The synth-pop star beat out fellow Londoner Jorja Smith along with rising pop singer-songwriter Bebe Rexha and the enigmatic R&B performer H.E.R. Lipa’s breakthrough came in 2016 with her first global hit “Hotter than Hell,” which she followed with “Blow Your Mind (Mwah),” which busted into the US Billboard Hot 100. Her sixth single “New Rules,” which came off her self-titled debut studio album, was her first number one in Britain — and the first by a female solo artist to top the UK charts since 2015’s “Hello” by Adele. The 23-year-old was born in London to parents who emigrated from Kosovo; her father moonlighted as a rocker in the Kosovar band Oda, in which he was lead vocalist. She has said her second album will likely come out later this year, and cites shape-shifting pop icon Prince and southern hip-hop pioneers Outkast as major influences.

Source: Punch February 11, 2019 06:56 UTC