kwn sounds like no one else. It might sound like a journalistic cliche – and we would normally agree with such a statement – but in the case of the emerging East London creative, there’s simply no other way to put it.

Music has been at the epicentre of kwn’s life for as long as she can remember. Music flows through her brain, and she was given the chance the develop this serendipity when gifted a drum kit during primary school. She left school at 16 to attend East London Arts and Music College, which gave her the opportunity to nuance her expression, shaping her musical evolution. Since then she has sharpening her individualistic approach, finding and refining her sonic pocket in the process.

Last year saw kwn unveil her debut body of work. Entitled “episode wn“, the eclectic, experimental and effervescent EP drew listeners into her artistic universe, with her unmatchable merging of trap, soul and R&B characteristics shining through. She recently returned with “no cinderella”, her first single of the year, which showcased her burgeoning creativity and the evolution of her sonic and lyrical approach.

With more music just around the corner, we connect with kwn to dissect her musical roots, her unique style, and her discography to date, and what’s to come.

Listen to “no cinderella”

Read the in-depth interview…

Where did this passion to create stem from?
I’ve always been into music, because I grew up in a musical household. We’ve always had music running around the house but I think the main turning point for me was going to college, going to ELAM, and just realising how many people really have love for the music. Like going there, seeing people playing different instruments. At school, no one was really into music, there would be a few little singers or whatever else, but there was no one that was really that on it, fully. And I think going to ELAM and seeing everyone there, everyone that did have a real passion for it, just made me think there’s people like me as well. So I think that was the real turning point because I was able to create with people that I wasn’t really used to creating with, and people that would push me to do better and things like that. So I think ELAM would be the turning point for me.

So what influenced you to go there in the first place?
It was the best looking college that I went to. I’m from East so there’s not a lot around here. There’s one maybe 10 minutes max from me, but it didn’t really look like a music college to me. And then the other option for me was BRIT but that was just too far, I couldn’t travel all the way there everyday. And then, someone in my school told me there’s a college that just opened. When I went to ELAM, I was only the second year. So I went there for an opening day and it was amazing. The facilities, the teachers… It was a whole different vibe. Straight away, as soon as I went there, I was like, yeah, this is it.

So was it there that you felt inspired to pursue a career in music?
100%.

How did you find your sonic pocket? How did you nuance your style?
I always knew that I wanted to do something different. I don’t purposely try and do something different, but I always knew that I wanted it to be separate from what everyone else is doing. But in all honesty, when I listen to an artist, I get hooked on them. And then I have to find out everything about them. I’ll end up watching interviews on them and how they create in a studio. And I got really attached to Ty Dolla $ign in 2018/2019. I got really attached to him. And then I started delving into his discography. And it kind of changed my sound, changed the beats I was making, and the beats I was looking for. I think that was a very pivotal moment for me, to be honest, finding him and really listening to his music. But yeah, I think that was the change for me. Everyone pulls from him, whether it’s a feature hook or harmonies, and I want to be that person that you call on.

Is there a difficulty there as well, by being so unique do you think it kind of shrinks your market in a way?
Yeah, I think it shrinks my mind as well. Something could be super simple and be amazing, but for me, I’m like, it needs to be more tricky than that or it needs to have a bit more, something different. Sometimes it gets the better of me, but it’s a good problem to have, I guess.

How would you define your essence as a musician and as an artist?
I don’t know, man, I just do me. I don’t really think there’s a way for me to define it. I just create. I just do what feels right. Very rarely I’ll sit down and be like, “I want to make this type of song” or “I want to make that type of song”. Like I just ride the wave and I think that’s the most important part because otherwise you just get wrapped into the thought of like, “I’m doing this as a job, I have to make money from this”. That’s when you start losing the love and you start losing the passion. And I’ve been in those places, where I’m focused so much on trying to do a particular thing that it just becomes not tedious, but you just forget why you’re doing this kind of thing. At the beginning of your career, you’re just making music just to make it, because you love doing it and you love finding out what your voice can do. And I think if you keep that the whole way through, then you’re bound to just keep going and keep going and keep going rather than catching up with this person or catching up with that person. It’s hard to not do that when you’ve got TikTok and all these social platforms where it seems like every single person is an artist. So it’s hard to not play catch up and see some people as competition, but you can’t do that. You just have to just stay grounded and just keep focused on your thing.

One thing that really stood out to me about your sound is the combination of soul samples with almost trap-like auto tune vocals. They’re quite two separate styles. How do you combine the two so succinctly?
I didn’t used to use auto tune back in the day and then I don’t know I can’t remember when the first time I used it was but after that I was just like, there’s no going back. I just love it. I love real R&B music and I love church music and anything that makes you screw up your face a little bit with weird chords in it. If I could write gospel music I would. The auto tune, I use it as an instrument. I have used it for so long now that I can manipulate it in a way that, not to sound big headed but no one can really manipulate in the way that I do. I’ve been in the studio with serious singers that could hit any note they wanted to, any run, riff they wanted to on their own but the minute I turned on autotune, they sound like they’ve never sung in their life. There’s a negative attached towards auto tune that it’s just for people who can’t sing and lack is just for the Travis Scotts and people forget like, T Pain is a serious singer. But obviously, the autotune is just always on 100 with him, which I love. And I just love the sound of it. And I think if you can use it the way it’s meant to be used then it’s an amazing instrument, man. It’s like a vocoder. I just think it suits the tone of my voice, I love the way my voice sounds with it now. Even if an engineer turns it down the tiniest bit I’m like, “bro, what did you just do? Turn that back up”. I can hear it straight away and I just love the instrument of it. No matter how many hate comments I get I will never stop using it because I don’t use it like anybody else. I think the R&B and the hard autotune together just works. For me, it just works.

How do you approach using it then? Is it already on when you’re recording?
Sometimes I’ll record without it on. If it’s more of like a sing-y song, I might record with it off just to get the notes completely perfect. And then I’ll turn it back on. But I’ll be honest with you 99.9% of the time, I’ve got that on 24/7.

Let’s talk about last year’s debut EP. What was the process of creating that?
That was a long one. I’d written most of those songs like three years prior. I think the only new one on there was “Nobody” and “Went Wong” was a bit newer, but was still kind of old. But everything else was like, two, three years old in that project. So when it came to releasing it, I was a bit underwhelmed because it felt like it took so long for me. Obviously, to everyone else, it’s fresh, but for me, I’d been sitting on this for ages. But it was a cool time. It was a tough time in my life. I was going through a breakup at that stage, when I was writing all those songs, with someone I had been with for like, three or four years. But it was just me feeling out what I could and couldn’t do. It was a lot of my manager telling me like nah, this ain’t it. I was like, “why?” I’d been writing and making beats for so long before that, I was like, “What do you mean this ain’t good?” But obviously, she was right. A lot of the songs that didn’t make it were terrible. It was a very developmental stage. It was just me grasping things and seeing where I wanted to go with stuff.

The follow up will be out soon, right?
Hopefully, yeah, “no cinderella” obviously dropped a couple weeks ago, which is another song that I wrote in 2019.

Really? So why did it take you so long to release that one?
I don’t know if I can say this, but because I got signed. It was literally just the process of getting that together. Lockdown happened as well. So that was a tough time. I was in the middle of trying to sign whilst in the middle of lockdown. Then I got signed and it was just the normal thing of, where do we go next? How do we jumpstart this kind of thing? So it took a little longer than expected, but I’m just so happy that it’s out now for the world to hear.

That’s a sick track, what are you saying with it, what is it that you’re portraying?
“no cinderella”, I wrote that quickly. I wrote that a month after I’d been seeing somebody. And they told me they didn’t want to speak anymore, because they had to sort out their own stuff. Their mental health was all over the place. And so was mine to be fair, I just didn’t realise. And then I wrote that song quickly. And I was like, this life, it’s no fairy tale, nothing is really going to work out the way you think it’s gonna work out. Anything can hit you at any moment. But yeah, it was a weird one because I didn’t really realise the weight of it until after. I do that a lot with my music. I don’t realise the weight of the song until after I’ve written it. “no cinderella” was the first time I really explicitly wrote out my thoughts. Before that, I felt a bit too vulnerable to write 100% from my life experiences. I think that just came from the fact that I was young when I was making those songs. I had a lot of growing up to do. “no cinderella” was the first time I was like, “I’m just going to write how I’m feeling, write from what is coming from down under.” Every song now is about my life.

I’m a big fan of the visuals as well. Why did you choose that kind of direction?
I just love raw, gritty videos and visualisers. Sometimes music videos just don’t really do it for me. Unless you’re doing stuff like Kendrick, the music is probably not going to hit as hard as you want it to. So I just love doing cool, fast paced visualisers. I just like things to look cool. I’m not really fussed about having a full blown music video. For me, the most important thing is just getting the music out. If that means having to put something cool for you to look at with it, then so be it. But really, for me, it’s just about what your ears are hearing.

How is the follow up similar and/or different from the debut?
I think it’s different because “no cinderella” feels more like what I’m doing now. Whereas “Episode One” was a flashback from the past. Which obviously no one will really know unless you know. But it was kind of like, let me take you back to where it started. Not just from where I am now. And then “no cinderella” was like, I’m getting you ready for where I’m at right now. It’s a lot closer to the music I’m doing now, to the sounds that I’m trying to bring. But it all feels like it’s connected. Which I guess is inevitable because it’s me that’s doing all the music, but I was scared that “Episode One” was gonna be so far from what I’m doing now. But I don’t think it is. And I think it was important for me to release “Episode One” because, I think my manager said this to me, she was like, “it shows people how much you’ve developed.” I think it’s quite important because when I get to a certain stage, I want people to be able to look back and be like, “oh that this was so much different to what she’s doing now.” I think it’s important for people to hear the whole part of the journey.

Where do you want to take your career?
I just want to keep creating, keep progressing, keep levelling up, keep finding new things to do and new people to work with. I’m also gonna really hone in on the producing side of things. I eventually want to just be able to release a whole project, just me. Not because I don’t want to rely on anyone, but just because I know what I want to hear in my brain most of the time. And it’s just getting it out onto the computer. But I just want to keep going. I don’t have any super mad goals. I don’t care if I get a million views on a song or 100 views. I just want to keep putting out music and keep creating. It’s never really been about the fame. For me, I just put out my tunes and let people hear them. And if you like it, you like it. If you don’t, you don’t.

Why do you make music?
I don’t know if anyone can really answer this question. But I just love doing it, man. If I’ve got a session, the thought of waking up and being like, I’m gonna walk out of that session today with what might not be a good song, but I would have created something completely from scratch, from my brain, that wouldn’t have existed 24 hours before. I think that in itself is just mind blowing. Not just down to me, but to the producers or whoever I’m in the room with. We just made that out of thin air. That’s what keeps the excitement for me. Like I just have to remind myself that you’re about to make something that didn’t exist an hour ago. And it’s the people around me as well. They just inspire me a lot. And my family inspires me. And that’s it. I just make music because I love it. I love hearing what I can push myself to do and seeing what I can push myself to do. Stepping out of boxes, pushing boundaries, all of that stuff.