Kenya Grace on 'Strangers', Proyék anyar, jeung Dream Collaborations dina wawancara eksklusif jeung Brooke Reese

Dina 6 Désémber Kenya Grace, anu dinamis artis UK di balik sensasi viral “Strangers,” ngabungkeun Brooke Reese pikeun wawancara eksklusif salaku bagian tina runtuyan Apple Music: Emerging Artists. Didirikeun di Apple Soho di New York, acara ieu nawarkeun fans hiji kasempetan unik pikeun nyambung jeung Kenya, nu campuran tina dance-pop geus captivated audiences di sakuliah dunya. Didirikeun pikeun pendekatan inovatif na musik jeung storytelling, Kenyasesi jeung Brooke Reese nawarkeun wawasan nyaring kana prosés artistik na aspirasi di sakuliah.

Naha anjeun leungitkeun eta, teu takut, kami boga highlights pikeun anjeun.

Boké: Jadi senang yén anjeun hoyong ngalakukeun ieu. ngaran anjeun geus di sakuliah, lagu anjeun geus di sakuliah. Kuring pikir eta bakal fun pikeun ngamimitian percakapan kami jeung lagu "Strangers". Nalika anjeun dijieun eta, éta ngarasa husus? Aya naon ngeunaan eta? Kusabab jalma ngan gravitated ka eta saterusna.

Kenya: Honestly, teu. Kuring teu nganggap eta. Kuring nyokot eta super kasempetan jeung teu pikaresepeun naon ngeunaan eta nalika kuring diposkeun eta, tapi kuring pisan senang yén jalma sambungan jeung eta saeutik. Éta gila.

Boké: Gaya anjeun anu unik, jeung anjeun hirup dina dunya dance-pop. naon téh prosés kreatif anjeun nalika nyusun musik?

Kenya: <pfseg id="0">Kapan kuring nulis, kuring selalu dimimitian ku nyieun beat. Kuring biasana dimimitian ku akord atawa kitu anu nginspirasi kuring dina domain ieu, lajeng kuring mungkin ngalakukeun drums, jeung ahir bakal jadi vokal: dimimitian ku melodi jeung lajeng lyrics. Ieu selalu bagian paling kakuatan pikeun kuring.

Boké: I love that for you, the beat and melody guide you, jeung éta storytelling di mana anjeun nyandak waktos anjeun.

Kenya: Ieu selalu butuh waktu pikeun nyusun sakabéh sajarah.

Boké: 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 ieu ngaronjatkeun saeutik taun kaluar. Naon nu kawas? Angka téh hiji hal, tapi nyaho yén aya jalma nyata di balik aranjeunna, jadi fans of Kenya Grace. Bisa anjeun ngécéskeun sedikit?

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

Boké: Ieu teu nyaho lamun éta terlalu TMI, tapi naon TikTok Anjeun nembongkeun? Anjeun aya dina tikTok kuring feed loba sapertos FYP jeung algoritma, tapi naon anjeun balik di sana? Kuring rasa aya sapertos komunitas béda, nu sababna jalma gravitasi ka eta, pikeun manggihan musik anyar, pikeun manggihan artis anyar.

Kenya: I ieu bener dina musik. Kuring ngarasakeun loba DJs, produser. Kuring pikir éta utamana naon kuring meunang, sarta ngan kawas acara acak, jeung 20 bagian, jadi lucu.

Boké: <pfseg id="0“say yes to a dress”ngomongkeun ya ka baju".

Kenya: Ieu.

Boké: <pfseg id="0">Aya aya lima bagian, sarta lajeng kuring ningali eta sakabéh sabab kuring kudu nyaho naon aya di sana-sini.

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

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

Kenya: Ieu pikir kuring geus paling dipikawanoh ku panganyarna Inggris. Kuring hirup di Afrika Kidul pikeun 8 bulan. Kuring éta hiji bayi leutik, jadi kuring teu bener boga loba inspirasi ti éta, tapi kuring pisan ka panganyarna musik UK. Aya loba artis béda, utamana dina tarian ... loba sub-genre mini béda. Ieu pisan cool.

Boké: Naon anu anjeun ngarasakeun, anu anjeun ngarasakeun? ku anu anjeun inspirasi? naon geus dimaénkeun ngaliwatan speaker di imah anjeun nalika anjeun leutik?

Kenya: Saatos kuring réngsé, ibu kuring selalu maénkeun Neo Soul, sarta kuring pisan ngarasakeun Neo Soul dina umumna. Ieu luar biasa. Kuring ngan ngarasakeun progression akord, jeung melodies anu menakjubkeun. Jeung lajeng nalika kuring ngadatangan kuliah, kuring bener dimimitian dina musik tari.

Boké: Naon hususna ngeunaan tarian nu ngan nyokot anjeun kana cara ieu? Tampakna anjeun boga hubungan pisan alus jeung kumaha anjeun ngarasa ngeunaan genre dina umum.

Kenya: I geus cinta eta saprak ampun, pikeun jujur. Kuring pikir éta drums anu kuring cinta saeutik, nu ngajadikeun kuring rasa... Kuring ngingat nalika kuring éta pisan muda, mungkin 7, Kuring di YouTube jeung kuring manggihan dubstep, jeung kuring ngan ngabogaan di kamar kuring jeung headphones nelepon dubstep, teu tarian atawa naon. Tapi kuring ngan cinta eta. Ieu pisan cool pikeun balik ti pisan lembut ka kawas pisan [big] ...

Boké: <pfseg id="0">Na ogé jadi dina perjalanan musik anjeun jeung ngéléhkeun lagu taun ieu, sakabeh kitu ngaronjatkeun pisan gancang jeung anjeun, by the way.

Kenya: <pfseg id="0">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.

Boké: Jadi éta teu dihitung? Sababaraha jalma anu nepi ka T, jeung kuring sejenna kawas nu Anjeun ngan nganteurkeun kumaha anjeun ngarasa. Anjeun pernah manggihan diri di mana anjeun nganteurkeun hiji lagu dina média sosial jeung jalma jadi jadi intense tur jadi invested lamun aranjeunna bakal kawas "drop lagu! Dimana nu sisa tina eta?"

Kenya: [laughing]

Boké: Naon anu anjeun pikir mangrupakeun salah sahiji lagu di mana anjeun ngobrol jeung jalma anu 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.

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

Boké: 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.

Boké: That's so exciting! I would like to talk about this, because I was doing my research, as one does for a job, and I would love to know what it's like making history as the only female artist besides Kate Bush to hit No.1 as a sole writer, producer, and performer on the UK pop charts?

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.

Boké: But maybe you are holding a door for other women to do that, and you don’t even know yet.

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

Boké: 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.

Boké: Ieu ngarasa kawas ogé dina genre tari, teu ngan salaku performers tapi salaku DJs, wanita ogé geus tumbuh exponentially, nu pisan ngaronjat.

Kenya: 100%.

Boké: Ieu geus milih pikeun ngéléhkeun versi akustis sedih tina “Strangers”. Urang cinta momen emo. Kumaha anjeun ngéléhkeun yén anjeun hayang datang jeung versi akustis tina eta, jeung di mana anjeun dimimitian, atawa éta dimimitian ku cara ieu?

Kenya: Ieu pikir éta bakal nelepon alus, jujur. Kuring nyoba ningkatkeun string na lajeng dianggo dina nambahkeun harmoni cute. Kuring teu bener ngabalukarkeun hal kawas ieu, langsung up na cool, jadi kuring hayang nyadiakeun eta, kuring ngadeukeutan.

Boké: Ieu pikir eta bakal menarik pikeun ngobrol leuwih ngeunaan dunya tarian di mana anjeun hirup saterusna. Anjeun geus ngobrol saterusna ngeunaan jadi di UK jeung panggung tarian jadi begitu badag, tapi aya wewengkon lianna tarian ngarugikeun anjeun ogé? Sakumaha tempat séjén, nagara séjén.

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.

Boké: I love dance music, and I feel like I didn't know enough until this year, really diving in. But it's amazing. I feel like it's growing a lot as a genre, and you as an artist have also done that, where you're helping dance break through globally. When you hear things like that and people start to dive into the genre because of you, what does that feel like?

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

Boké: Oh, nu bener, ieu kahiji kali anjeun nempokeun kami di Amérika Sarikat. Anjeun just had your first show in New York. What was it like? The energy? The vibes?

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

Boké: How do you begin to prepare for your show? It's one thing to be an artist and make music in a studio or in your safe space, but it's another to take that music and go and perform in front of people. How do you get from A to 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.

Boké: There is still so much for you to accomplish. This year it's just the surface level of what we’ve seen so far from Kenya Grace. I feel like 2024 is going to skyrocket and take off. There is a song that you put up, “Paris”, which just came out not so long ago. I would like to talk a little bit about it, the lyrics, and how you decided to release this one.

Kenya: I wrote it ages ago, and I really love the concept of it. It's basically about how social media is fake and, more specifically, something I’ve noticed about relationships on social media. They can look really good but actually are fake, and that goes for relationships as in couples and friendships as well, I think. I've seen that. I’m happy it's out. I think it's a little something before the big thing next year.

Boké: So it's coming soon?

Kenya: Soon-ish.

Boké: I’m always so intrigued with somebody who is a newer artist and emerging, having so much success so quickly. It's just fun to know where your head is with all of this, and where you want to go. You are building out your brand and your artistry as Kenya Grace, and it's always fun to see where you want to take things because you can go anywhere with your projects.

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.

Boké: 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.

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

Kenya: I think that's the thing I like about Christmas because it's the time with your family.

Boké: 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.

Boké: 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…

Boké: I love Lana.

Kenya: She is so amazing.

Boké: Is there any artist, music you know through and through so well, where like, “I’m 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.

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

Kenya: It's so hard. I don’t know if people can tell, but I’m quite an introverted person. But maybe it's pretty obvious [laughing], but I’m quiet and reserved, and I love music, and I feel like I’m an emo at heart. Basically, music is my only hobby, apart from it, I love tattoos and all alternative things.

Boké: What advice would you give your younger self and anybody who starts to make music?

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.

Boké: What virtually inspires you?

Kenya: I love watching TV shows. I think it's so artsy, and people sometimes look down on watching TV, but there are things that are really cool, like “American Horror Story”. Things like that are so inspiring. It's so cool.

Boké: 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.

Boké: And it must be special in a way, to know now how many people connect to it on a deep level. What is your favorite part of the writing/creating process?

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.

Boké: 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.

Boké: 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%.

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