Fousheé

Smoky-voiced vocalist/songwriter Fousheé's stylish, angsty relationship songs draw from R&B, folk, punk, and intimate indie electronica. In 2020, the whispery, melancholy "Deep End" had over 100-million streams in a matter of months after going viral -- first as an uncredited sample on social media. She collaborated with <a href="spotify:artist:55Aa2cqylxrFIXC767Z865">Lil Wayne</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:53KwLdlmrlCelAZMaLVZqU">James Blake</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5RTLRtXjbXI2lSXc6jxlAz">Ravyn Lenae</a>, and also co-wrote <a href="spotify:artist:57vWImR43h4CaDao012Ofp">Steve Lacy</a>'s number one pop hit "Bad Habit," before her debut album, the genre-defying softCORE, arrived in 2022. Fousheé appeared on albums by <a href="spotify:artist:6icQOAFXDZKsumw3YXyusw">Lil Yachty</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2N4EYkIlG1kv25g6Wv8LGI">Killer Mike</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:55Aa2cqylxrFIXC767Z865">Lil Wayne</a>, and others in 2023, and the following year released Pointy Heights, her wider-ranging second album for <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22RCA%22">RCA</a>.

Growing up in New Jersey, Brittany Fousheé was inspired by her mother playing drums in PEP, an all-female reggae band. She counts <a href="spotify:artist:2QsynagSdAqZj3U9HgDzjD">Bob Marley</a> among her biggest influences. As an adult, she spent several years performing her own alternative soul songs across New York before relocating to Los Angeles.

In early 2020, drill rapper <a href="spotify:artist:6EPlBSH2RSiettczlz7ihV">Sleepy Hallow</a> used a sample of Fousheé's from a 2018 royalty-free collection, and the track's popularity exploded on social media videos. That May, Fousheé released three original songs as the Relative Motion EP before receiving tens of millions of streams of her own by releasing the sampled "Deep End" as a full song in July 2020. The vulnerable, partly sung, partly rapped single became associated with the then-ongoing mass protests against police violence and racism, especially surrounding the death of George Floyd. Fousheé soon signed with <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22RCA%22">RCA</a> and followed that up with tracks including "single af" and, in early 2021, "gold fronts" featuring <a href="spotify:artist:55Aa2cqylxrFIXC767Z865">Lil Wayne</a>. She then released the EP time machine, which featured guest appearances by <a href="spotify:artist:57vWImR43h4CaDao012Ofp">Steve Lacy</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:6icQOAFXDZKsumw3YXyusw">Lil Yachty</a>.

In 2022, Fousheé appeared on albums by <a href="spotify:artist:5RTLRtXjbXI2lSXc6jxlAz">Ravyn Lenae</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:57vWImR43h4CaDao012Ofp">Lacy</a>. For the latter's Gemini Rights, she co-wrote and was featured on the bittersweet "Sunshine," and she also had a hand in writing "Bad Habit," a number one pop hit. Her first LP, softCORE, arrived on the heels of that success in November and included a featured spot by <a href="spotify:artist:4O15NlyKLIASxsJ0PrXPfz">Lil Uzi Vert</a> on the driving "Spend the Money." In 2023, Fousheé contributed to albums released by <a href="spotify:artist:6icQOAFXDZKsumw3YXyusw">Lil Yachty</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0fGcIStdT1OpFFhOC7Wp36">Teezo Touchdown</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2N4EYkIlG1kv25g6Wv8LGI">Killer Mike</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:55Aa2cqylxrFIXC767Z865">Lil Wayne</a>. By the end of the year, versions of "Deep End" had accrued upwards of a half-billion streams. Fousheé kept rolling in 2024 with a supporting role on <a href="spotify:artist:73sIBHcqh3Z3NyqHKZ7FOL">Childish Gambino</a>'s "Running Around" quickly followed by her own "Still Around," another collaboration with <a href="spotify:artist:57vWImR43h4CaDao012Ofp">Lacy</a> (and "Sunshine" co-writer <a href="spotify:artist:6e7BQ0gM6o8ecMXRZkXxlZ">Karriem Riggins</a>), issued as the first of several previews of her second major-label album. Pointy Heights, titled after her grandfather's land in Jamaica, was released that September. ~ Marcy Donelson & Andy Kellman, Rovi