Piri on TikTok Snobbery, Female Producers and the Importance of OnlyFans

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Piri, also known as Sophie McBurnie, is a myriad of contradictions. Who could have imagined that the self proclaimed “goody two shoes” from school, who ran a K Pop Twitter stan account, would end up making it onto the UK charts? It would be oxymoronic to any gammon that a recreational pole dancer with a pop career would have a degree in chemistry from Lancaster uni.  

Piri grew up in Rochdale, a small working class town on the outskirts of Manchester, and while it’s easy to imagine a younger Piri dreaming of leaving the north, the opposite is true. Leaving her hometown in the North of England to study at the nearby in Lancaster university, Piri waxes lyrical about the cozy vibes of the small city: “It's near the Lake District, so we would go out there with our friends and it's really scenic. There's a castle and I loved being at a campus uni, being so close to everyone.” She smiles. “There's towns around Greater Manchester that have more of a city vibe than Lancaster. They didn't even have a Nando's when I was there! They've got one now, thank God.”

Being from a thoroughly northern family, through and through, Piri tells me she “never expected to move to London” and only took the leap when the decision was essentially out of her hands. With management, PR, her label and all her other work commitments based in the capital city,, it was a natural next step for Piri to move down south. 

Similarly, she never expected to be a musician. “After university, my plan was to take a year out, then go back and do a Masters, then potentially a PhD. I wanted to be a lecturer because I was just super inspired by my organic chemistry lecturer. She's just a legend!” Piri explains, “But then I started my OnlyFans and made more money than I would have as a graduate chemist with a master's anyway.”

Soon after Piri made this decision to switch careers after her success on the sex work platform, the country - and the world - went into lockdown. Holed up in a student house in Manchester with a new boyfriend, a musician himself, Tommy encouraged her to follow her own musical predilections - those that she had never taken seriously before - and see what could develop under the right conditions.

“There is a lack of inspiration and a lack of role models for women, so you just don't even imagine the possibility of being a producer.”

Growing up, the singer-songwriter loved writing and playing guitar, but couldn’t imagine how that could turn into actual music, or “an actual record you can listen to on Spotify.” Piri notes that it felt serendipitous that her ex boyfriend Tommy could produce songs, as he knew how to help with the technical aspects that she wasn’t acquainted with yet. 

Alongside Tommy, Piri also credits her friends for encouraging her to get involved with making music: “Partially, I never considered trying seriously in the music industry because nobody I knew was making music either, but suddenly I was surrounded by others who were really passionate about their projects.”

She adds, “There’s also that subconscious feeling that I'm a girl, I can't be a producer. There is a lack of inspiration and a lack of role models for women, so you just don't even imagine the possibility. Rather than thinking it's not necessarily something I could do, you just kind of don't even think of it.” She continues, smiling, “Now I'm a producer as well and make my own music! I'm really proud of that specifically, it's super cool. Life comes at you fast and unexpected things are the best things.”

“People look at it on a surface level and just think, ‘Oh, they just made one song and it blew up’ but it's never just that is it? You've created a song. You always put energy and love into making music and it doesn't blow up without you trying.”

Piri is a poster child for going wholeheartedly into what you are interested in doing, regardless of whether or not it’s the traditional route to take in life. She enthuses that the best parts of her career have been achieved by rolling the dice and taking a risk. One of the biggest, and most controversial to some, is Piri’s success as a musician on TikTok.

“People who are critical about it, honestly shock me. What do you want from me? It's not my fault that my song blew up on TikTok. Everyone's trying to succeed out there and when you've got a platform that's pushing out your content, to people who don't ever follow you, and making it possible for people to use your music in their own videos… Why wouldn’t you use that?”

Piri continues, “It's so amazing to see people taking your music and making something new with it! I just can’t understand how others can't appreciate that - people getting together and enjoying the song online. How could you be so bitter to possibly think that’s a negative? I think there's definitely some jealousy involved too. It makes sense to be jealous of how these people are succeeding, they look at it on a surface level and just think, ‘Oh, they just made one song and it blew up’ but it's never just that is it? You've created a song. You always put energy and love into making music and it doesn't blow up without you trying. People just need to think at a deeper level and appreciate the energy that goes into it - it's not just a fluke.”

It takes courage to put yourself out there, but it feels especially brave to make the effort on TikTok, where earnestness is encouraged in comment sections but simultaneously slammed by cynics. The app is notorious as a favourite for gen z audiences. But as a generation that grew up with instant internet access, the comment section is filled with a brazenness that can only be found by those who have always lived protected by the anonymity of making multiple anonymous accounts whenever they want. As with everything in life, this ability to say whatever the fuck you want without consequence gets particularly, cruelly, pointed when addressing women online.

As a prolific TikToker, Piri knows all about the hells that run riot within the comment section.

She laments that what once seemed shocking to her when she first got on the platform has now been normalised. “When I first got TikTok I was like, ‘This is the worst comment section I've ever seen.’ On every video, not even just on my own. On ads even! If you see any female artists on ads, the comments are horrific.”

The trick, Piri recommends, is knowing that those commenting aren’t doing it seriously. “You've got to just deal with it by thinking people are joining in for the sake of it; if they see one hate comment on a video, they're going to just pile on and add to it because they think it's funny to be hating on this person.”

She enthuses, “You've got to really try and take yourself out of taking it personally. Just think - they literally only commented for the sake of it, because they think it's a bit of fun. They don't know me, you know? You've got to really try and distance yourself from it or it can get really harmful.

As well as TikTok, Piri has made a name for herself on another platform that has skyrocketed in popularity over the past couple of years: OnlyFans. A lucrative career that she doesn’t see herself giving up any time soon. In fact, Piri credits the subscription service for not only giving her the money to invest in herself and her music career, but inspiring love for her body too. 

“There's nothing in life that says that it's more moral to cover yourself up and not be a sexual person. I don't know if I’m being too deep, but a lot of girls are ashamed of their vaginas and how that looks - I definitely felt that too - but I feel like the way to get over that is to just look at it more.” She enthuses, “Look at it more, take pictures of it and be proud of it. You’ll start to appreciate it for what it is really. That was such a euphoric moment for me realising like, ‘Wait, why was I embarrassed of this body part?’”

Piri continues, “I'm proud of my OnlyFans! I don't see it as a negative thing at all, and it's out there anyway now so I might as well profit off it. Once something is on the internet, it's out there! I also see sex work as part of who I am and I want it to be part of my cause. My message that is sex work is real work, it's fine. I want to represent that, and I'm proud to do so.”

It’s hard to not find the earnest enthusiasm of Piri and her passions exciting. More than anything else, it’s rewarding to meet someone who is so unendingly online and not impacted by the cynicism that spreads through the internet. 

Photographer: Scarlett Carlos Clarke | Writer: Gina Tonic | Creative Director: Ione Gamble | Makeup: Georgia Hope | Hair: Sky Cripps-Jackson | Stylist: Amy Holden-Brown | Lighting Technician and Photographer Assistant: Brian Whar

This interview is part of our Spring print issue, in collaboration with Coach.