British R&B group FLO have been announced as winners of Radio 1’s BBC Sound of 2023 award.
The news comes just a few weeks after the three-piece were awarded the Brits Rising Star award, which makes them the first group in history to win both.
“Wow, we did it! To win this accolade not even a year after we released our debut single ‘Cardboard Box’ is wild,” the band said in a statement.
“We feel so connected to our British music roots winning the BBC Sound Of, and admire the artists who have come before us, especially our gal Pinkpantheress winning last year!
“Thank you to everyone who voted for us and put girl groups back on the map. To be recognised for our music and people to believe in our vision inspires us to go further this year! 2023 we’re ready!” they added.
UK rapper Stormzy was tasked with announcing the news to the group, which is made up of Stella, Renée and Jorja.
This follows the announcement of a collaboration with the rapper on the remix for “Hide & Seek”, after he tweeted “ready when you are girls” in response to a Capital XTRA video of the group chatting about dream collaborators.
Previous winners of Radio 1’s BBC Sound Of award have included the likes of Adele, Sam Smith and PinkPantheress, who won last year’s title.
FLO released their debut single “Cardboard Box” in early 2022. Since then, it has amassed over 40m global streams, with their debut EP “The Lead” reaching 100m streams to date.
The single earned them attention from the likes of Brandy, JoJo, SZA, Victoria Monét and Missy Elliott, Kelly Rowland and Sugababes.
The group’s new single, “Losing You”, is out now.
