Girl group Flo win the BBC Sound Of 2023

R&B trio Flo person won the BBC's Sound of 2023.

Previous winners of the yearly list, which showcases the adjacent large things successful music, see Adele, Sam Smith and Pink Pantheress.

The UK miss radical were told the quality by Stormzy, who called the newcomers "a enactment of caller air" who had "killed it successful each azygous department".

"That's insane, right?" said vocalist Renée Downer, who formed the radical with Stella Quaresma and Jorja Douglas.

Flo, who are aged betwixt 19 and 21, were formed successful 2019 and signed to Island Records successful 2020.

Their debut single, Cardboard Box, is layered with honeyed radical harmonies and sassy one-liners, and was released past March.

"Never liked your momma, truthful I conjecture she's blocked / You whitethorn beryllium crying, but boy, I'm not", they sing successful the chorus.

The track's throwback R&B benignant earned comparisons with US miss bands similar Destiny's Child, TLC and SWV; and they person picked up endorsements from Missy Elliot and Brandy, an unexpected crook of events that Douglas calls "the biggest honour".

"They're similar the aged school," she says. "Those radical person truly inspired america and influenced the euphony that we make."

In July, the trio released their debut EP, The Lead, which has been streamed much than 70 cardinal times, starring to appearances connected Jimmy Kimmel's US chat amusement and the BBC's Later... With Jools Holland.

Flo person arrived conscionable successful clip to capable the miss set spread near by Little Mix, who played their farewell circuit past year.

Like their predecessors, Flo accidental their connection is "to beryllium beardown successful yourself, to beryllium confident".

"There is pistillate empowerment - but everyone who listens should consciousness supported, inspired, independent," says Stella.

"We privation them to consciousness the mode euphony utilized to marque america feel."

The Sound Of 2023 was voted for by much than 130 euphony manufacture experts, including representatives from Spotify, Apple Music, Glastonbury Festival, the BBC and erstwhile nominees including Dua Lipa, Stormzy, Sam Smith and Foals.

The database was unfastened to caller artists who had yet to execute a apical 5 medium oregon much than 2 apical 10 singles by 31 October 2022. Artists who had appeared connected TV endowment shows wrong the past 3 years were ineligible.

US psyche trio Gabriels came fifth, followed by singer-songwriter Cat Burns and jungle instrumentalist Nia Archives.

Fred Again, a shaper for Ed Sheeran and Stormzy who has breached retired arsenic a solo creator making emotionally-cathartic creation music, was the runner-up.

Like galore miss bands earlier them, Flo were enactment unneurotic done an exhausting process of auditions, call-backs, penning camps and rehearsals.

Their archetypal manager cycled done respective permutations of the line-up arsenic helium sought the cleanable blend.

At 1 point, Jorja and Stella were singing with different miss portion Renée was successful an adjacent room, rehearsing with a competing trio.

But the singers who yet became Flo had a concealed - they already knew each other.

Renée and Stella had studied unneurotic astatine the Sylvia Young Theatre School, and hooked up with Jorja (a former winner of CBBC singing amusement Got What It Takes) connected societal media earlier auditions began.

"Chemistry-wise, it's ever been there," says Stella.

"It's an astonishing thing," adds Jorja. "We were already predisposed to each other, truthful erstwhile our manager was doing each these antithetic pairings, we expressed to him, 'We person a connection', and that's however the set happened.

"We didn't person to walk loads of clip having sleepovers oregon team-building and worldly similar that. We could conscionable leap consecutive successful due to the fact that it felt truthful natural."

"Although we had to enactment connected the dancing," laughs Stella. "Me and Renée danced astatine school, but I wouldn't person called myself a dancer."

But it turns retired learning choreography was easier than gathering stamina for their unrecorded shows. "We don't request to enactment retired to creation immoderate more, we request to enactment retired to sing," says Stella.

"We've each got treadmills now," adds Renée.

"I can't rather tally and sing yet," admits Jorja, "so I conscionable bash a bully small locomotion and spell done our EP and sing each the songs."

Those songs hark backmost to an epoch erstwhile R&B was the planet's astir progressive genre.

In the precocious 90s, producers similar Timbaland, Kevin She'kspere Briggs and The Neptunes created juddering, alien soundscapes and smothered them with gorgeous harmonies from artists similar Aaliyah, Destiny's Child and Kelis.

"Our mums brought america up connected 90s music, truthful it's hard to marque euphony that's not influenced by Brandy oregon Faith Evans oregon SWV," says Jorja.

"All the miss groups, each the lad groups. It happens people due to the fact that that euphony is truthful ingrained successful us."

To enactment a caller rotation connected that sound, they hooked up with British accumulation genius MNEK.

As the antheral down hits similar Little Mix's Touch and Beyoncé's Hold Up, helium knows much than astir however to graft a popular hook onto a cutting-edge beat, and has taken Flo nether his helping - not conscionable co-writing Cardboard Box but acting arsenic an enforcement shaper for their debut EP.

"He is the godfather of Flo," declares Renée. "He is our mentor. He is an icon. He is an inspiration."

But the instrumentalist says Flo's occurrence is each self-generated.

"The magic is that they person taste," helium tells the BBC. "They person a wide thought of who they privation to be, what they privation to dependable similar and what their constituent of presumption is.

"If I wasn't moving connected it, I'd beryllium stanning."

Speaking to Flo astatine their grounds statement offices conscionable earlier Christmas, the determination and absorption that MNEK mentioned is connected afloat display.

Stella confesses she's been scheming to triumph a Brit Award since she was a child, portion Renée seems bewildered by miss bands who don't constitute their hits.

"We're creating our ain songs truthful of people we privation to beryllium a portion of that," she says.

As a trio, they are tight-knit and self-assured. It's already portion of Flo folklore that the set battled to person Cardboard Box released arsenic their archetypal single.

The grounds statement wanted to clasp it back, plotting a low-key motorboat that would physique to the infinitesimal Cardboard Box became Flo's crossover hit. But the set had the different ideas.

"We were like, wherefore would we clasp backmost 1 of our champion songs? Your archetypal azygous is the astir important," says Renée.

"It truly sets the tone, it lets radical cognize that we're here, we're strong, kicking the doorway down," adds Jorja.

"And Cardboard Box wasn't an extremity constituent for us," Renée concludes. "It was the beginning, it was the foundation. We privation to apical Cardboard Box, opus aft song."

The slinky, serpentine synths of Not My Job hint astatine the band's much experimental side, portion the recently-released Losing You is simply a seductive dilatory jam that climaxes with a cascade of interwoven harmonies.

"We're ever going to beryllium outdoing ourselves," says Renée. "By this clip adjacent year, we privation to beryllium looking backmost astatine a palmy medium launch, a mates of palmy shows and possibly a fig 1 single."

The past mates of months person fixed the set a sensation of however overmuch enactment it volition instrumentality to execute those ambitions.

"It's truthful fast-paced that we don't adjacent cognize what we've done and not done," says Jorja.

"We're being pulled successful loads of antithetic directions, but we're inactive excited for adjacent year."

They couldn't bash it without each other. Even Stella, who arsenic a kid dreamed of being a solo prima similar Whitney Houston oregon Mariah Carey, says she's gladsome to beryllium portion of a trio.

"To beryllium solo successful this presumption indispensable beryllium truly difficult. Way much competitive. But with Flo, it's similar I've recovered the sisters I ne'er had."

"In different words," laughs Renée, "we person nary different friends."