Leigh-Anne Pinnock has responded to criticism of her solo music.
The former Little Mix star, who released her debut solo album My Ego Told Me To on 20 February, has addressed claims that the music does not sound authentic to her.
Speaking to ELLE U.K., Leigh-Anne explained that the album, which is heavily inspired by her Jamaican and Barbadian heritage, reflects a side of herself that fans did not see during her time in the girl group.
"There's so much talk about what my music should sound like," she said. "It's so mad! Just because people haven't seen certain sides of me, suddenly I'm not Jamaican or Bajan."
The singer continued, "People were saying, 'This isn't Leigh-Anne' but you might not have seen it in Little Mix because we were in a pop girl band - they thought this side of me didn't exist."
Elsewhere in the interview, Leigh-Anne noted that her early experiences with reggae and lovers rock helped shape the album's eclectic sound.
"I've been going back to Jamaica every year since I was born... my cousin would burn CDs (with) different rhythms on it and that was where I would listen to it all the time," she told the publication. "That's where my love for the genres grew."
Little Mix - which also featured Perrie Edwards and Jade Thirlwall - went on indefinite hiatus in 2022, and Leigh-Anne is the last of the trio to release a solo album.
Jade and Perrie both dropped their debut solo records - That's Showbiz Baby and Perrie - in September.
