“Break It Off” by PinkPantheress

In the case of PinkPantheress’ “Break It Off”, we may have to a bit of linear rearrangement in order to get the sentimental timeline correct. And to note what we are putting forth here is more or less hypothetical considering that the wording, at juncture, is somewhat ambiguous. But the premise would apparently be the vocalist being caught up in a serious relationship with an emotionally abusive partner.

Now it wasn’t such that she wanted to leave said relationship. Rather she tolerated the abuse.  However, “at one point” he apparently did something which left a permanent or not-easily-unforgiveable emotional scar. 

And the said incident would have transpired at a “party the other night”, where she was so broken by something that he said or did that she left in tears, which others also witnessed. And going a bit out on a limb, what he said or done would have been akin to “break(ing) it off”, i.e. dumping her.

Narrator is a Victim of Abuse

Another angle to this whole dilemma is that the vocalist is hurt so bad that she is no longer able to face the addressee. Or at least she won’t until he admits that he ‘likes’ her. Now normally under such circumstances, especially as far as romance songs are concerned, the victim of emotional abuse would rather be demanding that the perpetrator admits his or her love. 

But in this scenario, all the singer wants to hear is that he ‘likes her’. So this would be further indicative of the notion of her devaluing being is an established norm in this relationship as opposed to a one-time occurrence. 

Another sign of her victimization would the fact that, despite once again appearing as the victim, she is rather putting blame on herself for things falling apart. And we can in fact postulate that this is a serious association, as in the second verse the vocalist alludes to she and the addressee having a history “on the bed” together.

In Conclusion

In fact despite this narrative perhaps appearing simple on the surface, but as noted earlier incidents it can interpreted in a number of ways. But conclusively, what the singer wants is an apology. 

Despite all of the above, it is evident that she still wants the addressee as part of her life.  Indeed she has apparently grown accustomed to less-than-ideal behavior on his behalf, so much so that even after being a regular victim of it she is still wondering why he broke things off. 

So if we may put forth on last idea, PinkPantheress is coming off as a character in this song who tolerates abuse in the name of perpetuating a romance.

Writing and Release of “Break It Off”

The official release date of this track was on 21 March 2021. And it was not only co-written and co-produced by PinkPantheress but also self-released by artist onto social media. As such it doesn’t appear to have an actual chart history. 

Success of “Break It Off”

But the tune did go viral on TikTok, being used over 500,000 times in the time span of three months. And as such, this vocalist has garnered a minor celebrity standing on such platforms. For instance, she currently boasts of over 300,000 followers on TikTok. 

And another song she dropped around the same time, “Pain” (2021), thus far exceeded 1,000,000 views on YouTube. Also her ability to represent on her own has attracted the positive attention of one of the biggest labels in the game, Parlophone, who signed her to a contract in 2021 also.

Well actually we shouldn’t say on her own, as PinkPantheress is also known to rely heavily on samples of older tracks. In fact it is unlikely that the other credited producer and producer of this song, a somewhat forgotten musician by the name of Adam F, ever worked with her directly. Instead he is acknowledged in such a capacity because “Break It Off” utilizes samples off his 1997 track “Colours”.

PinkPantheress

As for PinkPantheress herself, she is 20 years old as of the dropping of this track. She is from a part of the UK known as Bath and draws local inspiration from the likes of Imogen Heap, Charli XCX and Lily Allen. 

She personally got into music later during her high school career, initially assisting a friend but then taking up the practice on her own, which means that she’s only been doing this for a couple of years now.  In fact to this point, the songstress has yet to drop any albums and is also known as being a bit reluctant to yet embrace the celebrity spotlight.