‘I love music so much,’ Joyce Cisse, AKA flowerovlove, earnestly tells M. ‘I love how it makes me feel and how it connects me to other people, how it can take me somewhere and make me feel things I’ve never felt before.’
We’re speaking to Joyce shortly after she’s arrived in LA for her first ever US headline shows. But while the jet lag may be hitting hard, her enthusiasm for her craft is still riding high. After all, she has had a whirlwind few years, from being scouted as a model in her teens and walking in Paris Fashion Week to signing with Capitol Records at just 18. Having garnered an impressive number of streams with her first few singles on the label — including I’ve seen ur ex, released to mark Valentine's Day — the London-based artist, now 19, is able to boast an international following that has positioned her firmly as one to watch.
With her first two EPs, 2020’s Think Flower and 2022’s A Mosh Pit In The Clouds, Joyce’s saccharine-sweet brand of pop purity was praised for its melding of playfulness and confidence, with her innate ability to charm listeners celebrated as a particular centrepiece. Her most recent EP Ache In My Tooth builds on this as she takes on one of her favourite subject matters: love — but with a kind of sincerity that is far-reaching and full of warmth.
‘I love how music can take me somewhere and make me feel things I’ve never felt before.’
‘Every song on the EP chronologically tells the story of how love usually goes, and if it doesn’t work out in some cases,’ she explains. From the early hints of a crush in Girl Like Me to being hopelessly in love on Breaking News and then utterly heartbroken by the finale Congrats! U Did It!, the EP zeroes in on Joyce’s skills as a storyteller and chronicler of budding romance and young love.
‘It’s just where I was personally when I was writing it,’ she continues. ‘I always had the title Ache In My Tooth because I had written three different songs with the title. But I didn’t feel like those songs were good enough, so I decided to take it and make it my EP title. It’s about love and all the themes of love because, for me, love can be so sweet that it hurts, and it’s a little bit like a toothache.’
In addition to capturing the highs and lows of being in love, the EP also highlights that, in a very short amount of time, Joyce has not only grown as a songwriter and performer but has cemented her voice and ethos as an artist.
‘I would say I’ve definitely become more of a confident writer,’ she tells M. ‘I feel like these songs have more feeling to them and more emotion. It’s just so real and raw, and they’re truer to me than any other songs I’ve made so far that are out. What’s different between A Mosh Pit In The Clouds and this is just that everything’s a little bit cleaner and more pop and a little bit more glossy, which I love.’
On the same day Ache In My Tooth was released, Joyce was on stage in London accepting the PRS for Music and PRS Foundation-sponsored New Artist award at the Music Week Women In Music Awards. It’s an accolade that draws attention not only to her achievements in music so far, but to her desire to empower and support women around her.
‘I’m just grateful that women are being seen, especially as a young Black woman myself,’ she says of her win. ‘I hope we get to be seen more. That’s why I’m here.’
For Joyce, it was particularly special to be in a room with so many other inspiring women whose stories and achievements gave her new insights into the industry. ‘There was so much love there,’ she adds. ‘Even if I hadn’t been there to collect an award, it was just nice to be in the room. It wasn’t really about me when I was there — I was just soaking everything in.’
Joyce clearly has a constructive mindset when it comes to tackling the landscape around her. But as someone that’s been making and releasing music from such a young age, what has it been like navigating the industry as a solo artist?
‘My honest answer is, I’m not sure if I’ve navigated it yet,’ she admits. ‘But PRS was a big part of my career when I first started, and it still is [now]. I didn’t even know what PRS was initially — my brother told me to sign up when I first made a Spotify account — but it’s been amazing. I think it’s a great platform for artists [as it means you remain] somewhat in control of your finances, and it’s also important in terms of giving you the knowledge of what’s happening in the industry too.’
'PRS was a big part of my career when I first started, and it still is.'
Joyce was also able to make use of funding through PRS early on in her career, which helped her build both her aesthetic and overall connection to her fanbase.
‘It was a very easy process [to apply], and very helpful in terms of [providing] funding needed for videos or events,’ she recalls. ‘I love to do fan events where I open and style a thrift store, and then spend time with my fans. Stuff like that is great, but there’s so many similar things you just can’t do as an independent artist without funding.’
Though Joyce believes she’s still working on navigating the industry, it’s clear that she remains grounded in her deep love for it all. Her passion for writing music in particular evokes an intrinsic sense of youthful exuberance and nostalgia, which is further evident in her advice for musicians who are just starting their own journey.
‘A big thing for me is my friends and family, and [always] having a piece of home with me,’ she says of her mechanisms for success. ‘If I’m travelling abroad, I’ll bring a friend or my brother. It’s nice to have a piece of home with you, because it keeps you grounded and makes you feel human. In this industry people don’t always treat you like a human, so it’s important [to have people around you who do]. They’re the people who will rightly tell you that you’re a star.’
This article is taken from M's special Future Makers edition — you can read the magazine in full here. flowerovlove's new single I’ve seen ur ex is out now.