Kenya Grace on 'Strangers', New Projects, and Dream Collaborations in Exclusive Interview with Brooke Reese

On Desember 6, Kenya Grace, the dynamic UK artist behind the viral sensation “Strangers,” joined Brooke Reese for an exclusive interview as part of the Apple Music: Emerging Artists series. Held at Apple Soho in New York, this event offered fans a unique opportunity to connect with Kenya, whose blend of dance-pop has captivated audiences worldwide. Known for her innovative approach to music and storytelling, Kenya's session with Brooke Reese provided insightful glimpses into her artistic process and future aspirations.

If you missed it, fear not, we've got the highlights for you.

Brooke: So glad that you wanted to do this. Your name has been everywhere, your song has been everywhere. I think it’ll be fun to start our conversation with the song “Strangers”. When you made it, did it feel special? Was there something about it? Because people just gravitated towards it immediately.

Kenya: Ing jujur, ora. aku ora ngandhut iki. aku ngandika iki super kasil lan ora ngandhut apa-apa saka iku nalika aku ngirim, nanging aku sangat gembira yen wong dihubungkan karo iki akeh. iku gila.

Brooke: Your style is unique, and you live in that dance-pop world. What is your process creatively when writing music?

Kenya: When I write, I always start with making the beat. I usually start with chords or something that inspires me in that realm, then I probably do drums, and finally would be the vocals: start with the melody and then lyrics. It always is the hardest part for me. When writing the lyrics, I always want to tell a story, so I spend the longest on that.

Brooke: I love that for you, the beat and melody guide you, and it's the storytelling where you take your time.

Kenya: It always takes so long to write the whole story.

Brooke: Aku uga intrigued ngobrol karo artis sing wis duwe momen gedhe ing platform media sosial kayata TikTok lan Instagram, ngembangake komunitas karo penggemar sampeyan lan mung kolektif nonton hal-hal berkembang begitu akeh ing taun pungkasan. Apa iku? Angka iku siji, nanging ngerti yen ana wong nyata ing ngisor iki, dadi penggemar Kenya Grace.

Kenya: Itu pasti mental. Aku ora ngarepake apa-apa saka iki, lan iku begitu gila, nanging iku banget banget kanggo ndeleng wong ing urip nyata. Kadang-kadang ing media sosial, sampeyan njaluk DMs lan ora ngetokake ana sebenarnya wong cool ing ngendi.

Brooke: Aku ora ngerti yen iku uga TMI, nanging apa TikTok sampeyan ndadekake? Sampeyan ing TikTok aku nyimpen akeh nganti FYP lan algoritma, nanging apa sampeyan ndadekake ana kanggo? Aku ndadekake minangka ana akeh komunitas beda, kang iku mengapa wong gravitasi menyang iku, kanggo njaluk musik anyar, kanggo njaluk artis anyar.

Kenya: I’m really into music. I like so many DJs, producers. I think that's mainly what I get, and just like random shows, with 20 parts, so funny.

Brooke: Itu begitu nganggur, nanging aku ndeleng salah siji ing media sosial, lan iku “say yes to a dress” show. Pernah ngandika babagan iki?

Kenya: Yes.

Brooke: There were five parts, and then I went and watched it all because I needed to know what was on there. Have you ever done something like that, where it takes you to a show, and you go, “well, now I have to watch it”?

Kenya: Yeah, literally so many. I saw so many good films on TikTok. It's pretty good.

Brooke: I love that so much. I was reading how you were born in South Africa but grew up in the UK. I would love to know if any of that has influenced your music and also growing up, the music you listened to.

Kenya: I think I’ve been influenced the most by the UK scene. I lived in South Africa for 8 months. I was a tiny baby, so I don’t really have too much inspiration from there, but I’m very into the UK music scene. There are so many different artists, especially in dance... so many different mini sub-genres. It's very cool.

Brooke: So growing up, whom were you listening to? Whom were you inspired by? What was playing through the speakers in your home when you were younger?

Kenya: When I was really young, my mom always used to play Neo Soul, and I really liked Neo Soul in general. It was amazing. I just loved the chord progressions, and the melodies are stunning. And then when I went to college, I got really into dance music.

Brooke: What is it specifically about dance that just draws you in that way? It seems like you have a very beautiful relationship with how you feel about the genre in general.

Kenya: Aku wis suka iku wiwit sadurunge, kanggo jujur. aku pikir iku drum sing aku suka begitu, kang ndadekake aku ndeleng... Aku ingat nalika aku banget muda, mungkin 7, aku ana ing YouTube lan aku nemokake dubstep, lan aku mung ndadekake ana ing kamarku karo headphones ndeleng dubstep, ora menari utawa apa-apa.

Brooke: And also being on your music journey and releasing songs this year, everything grows so quickly with you, by the way. How do you decide what you want to release for the next song as you are trying to build your journey as an artist?

Kenya: Waktos, aku mung muter ing telinga. Aku ngandika akeh lagu kabeh wektu. lan aku suka ngirimake, lan banjur aku mung bakal nggawe video beat sedikit, lan aku ngatur kasil.

Brooke: Tetapi iku ora dihitung? Sawetara wong ana ing T, lan aku jinis like kang mung nggawé ngendi sampeyan ndadekake. Ngandhakake sampeyan ngendi sampeyan tease lagu ing media sosial lan wong dadi begitu intense lan begitu diwenehi nalika padha bakal kaya "ngandhakake lagu! Apa sisih saka iku?"

Kenya: [laughing]

Brooke: What do you think is one of the songs where you teased and people were like “we need the full version now”?

Kenya: “Strangers” 100%. Lan banjur “Out of My Mind”, aku nyenengake bagian lan banjur ngeculake “Strangers” lan aku ngira sawetara wong nerangake yen aku ora ngeculake siji.

Brooke: Are you currently working on a project? How do you see yourself as an artist going forward because we are at the end of 2023, which is so wild to even say, and you’ve already grown and done so much. Where do you see yourself moving forward with your music?

Kenya: I have been working on a project, which I will drop next year, which is exciting! I’m so excited to release the project instead of just singles. It’s gonna be really cool.

Brooke: When you are doing something like that, how do you know you are building a project? Do you go in being like, ok, I’m going to make an LP or an album, or do you start writing songs and then collectively feel like thematically and sonically they work?

Kenya: I feel like I've been accidentally, subconsciously doing that for the whole year, and I've got so many things that I've posted but haven’t released, which I think actually work very well together, so I’m going to make something big next year.

Brooke: Itu begitu menarik! Aku ingin ngobrol babagan iki, amarga aku nggoleki riset, minangka siji nggunakake kanggo kerja, lan aku bakal suka ngerti apa iku minangka nggunakake sajarah minangka satu-satunya seniman wanita bagean Kate Bush kanggo hit No.1 minangka penulis tunggal, produser, lan artis ing charts pop Inggris?

Kenya: It's crazy. Kate Bush is so sick. She is such an inspiration, she is amazing. I just think there should be more people to have done that.

Brooke: Tapi mungkin sampeyan mbukak pintu kanggo wanita liyane kanggo nggawe iku, lan sampeyan ora malah ngerti.

Kenya: I hope so. I feel like it's our moment now. It's coming.

Brooke: It is our moment.

Kenya: There are so many sick girls and women that are smashing it in writing and production. It's the moment.

Brooke: I feel like also in the dance genre, not only as performers but as DJs, women have also grown exponentially, which is very exciting.

Kenya: 100%.

Brooke: You did decide to release the sad acoustic version of “Strangers”. We love an emo moment. How did you decide that you wanted to come up with the acoustic version of it, and where do you begin, or did it start that way?

Kenya: Aku ngira bakal ndeleng apik, jujur. Aku nyoba nyedhiyakake string lan banjur digawe kanggo nyedhiyakake harmoni cute. Aku ora nyebatake barang-barang kaya iki, langsung lan dingin, supaya aku mau nyedhiyakake, aku ngira.

Brooke: Aku pikir bakal interessant kanggo ngobrol luwih babagan dunia tarian ing ngendi sampeyan urip akeh. Sampeyan wis ngobrol akeh babagan dadi ing UK lan panggonan tarian sing begitu gedhe, nanging duwe bidang tarian liyane ngarti sampeyan uga?

Kenya: I feel like my main biggest influence at the time was Flume from Australia. He is a huge influence of mine. And everyone else is probably UK and house vibes.

Brooke: Aku suka musik tari, lan aku rasa aku ora ngerti cukup nganti taun iki, benar-benar nyedhiyakake ing. Tapi iku luar biasa. Aku ndeleng minangka iku berkembang akeh minangka genre, lan sampeyan minangka seniman uga nggunakake, ing ngendi sampeyan mbantu tari kanggo ngluwihi global. Nalika sampeyan ndeleng hal-hal kaya iku lan wong miwiti nyedhiyakake ing genre amarga sampeyan, apa rasa?

Kenya: Crazy. I'm happy that people hear drum and bass, to be fair. I didn’t expect you guys to like that.

Brooke: Oh, that's right, it's your first time visiting us in The States. You just had your first show in New York. What was it like? The energy? The vibes?

Kenya: Vibes banget banget! Aku nggunakake siji ing malam kemarin, lan siji ing malam sadurunge ing “Elsewhere” ing Brooklyn. iku banget cool, kabeh banget banget lan vibes banget.

Brooke: Cara sampeyan miwiti persiapan kanggo pertunjukan? iku siji hal kanggo dadi seniman lan nggawe musik ing studio utawa ing ruang aman, nanging iku liyane kanggo njupuk musik sing lan mbukak lan tampil ing hadapan wong. Bagaimana sampeyan njaluk saka A menyang B?

Kenya: I’ve struggled, actually, over the past couple of months getting over stage fright, honestly. Because it's scary going from being in your room and posting online, where you kind of remove yourself from being in front of everyone, but it's so fun. It's a completely different process from writing. But I still do a lot of writing. When I make my set, I love adding transitions between songs. I love doing that.

Brooke: Ada uga akeh kanggo mbukak. taun iki mung tingkat permukaan saka apa sing kita wis nonton iki saka Kenya Grace. Aku ndadekake 2024 bakal mbukak lan mbukak. Ana lagu sing sampeyan nggunakake, “Paris”, sing mung muncul ora sawisé. Aku ingin ngobrol sedikit babagan iki, lirik, lan cara sampeyan ngluwihi ngirim siji iki.

Kenya: Aku ngandika iku taun-tahun sadurunge, lan aku benar-benar suka konsep iki. Iku utamané babagan cara media sosial minangka palsu lan, luwih spesifik, apa sing aku ketahui babagan hubungan ing media sosial. Mereka bisa ndeleng banget, nanging sebenarnya palsu, lan iku kanggo hubungan minangka ing pasangan lan persahabatan uga, aku pikir. Aku wis ndeleng. Aku senang iku.

Brooke: So it's coming soon?

Kenya: Soon-ish.

Brooke: Aku uga begitu intrigued karo wong sing artistik anyar lan muncul, duwe sukses kaya cepet. iku cukup fun kanggo ngerti ngendi kepala sampeyan ana karo kabeh iki, lan ngendi sampeyan mau pergi. Sampeyan ngembangake jeneng lan artistik sampeyan minangka Kenya Grace, lan iku uga fun kanggo ndeleng ngendi sampeyan mau ngambil barang-barang amarga sampeyan bisa nggunakake ngendi wae karo proyek-proyek.

Kenya: I’m trying to take it day by day. I'm trying not to think about the big picture too much because it's stressing me out. You can just overthink it.

Brooke: I know that we are entering towards the Holiday time and hopefully, you’ll get some time off. What do you usually do for the Holidays?

Kenya: Just chill with my family, to be fair. We don’t have a massive Christmas. It's just me and my brother, and my mom and dad. It's quite wholesome and chill.

Brooke: It's nice to go back and just be with your family, just do you and be you.

Kenya: Aku pikir iku hal sing aku suka babagan Natal amarga iku wektu karo keluarga sampeyan.

Brooke: There is still so much to do, so much to accomplish for you as an artist. What are your goals for 2024? Obviously, we talked about the upcoming project, but I would like to know what else, and that could be anything.

Kenya: I’m really excited to play at festivals, different shows, releasing new music, and maybe a collab.

Brooke: Who is a dream collaborator for you, if you could work with anybody?

Kenya: I have so many. Should I list them all? Definitely Flume, that would be my dream. I love him so much. Maybe Chase & Status, but my ultimate dream collab would be Lana Del Rey, but it’s so far away…

Brooke: I love Lana.

Kenya: She is so amazing.

Brooke: Apa ana sawijining artis, musik sing sampeyan ngerti liwat lan liwat kaya, ing ngendi, "Aku duwe momen. aku bakal nggunakake musik sing nggawe aku ndeleng luwih"?

Kenya: Probably her [Lana Del Rey]. I love her. She is so soothing, her voice... everything. I love it.

Brooke: What do you want the world to know about who you are?

Kenya: Itu banget sulit. Aku ora ngerti yen wong bisa ngandika, nanging aku cukup introverted wong. Nanging mungkin iku cukup jelas [lawak], nanging aku nyenengake lan diwenehi, lan aku suka musik, lan aku rasa minangka aku emo ing jantung. Ing dasar, musik iku hobi mung aku, bagean iku, aku suka tato lan kabeh hal alternatif.

Brooke: Apa nasihat sampeyan bakal nyedhiyakake diri muda lan siapa-siapun sing miwiti nggawe musik?

Kenya: I always say, try to teach yourself how to produce. I think it's a very empowering thing to do. It’s so good to be able to do it whenever you want, without putting time in a studio with somebody else. I would say that's my main advice, and post those online, even though it's scary.

Brooke: What virtually inspires you?

Kenya: Aku suka nonton acara TV. Aku pikir iku begitu artistic, lan wong kadang-kadang nonton TV, nanging ana hal-hal sing banget cool, kayata “American Horror Story”.

Brooke: What was your favorite song to record?

Kenya: It's so hard to pick. One of my favorite songs to perform is “Meteor”. I just love singing it, and I think “Strangers” was pretty fun to record.

Brooke: Dan kudu spesial ing sawetara cara, kanggo ngerti sadurunge wong nyambung karo iku ing tingkat dhuwur. Apa bagian favorit ing proses penulisan / kreasi?

Kenya: I love all of it, to be honest. I love making the beat first, and then you feel the vibe of it, and then you get this moment where you like, “oh, I really like that”, where you know that’s working. That is my favorite.

Brooke: What inspires you, and whom do you look up to?

Kenya: So many people. Chase & Status, and so many singers. When I was younger, Adele - amazing songwriting, and Fred Again, I saw him recently, the energy at his concerts is insane.

Brooke: How are you managing to advocate for yourself with management and label as your success grows?

Kenya: I really love my team. They really get the whole thing, and they are very supportive, and I feel like they back my ideas 100%.

Brooke: Congratulations on everything. Thank you so much for taking the time to sit here with us today and getting to know you better.