Piri

Sophie McBurnie (born 14 March 1999), known professionally as Piri (stylised in lowercase), is an English musician and social media personality. She is a member of Piri & Tommy and Loud LDN, and along with venbee and PinkPantheress, has been described as a leader of the 2020s drum and bass revival.

Born in Rochdale, McBurnie met Tommy Villiers of Porij and See Thru Hands after matching with him on Tinder, finding his band on Twitter, and messaging him on Instagram, in that order. He produced her first single, the 12 March 2021 disco song "It's a Match", and then her 4 June 2021 liquid drum and bass song " Soft Spot"; after the song went viral on TikTok and Spotify, EMI signed them, re-released "Soft Spot" on 13 September 2021 as Piri & Tommy Villiers, and released their joint jungle track "Beachin" on 29 January 2022 and their speed garage song " Words" on 22 April 2022.

Later in 2022, they signed with Polydor Records, on which they released the liquid drum and bass song " On & On" on 28 July 2022, which charted at number 99 on the UK Singles Chart on 11 November 2022; they also released the mixtape ''froge.mp3'' on 21 October 2022 and " Unlock It", a cover of the Charli XCX, Kim Petras and Jay Park song, on 11 November 2022. After it was announced in January 2023 that McBurnie and Villiers had broken up, the pair were featured on MJ Cole's 20 January 2023 UK garage single "Feel It", before releasing their own single, the hyperpop song " Updown", on 17 February 2023. On 28 April 2023, she featured on Sudley's "Fumble", and on 24 May 2023, they released "Nice 2 Me".

Life and career

1999–2021: Early life, cover versions, "It's a Match", and "Soft Spot"

McBurnie was born on 14 March 1999 and grew up in Rochdale. Her parents were an Asda manager and a human resources manager. Her stage name, which she stylises in lowercase, was a truncated form of pirickili, which was created for a Tumblr account; in an interview with Unity Radio in October 2021, she said that she came across it after "using a gibberish word generator to come up with a username .. and then everyone just shortened that to piri when talking to eronline". She holds a degree in chemistry from Lancaster University, at which she was a member of the pole fitness society. She had previously worked part time shifts at Asda, and had previously wanted to become a lecturer after being inspired by her organic chemistry lecturer. In an interview with Reform Radio in October 2021, she mentioned that she got into dance music after being introduced to it during her second year of university, and in an interview with Reprezent Radio in March 2022, she pointed out that she was listening to "loads of tech house" while writing her dissertation.

McBurnie set up an OnlyFans account in May 2020 as she found herself £2,000 into her overdraft after completing her degree, with shifts at Asda failing to clear her debt. She told '' The Times'' in November 2022 that she experienced less backlash than she was expecting, and that her account had "about 1,000 to 2,000 fans paying about $12 a month", which after the site had deducted its fees meant she made "between $10,000 and $20,000 a month", which she was able to use to fund her music career, buy a computer and microphone, and move to north London. She has also credited the site with increasing her body confidence.

McBurnie met Tommy Villiers, a member of Porij and See Thru Hands, in 2020, after matching on Tinder, finding his band on Twitter, finding his Instagram account, and asking him if she could "shoot ershot", in that order. Their first date was at Piccadilly Gardens, where they bonded over a shared love of disco. During the third United Kingdom COVID-19 lockdown in 2020, they formed a support bubble in a student house in Manchester. In November 2020, McBurnie and Villiers released two cover versions to YouTube; on 14 November 2020, she released a cover of "Mooo!" by Doja Cat, and on 22 November, she released a version of " You're the One" by Kaytranada featuring Syd. On 19 February 2021, she released an acoustic cover version of " The Last Time" by Eric Benét. On 12 March 2021, McBurnie released "It's a Match" as a solo artist on DistroKid; the song has been described as "disco-infused". She released one further cover version to YouTube on 25 March 2021, a version of " Teardrops" by Womack & Womack.

Later that year, McBurnie released " Soft Spot", another solo single, on 4 June 2021 on DistroKid. The song has been described as " liquid drum 'n' bass" and features loon birds. She told '' NME'' in December 2021 that the song was about "falling for someone and being unsure if they feel the same, but still having no way to stop yourself – but with optimism that it will all work out". The song went viral after being featured in a TikTok video of a creator making a Japanese bench, which acquired 1,000,000 views; the song saw use in 130,000 videos, which caught the attention of EMI, who re-released "Soft Spot" as Piri & Tommy Villiers on 13 September 2021. MJ Cole provided the song's official remix after she and Villiers sent a long list of suggested artists to their label, including bigger artists such as Cole, and were not expecting him to respond. A music video was released on 4 June 2021.

2022: "Beachin", "Words", "On & On", ''froge.mp3'', and "Unlock It"

McBurnie and Villiers's follow up single, "Beachin", was released on 28 January 2022, with Skream providing the official remix. It was written after a trip to Formby beach in Liverpool, and its lyrics were an attempt at encapsulating how much they enjoyed the trip and how close they felt afterwards. The song was Villiers's attempt at making a jungle track, which he later annotated with what he described as "some Isley Brothers type of tones", and which ends with a spoken word section, from a video of the trip.

Their next release, " Words", was released on 22 April 2022. Remixes came from Hamdi and Higgo. The song was intended by Villiers as a " Disclosure meets old school speed garage" song. Lyrically, the song describes a challenging period in their relationship, and helped them express their frustrations and work through their problems; it has been described by McBurnie as a "kind of a commentary on different levels of maturity in relationships, particularly in young people". In the week after its release, the band went on a three-day tour. A music video for "Words" was released on 17 June 2022. In May 2022, McBurnie joined a group chat, "Ladies Making Noise in London", set up by Coupdekat and Maisi, which would later become Loud LDN.

In June 2022, the '' Manchester Evening News'' noted that McBurnie and Villiers had signed to Polydor Records, as part of a review of their Glastonbury performance. Their first single on Polydor, " On & On", was released on 28 July 2022, with Sammy Virji and Sudley providing remixes. A music video was released on 12 October 2022. It was written in September 2021 shortly after the pair attended that year's Parklife Festival, has been described as having a " liquid DnB beat and textural garage-esque synths", and was described by McBurnie during an MTV interview as being written "about British festival culture and how people can get really tired and like dirty, especially by the third day of the festival, but you just have this like drive ojust keep on moving".

On 23 August 2022, McBurnie was featured on the remix of KkbutTerFLY27 Xx's single "OMG I Rlly Like U". Later that month, McBurnie and Villiers performed at Reading Festival. She signed a solo publishing record deal in September 2022 with Warner Chappell Music. "Soft Spot", "Beachin", "Words", and "On & On" featured on their mixtape ''froge.mp3'' (), which was released on 21 October 2022, with a vinyl release on 22 April 2023. The mixtape contained songs about their relationship, and was promoted with a nine-date tour, froge.tour, in November 2022, and a twelve episode YouTube Shorts series, ''froge.tv'', in which McBurnie and Villiers explained what the album's songs were written about.

McBurnie, Venbee and PinkPantheress were described in November 2022 by ''NME'' as "leading the new British drum 'n' bass scene". Their final single as Piri & Tommy, " Unlock It", was first released as an Apple Music exclusive on 13 September 2022 and then re-released on 11 November 2022. The song was a cover of the Charli XCX, Kim Petras and Jay Park song of the same name, and has been described as a "blend fbubblegum pop and drum & bass". In December 2022, the band were longlisted for the BBC's Sound of 2023. In December 2022, she uploaded four solo compositions to SoundCloud; "Lonely v2" on 11 December, "Oh Baby ! v3" on 15 December, "Sunblock v1" on 21 December, and "Supposed To v3" on 28 December.

2023–present: "Feel It", "Updown", "Fumble", and "Nice 2 Me"

On 11 January 2023, '' Clash'' reported that McBurnie and Villiers had split up, but remained friends, would release previously recorded music, and planned to work together in the future. On 20 January, the pair released "Feel It" with MJ Cole on 892 Recordings; the song has been described as "UK garage-oriented". The song contains a guitar solo from Villiers. The original version was used in a 13 February 2023 ''Love Island'' broadcast.

One further single with Villiers, " Updown", was released on 17 February 2023; she wrote the song about a year earlier, and about the cowgirl sex position. The song has been described as "hyperpop"; she told Danny Howard's Radio 1 Dance Party that it had a "really fast ..four-to-the-floor beat". The song's chorus was made after she accidentally copied and pasted her vocals. The song features a " Crazy Frog drop" at the end; she told Capital Dance upon its release that Villiers had added it during preparation for piri & tommy live sets, as he wanted it to "pop off extra hard ...then we loved it so much we kept it in the full thing". A music video for the song was released on 2 March 2023; another music video containing piri, that of Maisi's "Over & Over Again", was released on 24 March 2023.

On 28 April 2023, McBurnie featured on "Fumble" by Sudley, which was released on DnB Allstars Records; she told Clara Amfo's Radio 1's Future Sounds that the song was written as a "breakup song that had a more empowering and positive spin on it", and about "that feeling a few weeks after a breakup, where you're kind of like, damn, I'm actually a catch, and my ex is the one missing out". On 24 May 2023, she and Villiers released "Nice 2 Me", a combination of jungle and bossa nova that sampled the Amen break, about wanting to be treated well in a relationship.

Artistry

Voice and songwriting

Descriptions of McBurnie's voice have ranged from "dreamy" to "sugar sweet" to "whispery" to "light and hazy" to "angelic". McBurnie co-wrote ''froge.mp3'' entirely with Villiers. Her songwriting has been described as having a "no-messing-about attitude she tells it how it is, always". She told '' Notion'' in March 2022 that she usually writes about "whatever he'sfeeling at that exact time", and that "a lot of our songs kind of act like a snapshot of how life/ our relationship was at the time of the writing". The first song she and Villiers wrote together was "Sunlight", a house track, and the last track on ''froge.mp3''.

Influences

She told 1883 in September 2021 that she "grew up in a house with an R&B and hip-hop mum and a rock'n'roll dad" and that her favourite artist growing up was the Arctic Monkeys. She has credited Tommy Villiers with helping her realise what she was capable of; she told DIY in September 2022 that she "didn't really ever intend to be a musician. I always played guitar, but I didn't really see any way to make actual music. It seemed like, super impossible. I would always just write songs, ut it wasvery much a hobby". She is also a fan of Doja Cat and Red Velvet, and takes inspiration from Nia Archives, Charli XCX and Sophie. In addition, "Nice 2 Me" was inspired by DJ Marky.

Music videos and stage

A crocheted frog hat is a staple of her signature look; she told '' Dork'' in November 2022 that when McBurnie and Villiers met, she was in a phase of drawing frogs and toads, and they started calling each other 'froge' as a nickname. Her amphibian motif extended into the band's videos; their "Words" video featured a frog jumping around, while the "On & On" video featured her accidentally eating a psychedelic frog-filled hot dog and the band's "Updown" video features her turning the director into a frog. She is also noted for her pole dancing, which she started at the pole fitness society at Lancaster University whilst in her second year after attending a taster session with her housemate as a joke, and which she occasionally integrates into her performances, such as in the music videos for "Soft Spot" and "Updown", and whilst performing on-stage. She told Reform Radio in October 2021 that she considered it "amazing for fitness" and "a great way to make friends". A November 2022 ''Gigwise'' review noted that Piri & Tommy "dressed exactly how you'd expect a Gen Z raver couple to dress". Live Piri & Tommy shows featured Piri, Tommy, and a drummer, while live Piri shows featured dancers. On stage, she would refer to the band's fans as "Piri & Tommy nation".

Personal life

Social media

According to ''The Times'' in November 2022, she had "over 419,000 followers" on TikTok; she told 1883 in September 2021 that she considered it "the best place as a small creator to get yourself out to people", but that she had had her account banned three times due to " the banning issue .. TikToks are constantly taken down despite them completely adhering to the community guidelines and users are being banned if this happens to them multiple times". She told ''Vice'' in May 2022 that "I feel like I make more TikToks than the label could ever ask for." She also maintains Twitter and Instagram accounts, the usernames for which both use the suffix .io, and once ran a K-pop Twitter stan account.

McBurnie is noted for her readiness in sharing her personal life with her followers. Her openness extends to the way she speaks to live audiences, with a September 2022 Brighton & Hove News review enjoying "the candid way irispoke to the audience", and noting that when "she introduced songs she'd be upfront about what they were about, ranging from disgusting exes to finding love and comfort in a person effortlessly".

Activism

McBurnie has been vocal about her experiences as a woman in the music industry; she used a '' Hunger'' article on International Women's Day 2023 to state that there was a "long way to go for equality" and that " line, I constantly see female success being attributed to their attractiveness and not their hard work and talent. ..Women have to work so much harder to prove themselves." She also criticised the misogyny she and other female creatives receive in comment sections, using a May 2022 '' Vice'' article to say that "Half the things I post, I get hate for. And I know that if a guy posted this, even if Tommy did rather than me, he would get overwhelming love. ..Girls get hate just for existing." When "Updown" was released, she was praised for talking about female sexuality.

Discography

Mixtapes

*''froge.mp3'' (2022)

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Music videos

Tours

* Piri & Tommy ( Piri & Tommy) (2022)
* froge.tour (Piri & Tommy) (2022)

References

{{Piri
1999 births
Living people
People from Rochdale
Singers from Manchester
Rappers from Manchester
English drum and bass musicians
English dance musicians
Polydor Records artists
OnlyFans creators
Alumni of Lancaster University
20th-century English women
21st-century British singers
21st-century British rappers
English TikTokers