Kwn

Kwn was born and grew up in Walthamstow, East London.^[5] She has two older sisters.^[6] Her father is Nigerian and her mother is Irish.^[7]

She started playing piano and drums in her childhood.^[6] She realized by the time she was 11 years old that she wanted to become a musician,^[5] after which she started making music and releasing it on SoundCloud.^[1] She was inspired in part by her father, who was at one time a DJ,^[7][1] and who exposed kwn to a wide variety of Western musical genres, including R&B, pop, garage, house, as well as various genres of African music.^[6] When she was 16, she began attending the arts college East London Arts & Music,^[3][5] which pushed her to work harder at her music.^[8] After college, she worked as a chef,^[5] and before deciding to pursue music, she was interested in playing football professionally.^[9]

Initially known as k1, she changed her stage name to kwn – incorporating the first and last letters of her last name – to avoid being mistaken for a drill rapper.^[9][8]

She began releasing music with Black Butter Records in 2022, debuting with the single, “wn way or another".^[1] Her debut EP episode wn was released later in 2022.^[3] She was dropped by the label shortly before the release of her single "Worst Behaviour".^[10]

Kwn opened for Kehlani for some of the latter's Crash European tour dates.^[3]

She was nominated for Best New International Act at the 2025 BET Awards.^[2] In March 2025, she was named Billboard's R&B Rookie of the Month.^[3] Billboard called her music "a moody amalgam of trap, soulful vocal stacks and splashes of dark electronic music that both captures and reimagines the post-Bryson Tiller R&B landscape."^[3] When asked about her own genre placement, kwn said, "I don’t really think I could pinpoint a sound; I just do whatever feels good," though she noted R&B as a consistent influence in her music.^[3] She also received a place on NME's 2025 list^[11] of one hundred "essential emerging artists".^[4]

Her music videos often feature one-shot filming.^[9][3]

Kwn has described herself as "literally . . . gay since [she] came out of the womb". Of her sexuality, she has said, "I’m just a girl who likes girls. I don’t like putting labels on things."^[5] She is an introvert.^[2] Her favorite tattoo reads "lord i've tried" in Spanish ("dios he tratado"), after her song of the same title.^[9]

In October 2025, she confirmed that she was in a relationship with Kehlani, after months of speculation.^[12][13]