Leigh-Anne Pinnock shares mindset shift behind solo music joy
Leigh-Anne Pinnock has revealed how changing her mindset helped her rediscover the joy of making music as a solo artist.
Speaking on Capital XTRA Breakfast with Robert Bruce and Shayna Marie today, the former Little Mix singer opened up about how the ‘pressure and weight of expectation’ initially made solo music feel daunting rather than exciting.
Asked if she was enjoying the process at the moment, Leigh-Anne replied: “Yes.” But when asked when she last enjoyed it, she admitted the pressure of her Little Mix legacy held her back.
She explained: “Good question. I think the pressure is what stopped me enjoying it as much. Obviously, coming from such a massive group and having the pressure to do just as well as that massive group did is kind of impossible to do overnight.
“You know, that took 10 years. It takes work. And also, I’m not doing music like the group did. Like, I’ve gone down a different route, and I just think those expectations kind of like weighed on me and it was like, ‘This is just not fun!’ Like, ‘This is not how it should feel.’
“After having lived the pressure for 12 years in a girl group – obviously, the best experience of my life – we worked so hard and did so much, and I don’t need to have that pressure on me anymore.
“I’m doing this solo because one, I want to have fun. You know, I deserve to have that without feeling like this horrible pressure on me. So now that’s gone, I just feel so much pressure.”
Shayna Marie asked how she alleviated that feeling. Leigh-Anne said: “I had to change my way of thinking. Even like that question, ‘What does success mean to you?’ Like, success to me is genuinely to be happy. I want to be happy.
“Of course everyone wants to be happy, that’s the number one thing. But also, just to make music that I love and I’m proud of. That idea of compromise, ‘Oh, it’s a little bit like how I want it to sound,’ but then, ‘I’ve compromised a little bit because this person has this opinion on it and thinks it should sound like this.’
“That’s not how I want to do this anymore. So, yeah. It’s just to be fully proud and back and to love what I’m doing. I really feel I can really say that now with chest.”
Leigh-Anne recently teased a comeback single, promising fans that her new music will reflect this more confident and authentic chapter of her career.
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Tune into Capital XTRA Breakfast with Robert Bruce & Shayna Marie weekdays from 6:30am-10:00am, also available on the Global Player app.