When Rolling Stone UK catches up with kwn, she is mere hours away from a flight to Jamaica, taking a much-needed pause from a whirlwind period of professional growth. “It’s definitely overwhelming,” the 26-year-old admits. “I’m ready to recharge, so I can get back and drop more music. I’m so grateful that I can call this my job.” Having been on and off tour since last summer, she is successfully capitalizing on her viral appeal on both sides of the Atlantic. “As soon as I drop a song or get on stage, it reminds me why I love it all so much.”
Part of kwn’s appeal lies in her profound emotional resonance; every desire, yearning, premonition, and rumination is canvassed for the world to hear with startling audacity. As a firm fixture in R&B’s global renaissance—a movement that is proudly intersectional, featuring queer artists like Kehlani—kwn’s transparency colors her perspective. Her cocksure, matter-of-fact approach has courted a legion of fans, though the path to this success was not always linear for the Walthamstow native, who was dropped from her first record deal in 2023.
“I had so much self-doubt at the time,” she shares candidly. During that period of uncertainty, she worked with her father at a restaurant as a pastry chef while balancing a job at Amazon. “My confidence comes from wanting to tell the world that they could never do me like that again; I had to believe in myself and put it in the music.”
Early releases like her EP wn way or another hinted at her poise, but kwn truly came into her own on her subsequent project, with all due respect. Flirtatious, candid, and seductive, the EP is seared with adornment and admiration, its smoky, sexually charged foundation adding a necessary layer of desire back into the R&B canon. The Kehlani-assisted track “worst behaviour” acts as a hallmark of the project’s candor, with the single instantly going viral on TikTok. The pair also collaborated on 2024’s “Clothes Off,” showcasing a palpable artistic chemistry that culminated in a performance at New York’s Barclays Centre just as kwn inked her new record deal. “I always shout out Kehlani for helping to boost me up,” she acknowledges.
Beyond her risqué lyricism lies an immensely talented musician whose signature use of autotuned lead vocals paired with unedited background vocals adds a dynamism and tension that soothes the ear. “It’s a cool juxtaposition that I played around with in my room,” she explains. Her artistic prowess is rooted in a childhood spent consuming R&B legends, alongside formal studies at East London Arts and Music (ELAM). From Dru Hill to Beyoncé, kwn studied the greats, citing Brandy’s “Put That on Everything” as the “perfect” song. “Brandy is the vocal Bible. Everything from the production to the insane vocals and perfect ad-libs—from top to bottom, it’s flawless.”
Looking toward the future, kwn remains optimistic about the state of R&B. She points to artists like Destin Conrad, Isaia Huron, Ambré, and particularly Maeta as tangible stewards for the genre’s evolution. “I don’t think people put enough respect on Maeta; her voice is incredible,” she notes. As she gears up to release her next EP, kwn continues to evolve, using her music as a form of personal therapy. “These songs are like a one-to-one conversation with myself. I’ve learned in the past year and a half that you need to feel, talk to yourself more, and talk to others more. I want to become the best version of me.”