“Everybody should be in therapy!” kwn gets existential on her forthcoming EP, and all pride aside
From selling parcels for Amazon to becoming one of progressive R&B’s most magnetic new stars, kwn opens up about heartbreak, therapy, sex, grief and the surreal rise from bedroom recordings to sold-out shows.
Back in January, kwn played a feverish show at the London Jazz Café. It might have been a Harry Styles concert: women screamed, fainted and threw their bras at the self-described “extroverted introvert” who coyly chided the audience: “Oi you lot, my mum’s here!” Her super-sexy back catalogue, which includesdo what i say, back of the club and worst behaviour, has made the singer, songwriter and producer’s progressive R&B essential listening and kwn herself, one of pop’s few masc-presenting women, very much in demand. Nominated for MOBO and BET Awards, a BRIT and an Ivor Novello, she’s worked with Kehlani, FLO and Ty Dolla $ign, walked for Feng Chen Wang AW 2026 and sold out two rounds of UK/ US/ EU shows in 2026 alone. “Everything’s moving so quick, I don’t know how to take it all in,” she says. “I’m just super grateful.”
It’s even more wild when you consider that around 18 months ago, kwn had been dropped by her label and was delivering parcels for Amazon. But the former ELAN [East London Arts & Music] student who began playing drums as a kid, couldn’t give up. She and her manager hatched a plan to independently release a limited run of a single she’d made on Instagram Live in her bedroom. Maybe they’d sell 1000 copies. Released in November 2024, worst behaviour sold over 12,000. On Valentine’s Day 2025, she dropped a Kehlani remix and accompanying video, featuring the two sharing a very steamy kiss that has had 31 million views to date. Now signed to Sony/ RCA in both the UK and US, the 26-year-old isn’t just one to watch, she’s clearly already arrived.
Things have exploded for you over the past year. How are you handling it all?
It’s mad. Any time I get off, I try and come home and spend it with my family, because they bring me back to reality and ground me. They’re such a big part of my world. I’ve got a niece and nephew, who are my entire life.
Tell us about the forthcoming EP, and all pride aside.
So we had the first EP in 2025, all due respect and now we have and all pride aside; it’s an A side and a B side. With this B-side, I wanted to tap into the more honest side of myself. When I did all due respect, I was in a completely different place in my life. Since I finished that EP, I’ve grown so much as a person and musically as well. So I wanted to capture that. I struggle to be open with myself, even in general life, truthfully, so to have to do that with strangers is… different. But I’ve grown so much that I wanted to be a bit more vulnerable. It feels like letting everybody into my journal.
How did you access this part of yourself?
I think spending time with certain people, meeting people that I’ve developed new friendships with that have allowed me to learn about myself, which I’m super grateful for. And my friendships that I’ve had for a long time too. I think you get to your mid-twenties and you have a little shift in your brain. You start to think differently about life and yourself.
You mention therapy on and all pride aside; is that something you’ve explored?
Yeah. It’s good but I’ve only had a couple sessions, because—it’s not really an excuse—I’ve been so busy that I haven’t found the time to be able to do it weekly. I feel like everybody should be in therapy. There’s always something for people to speak about, and there’s always something for you to dig up about yourself. It’s a super healthy move, to do therapy. I hope I can explore it more the next few years.
You’ve said with this EP that ‘lover girl era has commenced’.
You see, I was writing so many sex songs it was like, something’s got to give! I needed to write a heartbreak song ‘cause no one’s heard that from me yet. Growing up, you go through your phases of stupidness and doing whatever you want. This project is really tapping into love. I think love is so important. Whether that’s with your friends, a partner, your family, whatever. I created a brand for myself where people don’t think I can fall in love. But I can, I do. Especially being a gay female as well; in a lesbian relationship, you fall so quick and you fall so hard (laughs). I want people to know that I do have those feelings and it’s real for me too.
Watching your Jazz Café show was amazing: what do you make of being a queer heartthrob.
(Laughs). It’s cool, I like it. I’m glad that on the queer side of things that the community has somebody else that they can look up to for representation. I think that’s great. I’m also grateful that I have a lot of men at my shows as well. They’re maybe 4% of the crowd (laughs) but it’s still something. And there’s a lot of straight people too, which is great. I make music for everybody.
What does your mum think about the screaming girls?
She loves it, she loves all of it.
And some of your lyrics?
Yeah, she’s my biggest fan. I’ve always had her full support. She’s the biggest advocate to just be yourself and to not worry about what anybody else is thinking
With that in mind, we need to discuss touch myself and the ‘I’m not no pillow princess’ lyrics.
(Laughs). I wrote that in my bedroom. The ‘pillow princess’ line is just – God, my mum’s gonna kill me for this….
So is mine!
I think a lot of masculine lesbians, from what I know and people that I speak to, find it hard to be sexual with people. Maybe it’s insecurity. Some masculine presenting females go for a lot of straight women, which is a curse. And I’ve done it. I used to love straight women because the chase and the challenge felt cool, but it’s not cool at all. Straight women see who you are on the outside as masculine but then you’re female at the same time. When it gets down to the nitty gritty, you’re still a girl. So when it comes to sex, it can make some people insecure. I’m not that type of [pillow princess] person so, I just wanted to get it all out on paper.
AND ALL PRIDE ASIDE ALBUM ARTWORK
Are there other songs from the EP that you’d like to highlight?
This album is a lot more vulnerable but it’s also got its cocky, sexy, fun moments too. It’s the complete picture (laughs). So I’ve got Destin Conrad on all fours, who’s my brother. I’ve got Ty Dolla $ign too. I’ve looked up to him since I was 17, so to have him reach out to me was insane. We have a song called till the room stinks.
Oh my god.
Yeah. You can…(laughs).
kwn!(laughs) It’s just fun innit. I think people are so scared to say things nowadays. Even touch myself. I don’t think anyone would ever say that: ‘I touch myself just thinking about you’. It’s insane, it’s crazy, but who cares, man. Let’s literally have sex until the room stinks. We all do it, we all think about it, so why don’t we just say it?
I mean, sure! You’ve worked with some amazing people; who have you particularly learnt from?
Pharrell is a great guy. He told me, don’t fold. Just do what you want to do. I wasn’t even really working with him, it was Kehlani — so thanks to K for inviting me to Miami! And Kehlani, of course. She taught me a lot about getting the job done. She never spends more than a few days doing a song and most of the time she’ll get everything there and then. She’s so good with words and she’s not an over thinker. She taught me a lot about writing. But everyone I work with inspires me in their own way.
The EP closes with heaven in your hands, a song about grief.
Yeah, that’s about my granddad, who passed away last year. He was a headteacher and the foundation of my whole family. Anything we needed, he had us. But I know he’s watching over me, and I know he’s sending me a lot of love and blessings every single day.
Is there a plan for an album?
Yeah, 100%. Albums scare me! It’s a body of work; it’s not just a bunch of songs put in order. I really want to take my time with the album and access all areas of my brain and experiment till I can’t experiment no more. I’ll go everywhere, in all directions, and then whittle it down.
You were dropped from Black Butter a few years back. It happens to lots of artists, but what did you learn from that experience?
That if you don’t love what you’re doing and you don’t believe in yourself, you will crumble and crash. I could have very easily given up that time. I was broke, I had no money, I went back to doing a normal nine to five, and it was hard. There was times I’d be sat in that Amazon van, like, maybe this is just what I do now. But then I was like, Nah, it could never be me, because I believed in myself so much, and I still do now. Things like that will make or break you. If it makes you, then you know that you have something and it’s meant to be.
and all pride aside will be released June 26
@kwnway
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