Born in Walthamstow with a DJ father, kwn (pronounced kay-wuhn) grew up with the sounds of R&B and garage bumping through the house, but her own music’s a little harder to pin down. It’s been described as “sesh-ready party music” by some, but it’s defining factor, really, is its relatability. Even her sound, glazing her vocals with Auto-Tune and setting them against haunting electronics, it feels raw and, paradoxically, unfiltered.
Her latest track, “No Cinderella”, keeps it simple, detailing a relationship that both sides aren’t quite ready to admit is doomed. Without going into too much detail, she explained to us via email that she draws exclusively from personal experience when she writes and it’s striking a chord with fans in a big way. “I draw from my life experiences every time I write now,” she shares, “but before I struggled to put my thoughts to paper, I felt too vulnerable, so this was a big step for me.”
It caught a lot of attention quite quickly on TikTok (“I’m glad I waited to put this out to be honest, even though people on TikTok send me threats to release it every day,” she laughs) and that buzz grew even wilder when social media polymath Tega Alexander used the audio in his Bullet Train premier round-up. Released last night, the track now has a glitchy, contemplative video courtesy of Skepta and Knucks collaborator Gugzay.
Speaking in greater detail on the track, kwn adds: “‘No Cinderella’ is an unexpected one. I wrote this song in 2019 not knowing how special it was until like a year ago. The eee hee yeah ahh melody came into my head as soon as I heard the beat and it was pretty quick writing the rest of it. It’s basically a story of me trying to tell my significant other we both know it’s not working, both keep coming back for more, but ultimately I’m trying to make it clear this ain’t gonna last forever, this isn’t some fairytale romance movie where it’s gonna work out in the end. This song I think means a lot because of the clear concept. It was the first time I felt like I had written something truly from the heart.”
Hit play on the video up top and then add "No Cinderella" to your playlists.
