Flowerovlove Is Defining a New Kind of Cool
5 min read
Jacket, Ann Demeulemeester. Bracelets, watch, Cartier.
Flowerovlove won’t look at Madison Square Garden. The singer swerves past 34th Street when she’s in New York, imagining a giant X over that whole area. “One of the reasons I want to be a pop star is because I saw Justin Bieber [at MSG] in the Never Say Never documentary at 16,” she says. “I was like, this is exactly what I want to do. I want it to be so special that I don’t want to experience any part of MSG until it’s exactly what I want and what I deserve.”
Flowerovlove has a vision, and part of her mystique is her ability to will it all to happen. Born Joyce Cissé in London, she was plucked off the streets at 16 to become a model. She appeared in a Gucci campaign and was a Louis Vuitton ambassador before realizing she wanted more creative control over her image. With her brother Wilfred, her closest collaborator, she began making music in her garage, posting videos to TikTok and Instagram. From there, her career exploded. Her biggest song, “Breaking News,” became a trending refrain on TikTok with 1.9 million videos. She’s set to perform at Coachella this month and has new music on the horizon. “I wrote down, ‘I’m so grateful I’m playing Coachella,’ and I wasn’t playing Coachella at the time,” she says. “I had no contact with the festival at all. I have proof to be able to go back and be like, This actually works. The power of my mind is crazy.”
With a distinct aesthetic (she calls herself a “miniskirt warrior”) and a mononym she based on her old Instagram handle, Flowerovlove draws inspiration from the disco of Donna Summer, the energy of Grace Jones, and 1989-era Taylor Swift. “There are a lot of singers now, and a lot of TikToks being posted, but it takes time to really craft this brand, to craft this sound, to craft these feelings,” she says. “I failed so many times, but I’m not even going to count it as a fail. It’s in the error where you learn.”
Dress, Palomo. Bracelet, rings, Cartier. Slingbacks, Chanel.
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Did you grow up in a musical household?
My brother produces and my mom has a great singing voice. I grew up in an African house that played a lot of music, and we danced a lot. We were vibing. There was always a function.
Is your family supportive of your career?
My mom is probably my biggest fan. She sits at home and watches all of my TikToks back to back and listens to all of my music. She doesn’t have Spotify or Apple Music or anything like that, so she just has three of my unreleased songs in her files, and she’ll just listen maybe 50 times in a day. She’s got an iconic TikTok account as well.
Have you always been a hopeless romantic?
One hundred percent. That’s definitely my root and my core. It really just stems from all the rom-coms set in New York: 13 Going on 30, When Harry Met Sally. All of those always just get me. I deserve this [love] and I will have this.
What can we look forward to in your Coachella set, and who are you excited to see?
Pretty colors, fucking fire outfits, insane, insane camp shit happening, and some special guests. I’m most excited to see Justin Bieber. Come on.
Where did the name Flowerovlove come from?
Originally it was an Instagram handle that I had, FlowerGarden2005. It’s the year I was born. Then I was like, “I’m turning 17 now; this is kind of cringe. Let me change it.” I also didn’t want people knowing when I was born: “Let me just do Flowerovlove.” There actually is a flower of love. It’s one of the prettiest flowers I’ve ever seen. I’ve always thought of people as flowers. You’re so excited for the flowers to grow back when spring starts to come in, and I think we should see ourselves like that. If something bad happens, if we’re feeling down about something, the flowers are always going to grow back.
Jacket, Ann Demeulemeester. Necklace, Cartier.
How did you develop your look?
I always wanted to be tall, so I was like, “If I have the legs out and I do some heels, I’m going to look taller.” Outfits make me feel on a very deep level. It’s not just clothes. I can never go outside in an ugly outfit. It’s just not me.
Do you have people giving you creative input, or is it all you?
My closest collaborator is my brother. I will have an idea, and I’ll ask him, “What do you think?” But I don’t do that to anyone else. I don’t really like to take ideas, either. It kind of has to come from me, because it’s my thing. It’s my project. This is my child; this is my baby. I’m Flowerovlove.
You’ve stated that there aren’t any other Black women in the music space you’re in. Can you elaborate?
I always have to speak about the Black women who came before me, who I’m just amazed by and feel very deeply connected to. Janet Jackson, pop icon. Whitney Houston, pop icon. Minnie Riperton. Donna Summer. Diana Ross. The sound of pop music is the root of disco for me. But now, when you see the lineup of the pop girlies, most of the time SZA isn’t on it. That doesn’t make any sense to me, because she is a pop girl. [Pop music is] now known as white girl music. I love me some white girl music. I really, really do. The sound that I’m crafting right now is what people think pop music is. [But] I’m filling a space that hasn’t been filled.
What is your upcoming project about?
A lot of my songs are about firsts, and my project is going to be about first times with everything. It started when I wrote “I’m Your First,” but it’s also because this is my first [full-length] project and it’s also my first time experiencing the end of my teens into adulthood. Growing is the best thing, because we have many more years and wisdom backed up by experience. My brain is like an infinite truck. A pretty truck. It’s a yellow and pink and purple truck full of ideas, and it just doesn’t stop flowing.
Hair by Teddy Charles at Nevermind; makeup by Lilly Keys; manicure by Raphael Park Charles; produced by Hyperion.
A version of story appears in the April 2026 issue of ELLE.
