Singer-songwriter Foushee can summarize her career over the last couple of years with one word: “chaotic.” The musician, who was born and raised in New Jersey as Britanny Fousheé, went from being relatively unknown to releasing two projects, touring with James Blake and Steve Lacy, collaborating on tracks with most of the relevant “Lil rappers— Yachty, Uzi, and Wayne—and wrapped 2022 with a a handful of Grammy nominations for her contributions to Lacy’s Billboard-topping hit “Bad Habit.”
Fousheé’s haunting vocals blew up on TikTok back in 2020 after the rapper Sleepy Hallow sampled them for his single, “Deep End Freestyle.” Initially, no one knew who had contributed the vocals until Foushee revealed herself in a TikTok of her own. She then went on to release her own version of the song, which by September 2022 had amassed more than 234 million streams on Spotify. She signed with RCA, and released her debut project, Time Machine, last June.
Since popping on people’s radar, Foushee has widely been regarded as an up and coming hip-hop and R&B artist, but her latest project softCORE is anything but. Incorporating elements of metal, rock, and noise pop, softCORE is a rage album that zips back and forth between heavy punk influence to folkier sounds. At times Foushee can be screaming, rapping, or singing with the most heavenly vocals. Below, she talks to GQ about the concept behind the album, introducing her new sound on tour, and her Grammy nominations.
If you had to write an artist statement like they do for art exhibitions, what would yours say about softCORE?
A rebellious stance against men, gender norms, and a well-needed release for me.
This album sounds very different from your first. When you were in the process of creating and writing, when did you know that you were going to go the route that you did musically?
I would say after [the song] “i’m fine.” Before that, I was creating [tracks] that felt very similar to each other. I was mostly accessing a very vulnerable soft side of me. And one day on the first tour with James Blake during our Philly stop, I linked with [producer] Bnyx. I’m not sure where the idea came from. I just felt the need for something different. And I told him I wanted to make a song that was folk and metal. And he really just jumped on the opportunity and made a version of what “i’m fine” became. It just felt really good, the contrast and the meeting of worlds that I never really heard in one place. I fell in love with how it felt. I wanted to be louder, more present and make noise and make music that I felt wasn’t out there and say things that I haven’t expressed before. The project kind of goes back and forth between the varying textures in “i’m fine.” Both soft and grungy, but mostly grungy.
I can hear that a little bit, especially with a song like “Stupid Bitch,” where it’s very tough at the beginning. Then halfway through it becomes soft. You’ve mentioned that this album is a twist on gender norms. Can you explain what that means?
Precious Fondren
Source link
