Written by: Guilherme Canineo
Editor: TreAna McDonald
Photography: Alesha Hickmans
In times when sharing your work is more accessible, there are still obstacles to face daily. Standing out isn't easy despite the amount of talent you might have. Let’s face it! Getting a shot at scoring a record deal might as well be impossible for many outstanding artists who struggle to simply book meetings with agents or collaborate with producers. While fans, in a “selfish” way, may enjoy the fact that their favorite artist still carries the underrate status or hasn’t particularly experienced a breakthrough, many of these artists truly deserve to get more recognition.
In 2012, 17-year-old Rebecca “Becky” Hill impressed Jessie J. and Will.i.am during the blind auditions for the first season of The Voice UK with a phenomenal rendition of John Legend’s “Ordinary People.” Owner of a distinctive, powerful, and raspy voice, she made it as far as the semifinals of the show. Although the final outcome of that experience left a bitter taste in Becky’s mouth, talent like hers is not easily forgotten.
In the following years Becky received numerous requests for collaborations. Her venture with English DJ and record producer, Wilkinson, peaked to No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 1 on the UK Dance Chart in 2013. In 2014, her platinum certified (BPI) collaboration with Dutch DJ and music producer, Oliver Heldens “Gecko (Overdrive)” rendered Becky with her first chart-topping song in the UK and later that year she signed a record deal with Parlophone Records.
While most people assume that from this point Becky’s career would skyrocket following the aforementioned success, sometimes it’s hard to keep up the momentum. Despite receiving praise by British radio legends, Pete Tong and Annie Mac, and scoring another top 30 song with Norwegian DJ and record producer Matoma in 2016, her career seemed to have stagnated. However, in August 2017 she announced the signing of a worldwide record deal with Polydor Records, but sadly her first release under the new label failed to chart. Undeterred, Becky returned to the charts late in 2018 after a scoring a successful collaboration with DJs MK and Jonas Blue. The song, which was also co-written by her, peaked to No. 12 in UK Singles Chart.
Becky is a force to be reckoned with along with the fact that she is an outstanding live performer. The official release date for her debut album has yet to be announced but we definitely expect “songs influenced by dance music..., but I want to push my own sound without having to follow a trend of success on the collaborations” (Wilson, 2019).
Summer might be coming to an end, but that shouldn’t stop you from having a blast while listening to her latest releases “I Could Get Used to This”ft. Weissand “I Wish You Well” ft. Sigala.
You can follow her on:
Instagram: @beckyhill
Twitter: @BeckyHill