Jade-Inc founder/CEO and Warner Records A&R Jade Richardson has spoken to Music Week about working with history-making BRIT Award winner PinkPantheress, while praising the current crop of UK breakthrough artists.
PinkPantheress received the Producer of the Year Award at this year's BRITs, becoming the first ever female winner of the trophy, as well as the youngest.
Speaking in the August edition of Music Week, Richardson singled out the moment as a career highlight.
"I’ve always felt really passionate about women behind the scenes and in the studio," said Richardson. "So it’s wonderful working with someone who is not only a global superstar, but also is considered a global producer. She’s a powerhouse. She says to me she’s in her mogul era and she absolutely is. There are some wonderful things en route.”
Since breaking through in 2021, PinkPantheress has racked up over a billion streams. Her track Boy’s A Liar spent 28 weeks on the singles chart (peaking at No.2) and 22 weeks on the UK Hot 100 (peaking at No.3).
PinkPantheress’ latest mixtape Fancy That (Warner Records), which peaked at No.3, was shortlisted for the 2025 Mercury Prize and nominated for a Grammy, along with the track Illegal.
"The team around PinkPantheress are fantastic: Phoebe Gold and Lauren Onelum at Up Close Management, Zak Boumlaki doing marketing and Tobi Omoloja on A&R with me," said Richardson. "I really want to acknowledge what a joy and an honour it is to be working with someone as talented and prolific as PinkPantheress, who understands how to speak to her audience. She’s a visionary and a generational talent, and it’s an honour to support her in telling her story."
I love the way PinkPantheress thinks, the way her mind works
Jade Richardson
Richardson, who was crowned Music Champion at last year's Music Week Women In Music Awards, has worked on PinkPantheress' 2023 debut album Heaven Knows (44,694 UK sales, OCC) and 2025 follow-up Fancy That (93,264 sales), which peaked at No.3, along with remix album Fancy Some More?
The latter featured collaborations with Anitta, Seventeen, Jade, Kylie Minogue, Sugababes, Zara Larsson, Ravyn Lenae, Nia Archives, Rachel Chinouriri, Kaytranada, Basement Jaxx, Sega Bodega andGroove Armada, among many others.
Richardson described working on the mixtape as both "so much fun" and an "absolute labour of love".
"It was a mammoth undertaking, so it was wonderful to see the reactions," she said. "I love the way PinkPantheress thinks, the way her mind works. She always selects people who might not seem obvious, but afterwards you wonder why you didn’t think of it.
"Not every artist can pull in that range of collaborators, so working with someone who is so well respected is a bit like walking into a candy store and thinking, ‘Hmm, what shall we have today?’ She’s created a world where people respect what she does and that makes my job a lot easier.”
I think rap culture in Britain could do with a bit of a shake-up: some new voices, new stories
Jade Richardson
Richardson namechecked PinkPantheress among the current wave of UK breakthroughs alongside Olivia Dean, Charli XCX, Dave and Jorja Smith.
“These are artists that are able to travel with their music as well, which I think is essential," she said. "If you want a global business, you’ve got to be able to appeal to people globally. I think sometimes when you’re starting out in your bedroom in the UK, you can forget that there’s a whole world out there waiting to listen.”
In terms of her own roster at Warner, Richardson – who runs her own management company Jade-Inc and is MD at 0207 Def Jam’s publishing arm 0207 Songs – highlights developing artist Deed0t as one to watch.
"I’ve been working with for over a year," she said. "He’s with an amazing up-and-coming manager, Jack Siggs, who works with Nick Shymansky. I’m really excited by what we’re going to be doing over the next six months because we’re going to drop his first project and really put a flag in the ground for him as an artist. He’s a spokesperson for a generation of under-represented people, Jamaicans and the children of Jamaican immigrants, coming out of Manchester and telling the story from a slightly more unconventional space.
"I’m really excited for the world to hear more from him because I think rap culture in Britain could do with a bit of a shake-up: some new voices, new stories. It’s been a while since we’ve had a few new rappers become household names.”
Find the the full interview with Richardson in the new issue of Music Week. Subscribers can read it here.
