Photo: Press
Jess Glynne has spoken out in defence of Ed Sheeran and 1Xtra, saying urban music should not be "about race".
Chart dominating singer Sheeran came in at No.1 on BBC 1Xtra's "most important U.K artists on the current black and urban music scene" list. This was then criticized by Wiley who said that it showed black artists in Britain were being "bumped".
In support of Ed, Glynne told BANG Showbiz: "To be honest with you, it's a genre of music, it's not about race. He's got fucking good songs and he's a wicked artist. That's what he loves and that's what he does."
"If you're going to call it 'black music' you can't just make it one race. I think it's ridiculous," she added.
"At the end of the day, soul and groove - yeah, OK , great, black music. But at the same time, white people, Asian People - anyone can sing."
"I don't see the issue, if you love a type of music and you're good at it, why not be voted at the top of that?''
Listen to the Jess Glynne's 'Right Here' below
Moving on to discuss her debut, Glynne said: ''The album's sounding really cool. I don't think people are expecting what they're going to be getting. I'm a very soul, R&B, hip-hop influenced girl. I love my pop as well, but my album's going to be inspired by what I love. It's definitely not going to be a dance or a house album.''
Glynne heads out on an Autumn UK tour. For more information visit Gigwise Tickets.
The full list of tour dates are as follows:
Wed 15 October 2014 - SHEFFIELD Foundry
Thu 16 October 2014 - GLASGOW O2 ABC2
Fri 17 October 2014 - MANCHESTER Club Academy
Sun 19 October 2014 - NOTTINGHAM Rescue Rooms
Mon 20 October 2014 - BIRMINGHAM Institute Temple
Wed 22 October 2014 - CARDIFF Globe
Thu 23 October 2014 - BRISTOL Thekla
Sat 25 October 2014 - BRIGHTON Coalition
Mon 27 October 2014 - OXFORD O2 Academy2 Oxford
Tue 28 October 2014 - SOUTHAMPTON Brook
Wed 29 October 2014 - NORWICH Waterfront
Thu 30 October 2014 - LONDON Electric Brixton
Below: The new stars of soul and r&b
