8 November 2022 |
Electric fluidity, sensuous affections and textured toxicity have come to define KWN’s sound. Pronounced “kay-wuhn”, the 22-year-old singer and producer hailing from Walthamstow, East London, has gleaned high-regard for her experimental weavings of sesh-ready tracks. Unbounded by genre, she’s sharpening her craft on the city streets and feelings of nostalgia pulsing with the energy of late, London nights.
Following the release of her debut single “Wn Way or Another” last month, “Sweetie” surfaced as her dreamy sophomore record, featuring Grammy Award-winning British musician Scribz Riley. Co-written and co-produced with 0207 Def Jam-signed British musician Tendai, “Sweetie” is astonishingly cinematic and disarmingly raw. Describing the single as “the flower amongst the tracks featured on her forthcoming record”, KWN adds, “no matter how hard a relationship is, and how toxic it becomes, you still get down to business!” Both singles served as a preview to her highly anticipated, debut EP Episode Wn, an indescribably intimate soundscape which dropped this past weekend.
Here, we grab KWN for a gab about music, must-haves and motivations.
1. How did you come up with the moniker KWN?
“It’s my initials, basically. It was originally K1 but it made me sound like a drill rapper, lol.”
2. How was it working with Scribz Riley on “Sweetie”? Did you know each other before and how did the collaboration come about?
“Yeah we knew each other before “Sweetie” and worked on “Introduce Myself” on his EP together. Once I had written “Sweetie”, I knew Scribz would be perfect.”
3. How were you feeling at the time when you wrote and produced “Sweetie” with Tendai? I understand that it’s an ode to lovemaking but why is that something you felt inspired by?
“You know what? This was probably the first song that I ever premeditated. I just knew I needed to make some baby-making-music.”
4. What can you tell us about Episode Wn?
“It’s basically me feeling invisible to someone, so having to treat them like they’re nobody to me to get them out of my head. It sounds mad when I put it like that because it’s definitely a feel good riddim’ so it’s a bit of a juxtaposition which I like to do when I’m creating to get a good thing out of a bad situation.”
5. Your songs are recognized for their genreless appeal, but what sort of music inspired you growing up?
“It was a lot of RnB, soulful house, garage etc. My Dad was a DJ and I’ve got two older sisters who grew up in the 90s so I literally had everything on the table.”
6. If “Sweetie” had a flavour, how would it taste?
“Haha! Sweet with a lil tang.”
7. What’s one thing you can’t leave the house without?
“If I ain’t got my weed then it’s a long day.”
8. What would you say is your dream gig to play?
“My biggest dream is to play with Coldplay.”
9. What is the one song you can listen to on repeat mode and never get bored of?
“There’s so many, but I’ll say “Adventure of a Lifetime” by Coldplay or “Fireflies” by Owl City.
10. What can we expect next from KWN?
“A whole heap of good shizzle’ man. I’m just creating and working on a lot of stuff which I think is a level up from this EP. I’m excited for everyone to hear it :)”
Photography by Jahnay Tennai. Stream ‘Episode Wn’ on all major platforms.
