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

On Désémber 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: Honestly, no. Kuring teu nganggap eta. Kuring nyokot eta super kasempetan jeung teu nganggap kitu ngeunaan eta nalika kuring post eta, tapi kuring hébat yén jalma sambungkeun jeung eta saeutik. Éta gila.

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

Kenya: Kapan kuring nulis, kuring selalu dimimitian ku nyieun beat. Kuring biasana dimimitian ku akord atawa kitu anu nginspirasi kuring di domain ieu, lajeng kuring mungkin ngalakukeun drum, jeung diakhirna bakal jadi vokal: dimimitian ku melodi jeung saterusna lyrics. Ieu selalu bagian paling kakuatan pikeun kuring. Dina tulisan lyrics, kuring salajengna hayang nyebutkeun hiji cerita, jadi kuring ngamangpaatkeun pangalusna dina eta.

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: Ieu selalu intrigued ngobrol jeung artis anu geus boga momen badag dina platform média sosial kayaning TikTok na Instagram, ngembangkeun komunitas jeung fans anjeun jeung ngan koléktif nempo hal-hal ngaronjatkeun saeutik taun kaluar.

Kenya: Ieu pasti mental. Kuring teu ngira-ngira naon ieu bakal jadi, sarta éta pisan gila, tapi éta pisan alus pikeun katempo jalma dina kahirupan nyata. Kadang-kadang dina média sosial, anjeun maca DMs jeung teu sadar yén aya sebenarnya hiji jalma cool di balik aranjeunna, jadi éta cool.

Brooke: I teu nyaho lamun éta ogé TMI, tapi naon TikTok anjeun nempo? Anjeun dina TikTok kuring feed loba sapertos FYP jeung algoritma, tapi naon anjeun balik di sanaan? Kuring rasa aya loba komunitas béda, nu sabab urang gravitasi ka eta, pikeun manggihan musik anyar, pikeun manggihan 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: Ieu téh begitu nganggur, tapi kuring nempo salah sahiji di média sosial, sarta éta téh “say yes to a dress” acara. Kumaha anjeun pernah sadia ngeunaan eta?

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: Kuring anu anjeun ngarasakeun? Ku naon anjeun inspired ku? Naon ieu dimaénkeun ngaliwatan speaker di imah anjeun nalika anjeun anu muda?

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: Naon husus ngeunaan tarian nu just nyandak anjeun dina cara ieu? Tampakna anjeun boga hubungan pisan alus jeung kumaha anjeun ngarasa ngeunaan genre dina umum.

Kenya: I have loved it since forever, to be fair. I think it’s the drums that I love so much, that makes me feel... I remember when I was really young, maybe 7, I was on YouTube and I found dubstep, and I would just sit there in my room with headphones listening to dubstep, teu dance or anything. Tapi I just loved it. It’s really cool to go from very soft to like really [big]...

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: Honestly, I just play it by ear. I write a lot of songs all the time. And I love posting them, and then I’ll just make a little beat video, and I randomly decide.

Brooke: Jadi éta teu dihitung? Sababaraha jalma aya nepi ka T, sarta kuring janten kawas nu Anjeun ngan datang jeung kumaha anjeun ngarasakeun. Anjeun pernah manggihan diri di mana anjeun tease hiji lagu dina média sosial jeung jalma jadi pisan intense tur jadi invested lamun aranjeunna bakal kawas "drop lagu! Dupi sisa eta?"

Kenya: [laughing]

Brooke: Naon naon anjeun pikir mangrupakeun salah sahiji lagu di mana anjeun teased jeung jalma kawas “we need the full version now”?

Kenya: “Strangers” 100%. Jeung lajeng “Out of My Mind”, Kuring nganteurkeun hiji bagian jeung lajeng ngéléhkeun “Strangers” jeung kuring pikir sababaraha jalma anu nganggur yén kuring teu ngéléhkeun eta. Tapi aranjeunna duanana out ayeuna.

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 geus dianggo dina proyék, nu kuring bakal nganteurkeun taun depan, nu anu éndah! Kuring pisan gembira ngéléhkeun proyék teu ngan single. Ieu bakal jadi pisan 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: Ieu pisan menarik! Kuring hoyong ngobrol ngeunaan ieu, sabab kuring ngajalankeun panalungtikan kuring, salaku hiji ngalakukeun pikeun pekerjaan, jeung kuring bakal suka nyaho naon eta kawas nyieun sajarah salaku hiji artis awéwé munggaran ti Kate Bush pikeun ngahontal No.1 salaku penulis tunggal, produser, jeung panganyarna dina 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 anjeun nyimpen hiji pintu pikeun wanita lianna pikeun ngalakukeun eta, jeung anjeun malah teu nyaho ayeuna.

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: Ieu pikir eta bakal nelepon alus, jujur. Kuring nyoba nambahkeun strings jeung lajeng dianggo dina nambahkeun harmonies cute. Kuring teu bener ngéléhkeun hal kawas ieu, langsung up jeung cool, jadi kuring hayang nyadiakeun eta, kuring ngadeukeutan.

Brooke: Ieu pikir éta bakal menarik pikeun ngobrol leuwih ngeunaan dunya tarian di mana anjeun hirup saeutik. Anjeun geus ngobrol saeutik ngeunaan jadi di Inggris jeung panggung tarian jadi saeutik, tapi aya wewengkon lianna tarian ngarugikeun anjeun ogé? Salaku tempat lianna, nagara lianna.

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: I love dance music, jeung kuring ngarasa yén kuring teu nyaho cukup nepi ka taun ieu, ngarasakeun. Tapi éta amazing. Kuring ngarasakeun yén éta geus berkembang loba salaku genre, jeung anjeun salaku artis ogé geus ngalakukeun eta, dimana anjeun mantuan tarian pikeun ngéléhkeun di global.

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, éta sahenteuna, éta kahiji kali anjeun datang ka kami di Amérika Sarikat. Anjeun ngan boga pameran kahiji anjeun di New York. Naon naon eta? The energi? The vibes?

Kenya: The vibes anu luar biasa! Kuring ngalakukeun hiji malam panungtungan, jeung hiji malam saméméh di “Elsewhere” di Brooklyn. Éta pisan cool, sakabéh anu pisan alus jeung vibes anu alus.

Brooke: Bagaimana anjeun ngamimitian nyiapkeun pikeun pameran anjeun? Éta hiji hal pikeun jadi artis jeung nyieun musik di studio atawa di tempat aman anjeun, tapi éta sejenna pikeun nyokot musik na ninggalkeun di hadapan jalma. Kumaha anjeun ngahontal ti A ka 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: Aya masih loba pikeun anjeun ngahasilkeun. taun ieu éta ngan hiji tingkat permukaan tina naon urang geus nempo sapanjangna ti Kenya Grace. Kuring rasa 2024 bakal ngaronjatkeun jeung ngéléhkeun. Aya hiji lagu nu anjeun nyusun, "Paris", nu just muncul teu saeutik. Kuring hoyong ngobrol sedikit ngeunaan eta, lyrics, jeung kumaha anjeun parantos ngéléhkeun ngéléhkeun ieu.

Kenya: I ditulis eta taun ka tukang, sarta kuring pisan cinta konsepna. Ieu utamana ngeunaan kumaha média sosial anu palsu jeung, leuwih husus, kitu anu kuring parantos pariksa ngeunaan hubungan dina média sosial. Aranjeunna bisa nempo pisan alus tapi sebenarnya anu palsu, sarta éta téh pikeun hubungan kawas dina pasangan jeung persahabatan ogé, kuring pikir. Kuring geus nempo eta. Kuring senang éta out. Kuring pikir éta hiji hal leutik saméméh hal badag taun depan.

Brooke: So it's coming soon?

Kenya: Soon-ish.

Brooke: Ieu selalu jadi intrigued ku batur anu mangrupakeun artis anyar jeung emerging, ngabogaan saeutik kasuksésan saé gancang. Éta ngan lucu pikeun nyaho di mana kepala anjeun jeung sakabeh ieu, jeung di mana anjeun hoyong ka. Anjeun ngembangkeun brand anjeun jeung seni anjeun salaku Kenya Grace, sarta éta selalu lucu pikeun tingali di mana anjeun hayang nyandak hal-hal sabab anjeun bisa balik mana wae kalayan proyék Anjeun.

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 tahu yén urang geus memasuki waktu libur jeung mayar, anjeun bakal meunang sababaraha waktu liburan. Naon anu Anjeun biasana ngalakukeun pikeun libur?

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: Ieu pikir éta hal anu kuring ngarasakeun ngeunaan Natal sabab eta waktos jeung keluarga anjeun.

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: Ana hiji artis, musik anjeun nyaho ngaliwatan jeung ngaliwatan saeutik, dimana kawas, "I am having a moment. I'm gonna put on music that makes me feel better"?

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: Ieu saeutik. Kuring teu nyaho lamun jalma bisa nyebutkeun, tapi kuring mangrupakeun jalma cukup introverted. Tapi mungkin éta cukup jelas [laughing], tapi kuring silih jeung reservated, sarta kuring cinta musik, sarta kuring feel like I am a emo on heart. Dina dasarna, musik mangrupakeun hobi munggaran kuring, batan eta, kuring cinta tato jeung sagala hal alternatif.

Brooke: Naon nasihat anjeun bakal nyadiakeun diri anjeun anu muda jeung jalma anu ngamimitian nyieun 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: I love watching TV shows. I think it’s so arty, jeung urang kadang-kadang tingali kana nonton TV, tapi aya hal anu pisan cool, kawas “American Horror Story”. hal kawas anu jadi inspirasional.

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: Na éta kudu spesial dina cara, pikeun nyaho ayeuna seueur jalma nyambung ka eta dina tingkat luhur. Naon bagian favorit anjeun dina proses tulisan / 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.