In the midst of the most flamboyant era of her career, UK garage and bedroom pop icon Victoria Walker, known universally by her stage name PinkPantheress, is breaking records. Following the release of her highest-charting mixtape Fancy That last May, the singer and producer has become the first woman and youngest person ever (at 24) to receive the award for Best Producer at the BRIT Awards, the premier British pop music award ceremony first held in 1977. This award has previously been presented to dominant names in the music production industry, including Calvin Harris and Paul Epworth. Besides Kate Bush, PinkPantheress is the only other woman to have been nominated for the award in BRIT history, also receiving nominations for Artist of the Year and Best Dance Act.
PinkPantheress’ career thus far is a masterclass in building a celebrated musical platform on a budget. Having gained her initial recognition posting short portions of her self-produced pieces on TikTok, she began to take off fairly quickly with tunes like Just for Me, Pain and Break It Off, which are all bound to be recognized by anyone who used the app in 2021. In the production of these early hits, PinkPantheress utilized the Macbook app GarageBand to sample and adjust beats and used Apple earbuds to capture her vocals — often working in her university dorm room. After garnering this rapid social media attention, she released her inaugural mixtape, To Hell With It, in October 2021.
To this day, PinkPantheress has three official projects to her name, including the mixtapes To Hell With It (2021), Fancy That (2025) and the studio album Heaven Knows (2023). In an interview with radio DJ Zane Lowe, she explained why she refers to certain works as mixtapes and others as albums, feeling as if mixtapes grant her more freedom for experimentation, while albums are more geared towards a particular structure and theme. She’s also recently dropped the remix album Fancy Some More?, which is split into three different discs, with Disc 1 featuring various remixes by a multitude of different artists including Zara Larsson and Bladee, Disc 2 featuring collaborations particularly with DJs and producers like Joe Goddard and Mochakk and Disc 3 including the entirety of the original Fancy That mixtape. This album includes a remix of Stateside featuring Zara Larsson, which peaked at No. 1 on Spotify in early March and was used by gold medalist Alysa Liu as a backing track for her closing ceremony performance at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
PinkPantheress’ distinct eras have seen an increase in boldness since her professional start, signifying her progressive adaptation to the big stage. With this mind, it’s no doubt that the Fancy That era has proven to be her most exuberant, from the striking, red motif to the consistent usage of tartan patterns and even the brighter quality to the songs on the mixtape itself. A compelling illustration of this stylistic evolution can be seen in the contrast between the more introspective, nostalgic and smooth vibe of Pain, the opening track on To Hell With It and the more audacious, fast-tempo and pop-oriented structure of Illegal, the opening track on Fancy That. Her third concert tour, “An Evening With … PinkPantheress,” has championed this aesthetic, and has been running since September 2025, being set to conclude in Berlin, Germany on June 2, 2026.
My personal favorite PinkPantheress tracks include Capable of love, a melancholic masterpiece with a catchy motif, Attracted to You, a brief yet addicting track exploring the theme of fleeting emotions in obsessive relationships and the absolute bop that is Stateside. I’m a huge fan of the way that she has managed to carve out such a particular niche in the world of Gen-Z music and culture. Her signature, nostalgic Y2K vibe brings cohesion to all of her works. The manner in which she blends her soft, bedroom pop vocals with groovy beats and bold riffs is an innovative stylistic choice that doesn’t have many precedents in the music-making world. On top of all this, the authentic way in which she presents herself to the press has garnered her a loyal social media fanbase who appreciates her sense of humor and light-hearted personality.
With her record-breaking accomplishment at the BRIT Awards, PinkPantheress continues to be an inspiration for Gen-Z music artists of all sorts. Her makeshift origins and authentic personality make her an impressive yet relatable figure for many. As she continues to bask in this remarkably successful era of her career, fans can look forward to even more bangers in the future, and perhaps to even more records broken.
Jordan White is a member of the Class of 2029 in the College of Arts and Sciences. He is a staff writer for the Arts & Culture department and can be reached at jiw39@cornell.edu.
