walking upstream…
Anne-Marie
photo: harald krichel · cc by-sa 4.0 ↗Anne-Marie
sourcesWikipedia · PAPER Magazine · Billboard
Anne-Marie Rose Nicholson trained as a child performer in the English theater world, appearing in West End productions of 'Les Misérables' and 'Whistle Down the Wind' before pivoting to pop, and she is also a decorated karate champion. She broke through in the mid-2010s as a featured voice on club and dance records — most prominently Clean Bandit's global smash 'Rockabye' — before establishing herself as a solo star with the confessional, conversational singles 'Ciao Adios' and the nostalgic '2002.' Her music pairs a plainspoken, diary-like lyric style with big radio-pop hooks, drawing on the R&B and hip-hop she grew up on.
the sound in question
2016
RockabyeAnne-Marie
walk the tributaries ↓
Lauryn Hill1990s · Hip hop soul / Neo soul / R&B / Reggae
Anne-Marie has repeatedly named Lauryn Hill among the albums she grew up on and turned to for reassurance, saying records like Hill's 'made me feel better about myself,' and she has pointed to Hill as one of the strong women whose music still shapes her — an influence audible in her warm, R&B-tinged phrasing and message-driven, self-worth lyrics.
listen: upstream & here
1998
Doo Wop (That Thing)Lauryn Hill
2018
Perfect to MeAnne-Marie
listen forPut Hill's 'Doo Wop (That Thing)' — a conversational address to women about respecting themselves — next to Anne-Marie's 'Perfect to Me,' and hear how both wrap an encouraging, you-are-enough message in a relaxed, soulful vocal that talks to the listener like a friend rather than belting at them.
Christina Aguilera2000s · Pop / R&B / Soul
Anne-Marie has cited Christina Aguilera as a formative influence, naming Aguilera's albums among those she grew up on that 'made me feel better about myself' and listing her among the strong women who shaped her — a debt you can hear in Anne-Marie's blend of pop-R&B melisma with a defiant, empowerment-minded streak.
listen: upstream & here
2003
FighterChristina Aguilera
2017
Ciao AdiosAnne-Marie
listen forSet Aguilera's kiss-off empowerment anthem 'Fighter' beside Anne-Marie's 'Ciao Adios' and listen for the shared attitude: a woman closing the door on someone who wronged her, delivered with a snapping, rhythmic vocal and R&B runs that push the pop hook toward swagger.
Eminem2000s · Hip-hop / Rap
Anne-Marie has said Eminem was among the artists who taught her that 'you could just do it, just talk it, just say it,' crediting his blunt, autobiographical lyrics — songs about 'real stuff that was happening in their life' — with freeing her to write plainly about her own experiences rather than in vague pop abstractions.
listen: upstream & here
2002
Cleanin' Out My ClosetEminem
2018
2002Anne-Marie
listen forPlay Eminem's unsparing family confessional 'Cleanin' Out My Closet' and then Anne-Marie's '2002,' and notice how both drop the listener into a specific, autobiographical scene told in conversational, unguarded detail — the same instinct to just say the real thing, one turned to pain and the other to nostalgia.