SEXY ISSUE VOL A – RONALD DICK

WORDS BY ANTONIA SCHMIDT PHOTOGRAPHY RONALD DICK STYLING JOJO VANDALKIDD HAIR ZACH DOWNING GROOMING NICOLA SVENSEN TAILOR JONATHAN THEODOR PRODUCTION ELVIN AYANOGLU PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANT MATTHIAS HENKE STYLING ASSISTANTS VICTORIA NUSSBAUM, ISI AHMED PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS FABIAN PREKRAT, ZINA ADAM LEAD TALENT RELATIONS USMAN BIN LATIF TALENT KWN

There’s a particular kind of confidence that doesn’t announce itself, it simply exists. KWN has it. The East London artist has built her world on exactly that principle: a sense of self that refuses to perform for anyone’s comfort but her own.

Raised in Walthamstow, KWN came up knowing she’d have to carve her own path. What she found along the way wasn’t just a sound. Her breakout project with all due respect arrived not as a calculated move, but as the natural result of locking herself in a room, cutting out the noise, and simply creating. No briefs. No pressure. Just freedom.

Her music lives in the tension between softness and steel: Sensual, instinctive, and quietly therapeutic for both artist and listener. She writes about desire the way she carries herself: with ease and a warmth that catches you off guard. And when she goes deeper into vulnerability, into the heavier emotional territory she’s still learning to navigate, it lands with the weight of something genuinely felt rather than crafted.

With a new project on the horizon, one more personal than anything she’s shared before, KWN is daring herself to go further. Still on her own terms.

Antonia Schmidt: You grew up in East London. How did that environment shape the way you express yourself creatively today?

KWN: I think growing up in Walthamstow made me realize how hard I need to work to push the boundaries to get myself to a different place. I wasn’t surrounded by a lot of creative people, but I still knew I needed to do better for myself.

AS: with all due respect marked a moment of independence for you. How did creative control shape the sound, message, or process differently this time?

KWN: I didn’t have any pressure on me to get it done in a certain time frame, it was just me not thinking about making a project. It was just me in my room having fun and creating, being free. Not thinking about it has to be ‘like this’ or has to have a certain ‘message’ behind. It was just me having full creative freedom and having fun with it. I was just making songs to make songs.

I look back at that time and I’m like, wow, I probably won’t get that again for a minute, when I can just lock in and just not worry about anything else. Doing this project now, I’ve done a whole tour and loads of shows and promo and press and there’s been so much time in between where I can’t even just make music, so I hold that year and a half really close to my heart because I was fully able to just focus on music. I’m so grateful for the things that have come, but it’s such a strange feeling to know you may never get that type of freedom again.

AS: When you look at where you are now, what part of your younger self still drives you?

KWN: Not caring about what people think and just being me; I’ve always been like that.

AS: This issue explores sexiness as a way of being rather than a look. When do you feel most fully in your own presence?

KWN: When I’m on stage, that’s where I feel most at home, I guess. Probably in “do what i say” and “back of the club,” every show holds the same energy so every time I perform those songs, I feel really present.

AS: There’s a shift from performing desirability to owning your space. What does taking up space mean to you, on stage or off?

KWN: I always stick to my guns, I never do anything I don’t feel comfortable doing.

I’m super open to stepping out of my comfort zone but there’s a boundary where there’s only so much I’ll push it. I surround myself with people who allow me to be myself at all times. My team are a big part of that, they work with me because they love what I do and what I represent.

Of course there are chefs in the kitchen who give me other ideas, but at the end of the day, if it’s not something I want to do, I won’t do it.

AS: Your music carries softness and strength at the same time. Do you see vulnerability as a form of power?

KWN: Yeah, absolutely. But I’ve only realized that as I’ve grown up in the past two years. I had to realize that being vulnerable and being open about my emotions and feelings is the strongest you can be. As an artist, people look up to you and listen to what you write about and people take that in. I’m grateful I’m able to be part of people’s healing journey. In any form, not just sad stuff. Just for people to confident to say what they want to say.

AS: Has your relationship to attention or projection changed as your visibility has grown?

KWN: Yeah, absolutely. It’s kind of bittersweet, even as much as I say I don’t care what people think. Being in the public eye makes me think, “Should I do this?” If I’m going shopping, I think I should make sure I don’t look terrible. It’s definitely changed. I don’t see it in a bad way, but it’s a surreal feeling to think that my life probably won’t go back to what it once was.

AS: We talk about sensuality today as emotional and intuitive rather than visual. How important is instinct in your creative process?

KWN: I much more enjoy getting creative about the sensual stuff and keeping it sexy and fun and light; when I delve deep and talk about emotions, it’s like I’m having a therapy session with myself and it can be heavy. I’m learning how to manage that as I get older; I can’t hide away from vulnerable stuff just because I don’t want to feel heavy that day. It boils down to me having the most fun when I’m talking about sensual things. Being drawn towards that fun stuff is an instinct that is almost like a shield; it’s an instinct I naturally go towards because I don’t want to be vulnerable all the time because it feels safe. It plays a big part in my creative process, but instinct has driven me away from being vulnerable and talking about things I should face some of the time – it’s a double-edged sword.

AS: Is intimacy something you consciously create in your music, or does it happen naturally?

KWN: No, it just happens naturally. Like I said, I have a lot of fun writing about that stuff and it just feels natural.

AS: Do you protect parts of yourself from becoming material, or is everything fair territory artistically?

KWN: I’m working on showing more of myself and getting there so it is all fair game. So I can go into the studio and be honest with myself in the studio and out of it, that’s something I’m working on consciously.

AS: To be sexy today is also framed as daring, risking, failing, evolving. What has been a defining creative risk for you recently?

KWN: Working on my next project, it’s very different from with all due respect. I feel almost nervous about how the community of fans I built will take it. I know they’ll love it, but it’s nerve wracking as it’s very different to what I’ve done before. I’m confident because I’ve built a brand on doing what I want to do. I’m hoping that travels with it. I’m hoping it will be good regardless as I tell more of myself in this project. It’s a lot more personal as it lets people know more of how I am as a human.

AS: What still scares you creatively and why is it important to go there anyway?

KWN: Writing sad songs, being in touch with my emotions and how I genuinely feel. I struggle with that generally and having to do that creatively is even harder. I’m learning as I’m going, I’m still young, writing songs is like a 1-1 therapy. It’s an uphill slope to share it with other people – and not just other people, but strangers, at that.

AS: What energy do you want people to feel when they encounter you – not just your music, but your presence?

KWN: I think ‘safe’ energy. I want people to know that I’m not what they see on the exterior. Sometimes people with a quiet confidence can come across stand-offish and I don’t mean to be.

AS: How would you define sexiness today, in your own words?

KWN: Being comfortable in your own self.