Like many other people, I found out about flowerovlove through TikTok about a year ago, specifically a video promoting her viral single “breaking news.” The clip that I saw was from the music video, and I was blown away by her airy vocals. Naturally, I went on YouTube to check out the music video, and it follows flowerovlove falling in love with a boy in a library as they listen to “breaking news.” It is such a cute and wholesome video that perfectly captures her lovergirl persona.
What I love specifically about “breaking news” is that it falls into the glittery pen song genre, but it also shows what it’s like to be so infatuated with someone that you can’t hide it anymore. I can see the song being in a 2000s rom-com as the main protagonist realizes they have feelings for someone.
After watching the “breaking news” music video, I went back to flowerovlove’s TikTok page and did a little bit of a deep dive. I saw clips of her performing at a festival and fell in love with her babydoll style: a signature afro, minidress, long socks, and black heels.
I checked out her 2024 EP ache in my tooth shortly after my deep dive. Led by singles “a girl like me,” “breaking news,” and “erase u,” flowerovlove (real name Joyce Cissé) captures the whimsy feeling that pop music has desperately been needing. She has a knack for making you feel like you’re starring in a film in which your emotions are on full display. After all, she is a self-proclaimed lover girl, sure to give everyone the feels.
At 20 years old, the British singer has a confessional type of songwriting. flowerovlove made her debut in 2021 with her EP Think Flower and released her second EP A Mosh Pit In The Clouds (2022). After her second project, she signed to Capitol Records. In 2024, she made her Glastonbury debut, won the Women in Music New Artist award, and went on a headlining tour across the UK and the United States.
I still can’t get enough of this EP, as there is something for everyone. “A girl like me” confronts that daunting fear we all have if the person we like can ever really like us back. “erase u” is too relatable in the fact that you can’t get that special someone out of your head, and you eventually just give in.
“ARE U SERIOUS?” confronts the lover in question if they like you as much as they say they do.
“congrats! u did it!” grapples with the end of a toxic relationship in which a lover got you right where they want you.
While “ache in my tooth” shows off flowerovlove’s lovergirl side, her recent single run has shown her more of a gutsy personality. So far, flowerovlove has released 4 new tracks: “I’ve seen ur ex,” “new friends,” “I’m your first,” and “shady.”
“I’ve seen your ex” shows Joyce asserting her worth, letting her partner know that he won’t be able to handle her and that she likes her partner’s infatuation with her.
“new friends” is a truthfully honest track about how she doesn’t want to stay friends with the person she was interested in.
“I’m your first” follows a similar theme to “I’ve seen your ex,” but Joyce exudes self-confidence, assuring her lover that she is everyone’s type and that they are lucky to have her.
“shady” follows Joyce as she is disillusioned at how her lover fumbled their relationship.
Top 3 tracks: “breaking news,” “ARE U SERIOUS?,” “new friends”
A running line in some of flowerovlove’s songs is that she is saving pop music. I think she is so inspiring as a young Black woman making it in the pop scene, which has historically been tied to kicking Black women out. On her TikTok, she confronts people’s assumptions about her making R&B music and plays a clip of her music and captions those videos, “Black girls in pop.” When speaking to NME on her views regarding Black women in pop, flowerovlove shared, “I think it’s important because there’s a space to be filled for a Black girl in pop.”
flowerovlove’s star is on the rise. With shoutouts from SZA, her song “Love You” featured on Netflix’s Heartstopper, opening for Olivia Rodrigo at the 2025 BST Hyde Park festival, to her performing at Coachella in 2026, it seems nothing can stop flowerovlove from taking over pop music!
Image Credit: Rick Kern / Contributor | Getty Images
