“It’s Fucking Mental”: A Seven-Minute Cig With Bree Runway

SATURDAY 10:05 PM JUNE 15, 2024 WILLIAMSBURG

Bree Runway wants everyone to know that she’s “motherfucking back.” But Williamsburg already got the memo. Outside Jolene Sound Room, flocks of fans waited to catch a glimpse of the Ghanaian-British pop star as they sweated out whatever alcohol they had consumed in the summer heat. Inside the lounge, though, things were even hotter. Bodies packed the dance floor –Runway among them, of course– to celebrate her new single “Just Like That,” which happens to be her first project since announcing her departure from her label last June. “It’s literally Free Runway,” said the singer of her self-funded and no-holds-barred new era. “It’s colorful, it’s spiky, it’s destructive.” For this week’s installment of Smoke Break, we pulled Runway away from the “hot chaos” to offer her a cigarette (she does not smoke) and discuss her comeback.

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EMMA STOUT: Okay. You ready to get into it?

BREE RUNWAY: Let’s do it.

STOUT: So, where are we right now?

RUNWAY: We’re in Brooklyn, innit?

STOUT: Yeah.

RUNWAY: We’re in Brooklyn. We’re in New York with my New York hat.

STOUT: Describe the fit.

RUNWAY: The fit is giving Anna Bolina. She’s a New York designer and I wanted to have pieces of New York on me and just some cunty shit. I’m wearing Dior Galliano white sandals with the silver hardware, the silver to match the New York on the hat… just giving the girls club.

STOUT: What’s the vibe tonight? What are you going for?

RUNWAY: Tonight, I’m going for, “I want to dance.” I don’t want to stand and stare, and I feel like New York was the perfect place for me to launch this era because it’s like… people know who they are here. There’s a grittiness here that matches the song and who I am as a person and an artist. There’s freedom here, and there’s truth here, and there’s rawness here, and I feel very at home to just be.

STOUT: It’s the era of Free Runway.

RUNWAY: It is the era of Free Runway, yes.

STOUT: So you dropped your label a little over a year ago. How did the process differ making this single versus making a single under a label?

RUNWAY: Well, the difference is this was completely self-funded. I had no label distributor, no indie label, nothing like that involved. So I was just combing through every single fine detail to deliver the track. It’s mental, literally, it’s fucking mental, but so worth it as well. You get to put your pound to good use and make your ideas actually come to life. No one is approving it. You are your own validation. You create a vision. There are no no’s. It’s just yes, because I’m the one in the driver’s seat. You know what I mean?

STOUT: Yeah. Describe your vision in a sentence.

RUNWAY: Oh my goodness. It’s hot chaos. It’s just– it’s colorful, it’s spiky, it’s destructive. It makes you turn your head. It spikes your ear up like a little cat when you hear anything Bree Runway, because whether you like it or not, there’ll be something interesting about it that makes you want to tune in. And it’s literally Free Runway. I’m free, and I am not concerned with anything that the world weighs it up against: numbers, chart positions, any of that shit. My vision is just putting my best foot forward, creating things that I love, and doing it consistently. That’s it.

STOUT: Period. Word on the street is that you’re not a big drinker, you’re not a big smoker…

RUNWAY: No.

STOUT: What’s your guilty pleasure?

RUNWAY: My guilty pleasure? Chinese food. You know you’re not supposed to have takeouts often, and I do the dirty ones as well sometimes.

STOUT: What’s a dirty takeout?

RUNWAY: The shop’s broken down. But they’re the best kind.

STOUT: Oh, that’s how you know the food is going to smack. What’s your go-to order?

RUNWAY: Oh my gosh. Sweet and sour chicken, king prawn fried rice, and lots of chili oil. Lots and lots and lots.

STOUT: Is anyone cute showing up tonight?

RUNWAY: All Bree Runway fans are cute, so there’s going to be many cute people.

STOUT: I feel like you make songs for weird girls who are also bad bitches.

RUNWAY: 100%, that’s me. Like, sexy in the mirror, but dog barking for no reason at any given moment.

STOUT: What are you getting up to in New York?

RUNWAY: You know what? I need to recreate my New York experience next time I come. This time it was all about the rollout, it was all about meetings, it was all about shooting a music video till five o’clock in the morning, getting minimal sleep, moving hotels, meetings, meetings, meetings. It was jam-packed.

STOUT: Business Bree.

RUNWAY: Business Bree on this trip. But there are some spots that I have saved. I want to try some African food here. Tomorrow I might make room for a little shop or food or something.

STOUT: Do you think British food or American food is better?

RUNWAY: The thing is, I feel like actual British food, like shepherd’s pie– not really, no. But the culture you are able to get in Britain, great. American food is like what, burgers?

STOUT: Burgers, fries, hotdogs, fried chicken…

RUNWAY: Okay, maybe American food, then.

STOUT: I lived in Shoreditch for a summer, which is close to where you’re from, no?

BREE RUNWAY: Yeah, it’s great. Really colorful there.

EMMA STOUT: I think the energy is kind of similar to a Brooklyn energy. You really turned out New York.

RUNWAY: I’m fucking gagging. Foaming at the mouth. Love it. I’m just overwhelmed.

STOUT: Well, everyone’s foaming at the mouth for this new release. What does that feel like?

RUNWAY: A huge, great response. I feel like this was the most risqué– okay, to be fair, there’s quite a few risqué tracks– but this was the most like, “I hope they get it.” Because I live for stuff like this that goes against the grain and feels destructive and explosive. This is like a diary entry. This is like a PSA. This is a track full of affirmations. And they get it. This is why it’s good to have a fan base with taste.

STOUT: Exactly. The Runways have taste.

BREE RUNWAY: You see it in the way they dress in the queues, everything. It’s just a tasteful batch of people.