Gabriella Bishop, professionally known as bshp (pronounced 'bishop'), is an English musician from

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

. She featured on Nathan Dawe and

Bru-C Josh Bruce (born 28 June 1991), professionally known as Bru-C, is a British MC and rapper from Long Eaton, Derbyshire, England, but now based in Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kin ...

's "Oh Baby" featuring

Issey Cross Mark Wilkinson (born 18 April 1989), better known by his stage name Wilkinson, is an English record producer, DJ and remixer from Hammersmith, England. He has released music on RAM Records and Hospital Records, as well as Virgin EMI. His 2013 ...

, which peaked at No. 35 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. She has performed at

Loud LDN Loud LDN is a collective of female and gender-expansive artists based in London. It was described by ''NME'' in December 2022 as a "community of hellip; drum 'n' bass, pop, and R&B artists at all stages in their careers". Formed in May 2022 by ...

events.

Life and career

Early life and Gabriella Vixen

Gabriella Bishop grew up in a large family in

. She attended weekly dance lessons while at school, and started writing songs while working as a university timetabler. Her early work was released under the name Gabriella Vixen, a name given to her by a friend. As Vixen, she released "Keep Your Love On Me" (with Freedo) on September 22, 2017; she had originally come to Freedo's attention after demonstrating a track intended for Rita Ora. She then released "Golden" on February 26, 2018, a love song about self-worth, and on April 20, 2018, she released "Maybe", which described relationship problems. On September 20, 2018, she released "Old Mistake", a warning against reuniting with ex-partners, and on February 14, 2019, she released "Fool", a song about showing strength after a breakup. On March 20, 2019, she featured on the album track "Wait for You" from Talos' EP "Iridescent" featuring Coops, and on May 3, 2019, she released "Wave" (with Jay Wilcox and MAFRO).

bshp

Bishop then signed to

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

and changed her stage name to bshp, as she wanted a fresh start. She released "bshp" on January 17, 2020, which contained covers of "

Passionfruit ''Passiflora edulis,'' commonly known as passion fruit, is a vine species of passion flower native to southern Brazil through Paraguay and northern Argentina. It is cultivated commercially in tropical and subtropical areas for its sweet, seedy f ...

" by

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

and " Kissing You" by Des'ree. The latter was one of seven covers of songs she loved and had always wanted to cover. It appeared on the January 30, 2020, broadcast of ''

Love Island Love Island may refer to: Film * ''Love Island'' (1952 film), an American film directed by Adam Lloyd starring Todd Wathen and Eva Gabor * ''Love Island'' (2014 film), directed by Jasmila Žbanić Music * ''Love Island'' (album), a 1978 album ...

'', playing during a kiss between contestants Nas Majeed and Demi Jones; as of February 2022, the song has been streamed more than 3 million times on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

. "Passionfruit" would later feature on the August 4, 2021, broadcast of the following series. On January 22, 2021, she released "Never Mind", a song about a guilty pleasure romance, on Island; an acoustic version would also be used on ''

'' on July 10, 2022. On March 19, 2021, she released "Solid Gold", a collaboration with Disciples, and on May 7, 2021, she released Every Song, a collaboration with Duvall from Disciples. In 2021, she left Island Records, and on December 9, 2021, she released a solo single, "STFU", a song about reclaiming power after a bad relationship. On March 11, 2022, Bishop and numerous other musicians all featured on I Know A Woman's "I Know A Woman", a charity release designed to raise money for the MusiCares Foundation. On February 3, 2023, she and

were featured on Nathan Dawe and

's "Oh Baby", which charted at No. 35 on the

, and on February 21, 2023, it was used on the ninth series of ''

''. In March 2023, she performed at Colours in Hoxton as part of a

event, and on July 7, 2023, she released "Sweet".

Artistry

Bishop told ''Purple Melon'' in October 2018 that her influences were

Chris Brown Christopher Maurice Brown (born May 5, 1989) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and actor. According to '' Billboard'', Brown is one of the most successful R&B singers of his generation, having often been referred to by many contempo ...

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whi ...

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...

, and

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

, as well as " ything

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

-influenced, ndold-school R&B".

Notes

References

{{reflist People from Orpington Musicians from Kent