When British singer Kwn (pronounced kay-one) asked her friend-collaborator Kehlani to kiss her in the video for her seductive track, “Worst Behaviour,” she knew it was going to break the internet.
With steamy lyrics like “Cut the lights, turn the bass up, we gon’ hit some notes,” the original track was already making waves online when Kwn dropped it in November. It gained even more eyes when R&B superstar and five-time Grammy nominee Kehlani hopped on the remix, which they gifted to yearning fans on Valentine’s Day.
Supporters took to social media to film their live reactions and comment on the artists’ incredibly long make-out and seemingly undeniable chemistry.
“Are … we supposed to see this? Omg,” one person said on YouTube.
“This is gonna be somebody’s awakening,” commented another.
“It’s sickening how many times I’ve replayed this video lol,” declared another.
But if you ask Kwn, the two entertainers were doing just that — entertaining. As of mid-October the video, which was directed by Chris Chance, had more than 21 million views on YouTube — a number that still shocks Kwn each time she hears it.
“I’m super happy, man. I knew that song was going to be something, and I’m glad that the world took it in just as much as I did,” Kwn says about the track that she recorded live on Instagram in her childhood bedroom in Walthamstow in east London.
Shortly after, Kwn dropped yet another chills-down-your-spine, sapphic bedroom jam, “Do What I Say,” which is the second single from her latest EP titled “With All Due Respect.” As someone who’s been making music since she was a preteen — she picked up the drums first, then attended the acclaimed East London Arts and Music school — the 25-year-old crooner says the recognition is long overdue.
“I felt like so many people were doubting me and sleeping on me, especially after [I was] dropped from my label,” says Kwn, who was let go from U.K.-based Black Butter Records in mid-2024. The direct title, “With All Due Respect,” was meant to boldly signal that she’s “not playing games anymore,” she adds.
The nine-track EP kicks off with the “bite me intro,” in which Kwn sing-raps the commanding lyrics, “I don’t want to be humble no more/Baby, bite, bite, bite me/Bite me, bite me.” This confident energy carries throughout the project including on the EP’s second feature with fellow London girl group, Flo — whom Kwn calls this generation’s Destiny’s Child — on the sensual “Talk You Through It.”
Kwn is kicking off the U.S. and Canada stretch of her With All Due Respect tour in Los Angeles on Tuesday at the Echo, which also marks her first ever headlining tour. Ahead of the sold-out L.A. show, she phoned in from London to share what she learned from touring with Kehlani, why she thinks artists should share their creative process and why she’s much more than just that viral moment. And cough cough, there’s more music on the way.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
You started making music when you were about 11 years old after your older sister took you to her friend’s at-home studio. How exciting was it for you to be learning how to lay tracks and produce tracks at such a young age?
I feel like it was always destined, to be honest. My nan showed me a video the other day of me tapping pens on the table and making beats from a super young age. I was probably like 9 or 10, and then my mom bought me a drum kit when I was super young as well. So that was the first instrument I picked up — the drums. Then obviously I was learning little bits in school like how to record myself and produce. Then my sister introduced me to that friend and he had a studio in his house. Any time my sister would go over there, I’d go with her, maybe like once a month or something and pretty much just watch his process. I’m a very visual learner so I was learning a lot just from watching people. I’d stay up really late and watch YouTube videos of people making beats and stuff.
You’ve been making music for a long time, but you didn’t release your first official song (“wn way or another”) until 2022. Take me back to that time. How did it feel to finally share your music with the world?
I was super anxious. You always think to yourself — ‘cause I signed to a record label back then as well — that as soon as you drop your first song, that’s it. You’re gonna go off. But that’s definitely not the case, d’you know what I mean? Also, it was such a long time coming because I’d written those songs so long before that probably in like 2018 and 2019. It was a long time coming, so it kind of felt like a release as well.
You were dropped from your label just days before you released your single “Eyes Wide Open,” which started catching people’s attention. Did you feel like you’d finally figured out your sound and the direction you wanted to go in with that song?
Yeah, 100%. As soon as I made that beat, I was like Ohhh. It’s clicked now. I was trying for so long to find what I was trying to do. I think I was struggling because I didn’t really understand where I was trying to go, so the people I was working with couldn’t aid me in trying to find the sound too. So as soon as I got that, I was like “Oh, this is it.” And then when I wrote it, I was like, I’ve never heard anything like this before — in the least big-headed way possible. That was definitely the moment for me where I was like “All right, this is going to do something. It has to.” If it doesn’t, then I don’t know. Obviously I’m going to keep going but it’s gotta make a little bit of a shift somewhere for me, and it did and I’m so grateful for it.
Speaking of “Eyes Wide Open,” you have a distinct style in all of your videos including “Worst Behaviour” and “Do What I Say.” You use a single frame that looks like it was shot in one take. It’s very cinematic. Can you talk about why that style resonates with you? Are you a film buff?
[Laughs] I watched a film called “The Boiling Point” and that is all shot in one take. When you watch a one take — not even just a music video — you don’t want to take your eyes off of it because you don’t want to miss anything. My director, Chris Chance, and I felt like the art of music videos kind of died a little bit. There were only a select few people that were really making [captivating] videos and things that were capturing your attention, so we were like we need something that is just going to keep your eyes on it at all times. And the one take just works, man. We did that one pretty quick. We didn’t have a lot of time because the house that we were shooting in was somebody’s actual house, and I think that their kids had come home. But we just wanted something that was just super captivating and just lures you in. “Lord I Tried” was a one take too. We knew that worked and that looked incredible. And then obviously we did it with “Eyes Wide Open” as well, then after that we were like we got to keep this going. It’s becoming a theme now.
Why do you enjoy showing your process for making songs on Instagram Live? I’m sure you can’t do it as much as you used to now.
It was my manager’s idea like back in 2019 or 2020. She was like “I think you just need to go on Instagram Live. Let people see your process.” And I was like “I don’t know,” but she was like “Just trust me.” At first, it was just me, her and maybe like two other people in there. Then I would do it here and there, and then after lockdown, I started doing it a bit more. I don’t know. It was just that you don’t get to see many artists’ process in the studio. I always think about people like Beyoncé. There’s only like a few videos of her in the studio and you always think to yourself like, “Man, I wonder how these people’s brains work.” There’s loads of videos of Pharrell and I think that’s what I love about him. I can always go on the internet and search up “Pharrell in the studio” and there will be something of him whether it’s with like Justin Timberlake or Timbaland or something. I think it’s just cool to see how people’s brains work and what makes the light bulb go off at certain moments. That’s what a lot of it is in my IG lives. You can see when my brain figures something out. I think it’s cool. We shouldn’t really gate-keep our processes. I’ll [hop] off to write the lyrics because I don’t want to give them everything because people will start stealing tips and tricks, ya know what I’m sayin’? Again, it just makes you human. We’re not like these robots that churn out the music. It takes time and people should get the privilege of being able to see that, especially like my core fan base. It was just a lot of them at the time. Now it’s a lot for me because there’s so many people that come on there and they’ll end up screen recording it and putting it on the internet and that bit, I’m like “Ah, guys, come on.” I should probably get back to it a little bit more, but this year I haven’t been in the studio as much as I usually am. But I’m definitely going to get back on there for sure.
In June you dropped “With All Due Respect.” Talk to me about the inspiration for the title and what your mindset was going into the creation of that EP.
I had a different title before and then we scrapped that. I was like it needs to be something that [shows] people that I’m not playing games anymore. I felt like so many people were doubting me and sleeping on me, especially after I was dropped from my label before. I was like, “Everyone’s sleeping on me.” I’m trying to get in with artists and producers, and they’re not hitting me back. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, but I know I can do this. And then it was Chris [Chance] that came up with that. He had sent me a list of like 12 different names [and] “With All Due Respect” was one of them.
In a previous interview, you said that “With All Due Respect” is the first part of a two-part album and that you’re planning to release a B-side. Is that still the plan? If so, when can we expect that?
Yeah, absolutely. I’ve just been so busy with this promo stuff and then obviously we jumped straight into tour. It’s going well though. I’m excited about the next set of music. It’s very classic. That’s what it feels like timely.
I have to ask. Are you planning on dropping it sometime next year?
Yeah. It’s not going to be a year after that. I tell ya [laughs].
You toured with Kehlani last year (on the Europe stretch) and you said that the experience proved to you that you can really do this music thing. Fast forward just months later, you are in the midst of your first headlining tour. How does that make you feel? What was your mindset going into this tour?
I was definitely nervous. But I think I was nervous because I was like, you can fake streams. You can fake followers. You can fake all this stuff, but the one thing you can’t fake is people, real people buying tickets to your show. Not saying that I have fake streams or followers, because I absolutely do not. But the real telling is like people coming to see you at your shows, and the feedback that you get from that. And yeah, the reception has been great, man. It’s been more than I could have imagined. I’ll be honest. I have not seen a bad word about my show, which I’m really grateful for because that’s all I wanted to be honest. I just wanted to be able to have fun. I wanted to be able to engage with people. I’m not a dancer or anything, ya know, so I felt like it was going to be hard for me to engage with the crowd and give them a good show, but I’m really just being myself on stage and letting my personality out. So I think that’s what’s captivating people, which I’m glad about.
You’re kicking off the U.S. and Canada leg of your tour in L.A. on Tuesday. What can fans expect?
A good time! I keep saying it’s really a special experience to be able to do these small, intimate shows. And I know people are like, “You could’ve sold out this venue and you could’ve done this venue …” And I’m like, yeah but these intimate, almost like one-to-one moments and experiences with people is what they will appreciate a lot more in the long run. And I know I am too. I be walking into these venues and I’m like “Oh, this small. Like we definitely could’ve gone bigger.” But I’m like nah. This is what it’s about. Everybody’s gotta start somewhere and I think it’s just important, like I said, that we can have these intimate moments with each other. It’s a super super special experience, it feels great.
From Cleo Sol to Sasha Keable to Odeal to Elmiene and several others, it truly feels like the U.K. R&B scene is having a moment. How does this make you feel to be a part of such good company?
It’s great. I feel like music was kind of on a decline for a little bit. It felt like no one was really excited about music, but I feel like now it’s like “Oh, people are really getting excited about things again.” I think people are just starting to put out music that they genuinely love and we’re not chasing a trend or chasing a TikTok moment anymore. I feel like it’s just genuine music that everybody’s loving, so it feels good right now. The scene feels great.
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