybe it’s harder to put me into a genre.”
“I’m in a very privileged position musically,” she continues. “But [I] can feel a little bit like I’m hitting all these markers and it still feels like I’m getting overlooked, simply because there’s a lot of people that don’t necessarily understand what I represent, nor do they want to take a look because I think it just doesn’t make sense for them.”
PinkPantheress has navigated questions of how race connects with her music since the beginning of her career. “People thought I was white before they knew I was Black,” she said in a 2024 interview. “When they found out about my identity, many people were shocked. It’s a testament to what society defines as Black music.”
Fancy That, PinkPantheress’s second full-length project, dropped on May 9. She’ll tour in support of the album later this year for her first run of dates as a (kind of) full-fledged doctor.
