Gabrielle's first two studio albums were inspired by "classic soul connotations" such as Marvin Gaye, Barry White and Bobby Womack. However, the albums also contained influence "by early-'80s British pop" Soul II Soul, Lisa Stansfield and Mantronix. Gabrielle's third album Rise spoke of "optimism, romanticism, devotion, and a keen survival instinct".[17] "Play To Win" incorporated a mix of genres Gabrielle spoke on the albums influences saying "There's also a couple of songs which lean more to Country, so there will be a couple of surprises for them.” So in this day and age, why has Gabrielle decided to incorporate Country influences into her songs, “There's nothing wrong with Country. Yeah, I'm a black woman, but I'd like to think that I can just sing 'songs'. This album is diverse but people buying my music can expect diverse music; it's about love, life and optimism.