It’s been a while since we’ve had an R&B group take the world by storm.
We’ve had plenty of girl groups in the pop sphere, but for the most part, it’s solo artists who’ve dominated in R&B. Hoping to change all that is new London-based trio FLO—aka Stella, Renée and Jorja—who’ve just landed with their debut single, “Cardboard Box”.
When asked about their influences, they quickly rattle off the A-listers—“Mary J Blige, Aaliyah, Brandy, Whitney Houston, Faith Evans, Mariah Carey, Mýa... Do you want us to go on?”—and to help them tap into that, they called on MNEK for production. Clearly on the same page, he’s taken those influences and given them a light and breezy pop twist. It’s proved to be an inspired match because in the space of a weekend, and mostly off the back of a single tweet, it’s earned cosigns from tonnes of people, including Oloni and JoJo (yes: that JoJo).
To seal the deal, FLO also put together playful little visual in which we see them lap up their newfound fame at a photoshoot, flashing their grills and Corteiz threads, with a few visual nods to the 2000s era that inspired them in the first place—take note of the dance routines, baggy cargo pants, and sequin-encrusted fliphone.
With the ink yet to dry on their contract with Island Records, there’s sure to be big things afoot for the trio. While we wait, hit play on the video above and add “Cardboard Box” to your playlists.
