PinkPantheress Is Building a Pop Empire

Lately, the artist seems more interested in the role of pop-producer than pop stardom itself. She’s becoming an authority on both

PinkPantheress has one of the sharpest ears in pop, and she’s using it to build an empire. The British singer-songwriter and producer began her career as an elusive internet figure with a skill for crafting intriguing earworms. Over the past five years in particular, she’s risen up the pop ranks with sharp, deliberate strides, driven by endurance rather than impulse. 

There’s a misguided conception that PinkPantheress has been routinely overshadowed in favor of her collaborators, like Ice Spice on “Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2” or Zara Larsson on the “Stateside” remix. From the outside, it could look like their guest appearances on the Hot 100 hits catapulted them to career highs while keeping her audience somewhat niche. But their mainstream goals couldn’t differ more from what PinkPantheress wants for herself. Lately, the role of pop producer seems more intriguing to the 25-year-old than pop stardom itself. At her own pace, she’s becoming an undeniable authority on both.

Last week, PinkPantheress flipped “Twentyfive Eight,” from the new Tinashe album Popstar, in an exclusive remix only available on iTunes. Alongside her collaborator Count Baldor, PinkPantheress pumped the mellowed-out track full of heart-pounding bass. Her version is louder and more biting, but never at the sacrifice of the track’s spirit. It’s distinctly PinkPantheress. There’s a passion and curiosity in her sound that stands out from most everyone else currently driving the sound of pop. It helps that her perspective includes thrilling sold-out crowds as much as it does shaping records behind the scenes. 

Kelela put it best while honoring PinkPantheress for the TIME100 Next 2026, which celebrates the most influential rising stars across industries. “I was instantly floored the first time I heard PinkPantheress,” she said. “What I found is an artist who already knows exactly who she is. I understood why people were making the connection between us, but also why it was reductive to stop there because she’s not an extension of anybody. She writes her own songs, produces a lot of her own music, and has an incredibly potent sonic vision.”

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PinkPantheress and Kelela first collaborated on “Bury Me” from her 2023 debut Heaven Knows. It was a fated union. PinkPantheress credits Kelela, along with Kaytranada, as being an essential influence on her exploration of electronic music. They reunited earlier this year on “The Bridge,” an entrancing entry on Kelela’s album New Avatar. In the duration of her 30-second verse, PinkPantheress creates a musical conversation with multiple diverging tones all stacked upon one another. Her voice is stern in one moment, silky in the next.

“I discovered Kelela in 2018 through ‘Waitin’ and the fibres of my mind changed ever after,” PinkPantheress wrote on X in July. “Kelela, you’re a genius and the overwhelming love you get comes as no surprise, you really deserve everything. This is a dream come true.” In her TIME100 note, Kelela praised PinkPantheress for the impact her presence has had on electronic music, writing, “She’s doing all of this as a Black femme in a genre that has rarely made room for us, which means every track she makes is also a door staying open behind her.”

Earlier this year, Imogen Heap asked PinkPantheress for production recommendations, “any tricks, basically,” she said while calling into YouTuber Derrick Gee’s music series, Solid Air. PinkPantheress looked for a second like she might actually pass out, grasping for words that escaped her in the (virtual) presence of an artist whose work is inseparable from her musical DNA. “That’s gonna hit me later,” PinkPantheress said after watching Heap, equipped with her signature midi gloves, cover “True Romance,” a warbling deep cut from Heaven Knows. “And it’s gonna make me cry.”

Coming from both Kelela and Heap, it’s high praise for PinkPantheress, who was awarded Producer of the Year at the 2026 BRIT Awards in February. She was 24 at the time of the win, making her the first woman and the youngest recipient to receive the honor, which has been presented annually since 1977. “My music production is the thing I’m proudest of, and I’ve worked really hard at it,” she said at the time. Lately, she’s been working on fortifying her production catalogue with the rising UK girl group, Say Now. PinkPantheress serves as an executive producer on their upcoming debut EP, out in November, Rolling Stone can reveal.

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The first glimpse of the project, “Met My Match,” was co-written and co-produced by PinkPantheress. It feels like a reset for the group, who’ve been searching for their footing in pop since forming under the group moniker Needanamebro in 2022. Here, they seem to find it. The song runs along a bouncing track with airy melodies swirling throughout each verse. PinkPantheress leaves a clear mark without leaving it sounding like a dupe of her own music. Beyond the sound of the records themselves, the primary takeaway from her side projects is often as simple as this: PinkPantheress has really good taste. 

How frequently the musician pops up in unexpected places is a testament to how tapped in she is. Listen closely to “Crush,” the opening track on Jae Stephens’ debut album, Audacity, and you’ll hear the distinctly British sound of PinkPantheress lending backing vocals on the refrain: “Everybody said my English accent in the demo was a cancellable offense so I appreciate her stepping in,” Stephens wrote on X.

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PinkPantheress is often in good company. She posed with Madonna in a photo from a star-packed MTV Video Music Video Awards afterparty and with Charli XCX at the awards ceremony itself. Last year, PinkPantheress flipped her mixtape Fancy That into Fancy Some More?, an expansive remix project that featured appearances from 22 artists including Larsson, Jade, Rachel Chinouriri, Kaytranada, Nia Archives, Basement Jaxx, and more. In April, her blowout Coachella set included guest spots from the Dare, HorsegiirL, actor Tyriq Withers, and more.