Piri
Sophie Leigh McBurnie (born 14 March 1999), known professionally as Piri, is an English musician, dancer, social media personality, and sex worker. Born in Rochdale, she is best known for her 2021 single "Soft Spot", and for being a member of Piri & Tommy and Loud LDN. In November 2022, NME described her as a leader of the 2020s drum and bass revival alongside Venbee and PinkPantheress.
Her single "Soft Spot" charted at No. 20 on the UK Independent Singles Breakers Chart, and her Piri & Tommy single "On & On" and mixtape Froge.mp3 charted at No. 99 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 13 on the UK Dance Albums Chart respectively. "Soft Spot" made No. 59 on Rolling Stone's "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time" in July 2022 and has been described by NME as one of TikTok's biggest hits, while Piri & Tommy's 2022 works "Words", "On & On", Froge.mp3, and their cover of Charli XCX and Kim Petras' "Unlock It" have all made year-end best-of lists.
McBurnie has released songs in multiple genres, including the house song "Sunlight", the disco song "It's a Match", the liquid drum and bass songs "Soft Spot", "On & On" and "Nice 2 Me", the jungle track "Beachin", the speed garage song "Words", the garage songs "Feel It" and "Lovergirl", the hyperpop song "Updown" and the drum and bass song "Fumble". She is noted for her frog motif, derived from a nickname she and Villiers used to give each other; her pole dancing, which she discovered at Lancaster University's pole fitness society and occasionally integrates into her performances; her OnlyFans account, which she set up in May 2020; and her openness, from sharing her personal life on social media to subjects of works. She also maintains a TikTok account, which as of November 2022 has over 419,000 followers, and has been vocal about her experiences as a woman.

Life and career
1999–2020: Early life
Sophie Leigh McBurnie was born on 14 March 1999 to an Asda manager and a human resources manager, and grew up in Rochdale. Her mother was a fan of R&B and hip-hop, her father was a fan of rock and guitar-based music, and neither could stand the others' tastes. Growing up, she would compose songs on her guitar as a means of expression,: 64–67  and her favourite artist was the Arctic Monkeys. Her stage name, which she stylises in lowercase, was a truncated form of Pirickili, which she created for a Tumblr account, and later used on K-pop Twitter: 51:18  for a stan account; she has stated that she came across it after using a random word generator, and that those interacting with her shortened it to Piri.: 5:06 She holds a degree in chemistry from Lancaster University, during which time she wanted to become a lecturer after being inspired by her organic chemistry lecturer. She was a member of the pole fitness society, which she joined during her second year after attending a taster session with her housemate as a joke.: 53:00  Whilst at university, she idolised the swagger of Doja Cat and the K-pop group Red Velvet. She has stated that she got into dance music after being introduced to it during her second year of university, and that she was listening to large amounts of tech house while writing her dissertation.: 3:30 After graduating, McBurnie had intended on taking a year out and then undertaking a Master's degree. In May 2020, after finding that she was £2,000 into her overdraft, and that part time shifts at Asda were failing to clear her debt, she set up an OnlyFans account. She told The Times in November 2022 that she experienced less backlash than she was expecting, and that her account had "about 1,000 to 2,000 fans paying about $12 a month", which after the site had deducted its fees meant she made "between $10,000 and $20,000 a month"; with this, she was able to fund her music career, buy a computer and a microphone, and move to north London. She has also credited the site with increasing her body confidence.

2020–2022: "Soft Spot", "Beachin", "Words", "On & On", Froge.mp3, and "Unlock It"
McBurnie met Tommy Villiers in 2020, just before the second United Kingdom COVID-19 lockdown, after matching on Tinder. A couple of weeks later, one of Porij's photographers retweeted one of their photoshoots, prompting her to find his Instagram account,: 38:07  and ask him out. Their first date was at Piccadilly Gardens, at which they bonded over a shared love of disco. They later formed a support bubble in a student house in Manchester.: 56:05  After it was realised that McBurnie could sing and Villiers could produce, they set about writing together; the first song they recorded, "Sunlight", was a house song. The first song they released was "It's a Match", a disco song, made after both experimented with numerous genres.: 25:11 On 4 June 2021, McBurnie released the liquid drum and bass single "Soft Spot". She has stated that the song was written about her inability to control her feelings for Villiers. The song went viral on TikTok after a video of a creator making a Japanese bench acquired 1,000,000 views,: 4:25  eventually seeing use in 130,000 videos, and went viral on Spotify after being featured on its "Fresh Finds" playlist. For this, EMI signed them, re-released "Soft Spot", and released an MJ Cole remix on 15 October,: 17:39  after she and Villiers sent a long list of suggested artists to their label, including bigger artists such as Cole, and were not expecting him to respond. The song spent a week at No. 20 on the UK Independent Singles Breakers Chart, appeared at No. 59 on Rolling Stone's "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time" in July 2022, and was described by NME as being one of TikTok's biggest hits.In January 2022, McBurnie and Villiers made "The NME 100: essential emerging artists for 2022". The pair's follow up single, the jungle track "Beachin", was released on 28 January 2022. The song was originally planned for late October, but was delayed due to the success of "Soft Spot",: 6:36  the success of which meant that McBurnie and Villiers were both nervous to release "Beachin". The song was written after a trip to Formby beach in Liverpool,: 6:46  and its lyrics were an attempt at encapsulating how much they enjoyed the trip and how close they felt afterwards. McBurnie promoted the record by uploading samples to TikTok, prompting others to create videos using the sound. Three days after release, the track became BBC Radio 1's "Hottest Record". Skream later released an abstract remix.In March 2022, the pair became Radio 1's "Future Artist of the Month". Their next release, the speed garage song "Words", was released on 22 April 2022, and became that day's "Hottest Record". The song described a challenging period in their relationship, and helped them express their frustrations and work through their problems. Uproxx later rated it the 374th best song of 2022. In the week after its release, the band went on a three-day tour, which attracted stage invasions. In May 2022, the pair performed at a TikTok showcase at The Great Escape Festival, their first festival performance, and with a loop of their most watched TikTok videos playing on a screen to their right. Later that month, McBurnie joined a group chat, "Ladies Making Noise in London", set up by Coupdekat and Maisi, which would later become Loud LDN. In June 2022, Piri & Tommy performed at Glastonbury.They then signed to Polydor and released "On & On" on 28 July 2022, which became that day's "Hottest Record". It was written in September 2021 shortly after the pair attended that year's Parklife Festival, and about fatigue experienced at the end of a festival. The song charted at No. 99 on the UK Singles Chart, No. 28 on the UK Dance Singles Chart, and made Time Out's "22 Best Songs of 2022" list at No. 7, Billboard's "50 Best Dance Songs Of 2022", The Forty-Five's "Best Songs of 2022" list at No. 45, and NME's "50 best songs of 2022" list at No. 31. In addition, the song was nominated for "Hottest Record of the Year". The following month, McBurnie and Villiers performed at Reading Festival, at which they performed several of their own tracks and several dance music classics, with NME singling out their rendition of DJ Marky's "LK (Carolina Carol Bela)" for praise.In September 2022, she signed a solo publishing record deal with Warner Chappell Music, and later that month the pair performed "On & On", "Beachin", and a cover of Crystal Waters' "Gypsy Woman" for a Radio 1 session. On 21 October 2022, she and Villiers released the mixtape Froge.mp3 (), which took its name from a nickname the pair used to give each other, and featured "Sunlight", "Soft Spot", "Beachin", "Words", and "On & On". The mixtape spent a week at No. 13 on the UK Dance Albums Chart in November 2022, made NME's year-end "20 best mixtapes and EPs" list, was rated by Dummy as the 16th best album of 2022, and by Gigwise as the 45th best album of 2022. The album was promoted with "Say It", a focus track, Froge.tour, a nine-date tour in November 2022, and Froge.tv, a twelve-episode YouTube Shorts series in which McBurnie and Villiers explained what the album's songs were written about.
In November 2022, the pair were featured on Vevo's Dscvr Artists to Watch 2023 list, and later that month McBurnie, Venbee and PinkPantheress were described in November 2022 by NME as "leading the new British drum 'n' bass scene". One further single as Piri & Tommy, "Unlock It", was released on 11 November 2022, and was a cover of the Charli XCX and Kim Petras song of the same name. Vice rated their version as the fourteenth best song of 2022. Later that month, they were nominated for MTV Push 2023, and in December 2022, the band were longlisted for the BBC's Sound of 2023, for which they performed "Beachin" and "Soft Spot".: 11:16  Later that month, the pair appeared on TikTok's "Breakthrough Artists 2022", Montreux Jazz Festival's "Spotlight 20 Artists to Watch in 2023", and Ticketmaster's 2023 "Breakthrough Artists" list.

2023–present: "Feel It", "Updown", "Fumble", "Nice 2 Me", and "Lovergirl"
On 11 January 2023, Clash reported that McBurnie and Villiers had split up but remained friends, would release previously recorded music, and planned to work together in the future. At the time, she released a TikTok video to explain that their breakup was "amicable" and that neither of them had done anything wrong, despite rumours to the contrary.: 67  After the breakup, she uploaded several solo compositions to her SoundCloud account. On 20 January, the pair released the garage song "Feel It" with MJ Cole on 892 Recordings, which they had recorded in Cole's studio, and was their first song to be recorded in any studio, having previously recorded everything in their bedrooms. Later that month, she and Villiers appeared on Zane Lowe's "23 new artists to watch in 2023". One further single with Villiers, the hyperpop song "Updown", was released on 17 February 2023, and became that day's "Hottest Record"; she wrote the song about having cowgirl sex with Villiers.: 67  She later performed a series of pop-up shows.In April, McBurnie was one of three cover stars of that spring's Polyester magazine, along with Cat Burns and Doechii. The magazine's editor, Ione Gamble, stated that she chose them as examples of women who had used the internet to their advantage, and found it incredible to hear her extol both her music and sex work careers. On 28 April 2023, McBurnie featured on "Fumble" by Sudley, which was released on DnB Allstars Records, and addressed post-breakup empowerment. The song became the following day's "Hottest Record". On 24 May 2023, she and Villiers released "Nice 2 Me", a liquid drum and bass song written about wanting to be treated well in a relationship, which also became that day's "Hottest Record".On 27 May 2023, she performed "Words", "Say It", "Soft Spot", "Updown", "Beachin", "Nice 2 Me", "Fumble", "Gypsy Woman", "On & On", and Sammy Virji's remix of "On & On" at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend. She then featured on Skylar's "Crocodile Tears", and on 27 July 2023, Piri & Tommy released "Lovergirl", a garage song about pride in putting effort into relationships, which they released independently,: 1:19:39  and promoted with an animated video featuring avatars of them navigating a Mario Kart-inspired race course.

Artistry
Influences, voice, and songwriting
McBurnie has cited PinkPantheress as a big inspiration, saying that her use of drum and bass breaks was "massively influential" on the band's sound. Piri & Tommy's "On & On" and froge.mp3 have both been compared to PinkPantheress, with the latter specifically compared with her 2021 mixtape To Hell with It. McBurnie has also cited musical inspiration from the success of Nia Archives and Charli XCX and from the experimentalism of Sophie.: 0:22  In addition, she has also named Beyoncé, Megan Thee Stallion, and Doja Cat as role models for feminity,: 4:59  and Charli XCX, Doja Cat, and burlesque routines featuring pole dancing as inspiration for her post-Piri & Tommy performances.: 64 
McBurnie's voice has been noted for its neutral, untutored quality, with reviewers complimenting the contrast between her vocals and the speed of Villiers' instrumentals. When "Soft Spot" came out, her voice was compared to that of Ariana Grande. McBurnie's songwriting addresses experiences common to people of her generation, and has been noted for its bluntness. She stated in March 2022 that she usually wrote about whatever was on her mind at the time, and that many of their tracks act as snapshots of their relationship. Piri & Tommy's works have been noted for their self-sufficiency, with Froge.mp3 written, produced, mixed, and mastered entirely within their bedrooms.

Music videos and stage
On stage, she would refer to the band's fans as "Piri & Tommy nation", and when performing "Beachin", she would throw beach balls into the crowd. Live Piri & Tommy shows featured Piri, Tommy, and a drummer, while solo shows featured dancers and burlesque.: 64  At Piri & Tommy concerts, the pair were noted for dressing as casually as their fans. A crocheted frog hat is a staple of her signature look; she told Dork in November 2022 that when she met Villiers, she was in a phase of drawing frogs and toads, and they started calling each other 'Froge' as a nickname. Her amphibian motif has appeared in music videos, with "On & On" seeing the pair eating psychedelic frogs. She is also noted for her pole dancing, which she regularly uploads videos of to her TikTok,: 67  and occasionally integrates into her live performances, such as during Froge.tour. She told Reform Radio in October 2021 that she considered it "amazing for fitness" and "a great way to make friends".: 54:37

Personal life
Social media
According to The Times in November 2022, she had "over 419,000 followers" on TikTok. She uses her account to upload videos of her dancing to her songs, and of her pole dancing.: 67  As of May 2022, she uploads an average of two videos per day. She told 1883 in September 2021 that she considered it "the best place as a small creator to get yourself out to people", though criticised the platform for taking down videos that adhered to its community guidelines and for banning accounts unjustly, and that she had had her account taken down three times for that reason. She also maintains a Twitter account: 4:29  and an Instagram account.McBurnie is noted for her readiness in sharing her personal life with her followers. She used a June 2023 edition of Gauchoworld to note that she "really like[d] being genuine on social media", that she wanted her followers to understand her experiences, and that she felt it important to convey her experiences. The frank way in which she dealt with her breakup with Villiers was a way of keeping her fans informed.: 67  Her openness extends to the way she addresses live audiences, with a September 2022 Brighton & Hove News review enjoying "the candid way" McBurnie addressed her audience, and noting that when "she introduced songs she'd be upfront about what they were about, ranging from disgusting exes to finding love and comfort in a person effortlessly". Her usual method of dealing with trolls is to ignore them.

Activism
McBurnie has been vocal about her experiences as a woman in the music industry; she used a Hunger article on International Women's Day 2023 to state that there was a "long way to go for equality", that when online she regularly saw the success of female artists being attributed to their looks instead of "their hard work and talent", and that women had "to work so much harder to prove themselves". She has also bemoaned a lack of inspiration and role models for women, using a March 2023 Polyester article to note that she had not entertained being able to produce her own music on account of being a woman, and has also criticised skepticism of her sex work and TikTok success.In addition, McBurnie has criticised the misogyny she and other female creatives receive in comment sections, using a May 2022 Vice article to say that she received abuse for "[h]alf the things" she published, that men would receive "overwhelming love" for posting similar content, and that women receive abuse "just for existing". She has also specifically singled out those attempting to lecture her as to the definition of drum and bass, using a June 2023 edition of Gauchoworld to describe it as "totally misogynistic", and suggested that those attempting to do so did not know the definition themselves.: 67  In July 2023, she and Charlie Deakin Davies took part in a London Trans+ Pride march.

Awards and accolades
McBurnie's singles "Beachin", "Words", "On & On", "Updown", "Fumble", and "Nice 2 Me" have been declared BBC Radio 1's "Hottest Record", and she has been nominated for a number of awards and accolades. "Soft Spot" was listed at No. 59 on Rolling Stone's "200 Greatest Dance Songs of All Time" in July 2022, while Piri & Tommy's works "On & On", Froge.mp3, and "Unlock It" have all made year-end best-of lists.

Listicles
Discography
Mixtapes
Froge.mp3 (2022)

Singles
As lead artist
As featured artist
Music videos
Tours
Piri & Tommy (Piri & Tommy) (2022)
Froge.tour (Piri & Tommy) (2022)

Notes


== References ==