HAWA has been busy. Over the last 12 months, she’s played a Boiler Room session, performed at Telfar’s AW20 show in Italy in front of Solange, Kelela, and more, and put out her debut EP, the ONE. Not bad for someone who’s still only 19 years old, but Hawa has already lived a lot of lives. Born in Berlin to West African parents, HAWA moved to New York City – where she’s currently based – as a teenager and immediately got involved with music, becoming one of the youngest ever composers for the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. The music she puts out today, however, doesn’t bear a whole lot in common with her classical background: working with collaborators Tony Seltzer, Cadenza, and Oscar Key Sung, the ONE EP sees HAWA embrace leftfield hip hop and R&B, with a style that can be hard-hitting in one moment, and hazed-out, expressive, and romantic in the next.

For our new Get to Know video, where we introduce exciting new creative talent, we met HAWA during a visit to London. Check it out below, and read on for more about what you need to know about HAWA.

SHE HAD A NOMADIC UPBRINGING

HAWA was born in Berlin and raised between France, Guinea, and the United States. This nomadic upbringing has given her an incredibly distinctive and unique voice as an artist that she brings to her music. It’s also given her a tough-to-place accent, as you’ll hear in the Get to Know video, but as HAWA has previously explained, this is a South African accent – albeit one that could be easily mistaken for being from the UK.

SHE STARTED MUSIC YOUNG

When she was 11 years old, HAWA was selected to join a programme for young musicians at New York City’s Lincoln Centre, which saw her compose music for the New York Philharmonic Orchestra. Not many 11-year-olds can claim to have such a prestigious orchestra perform their music at Carnegie Hall for 26,000 people, can they? HAWA toured with the orchestra, and her pieces were played everywhere from China to Venezuela, but by 15 she had tired of classical music. She’s been putting out tracks since 2018, before she’d even graduated high school.

SHE CLOSED TELFAR’S AW20 SHOW IN FLORENCE

When Telfar hosted their AW20 show in Florence earlier this year, HAWA closed the show in a pair of Telfar’s iconic cut-out jeans, playing in front of Solange, Kelela, and Julianna Huxtable. Beforehand, she attended a Telfar dinner, with a menu that included a bone marrow dip. Telfar subsequently provided the wardrobe for HAWA’s own “FRICK” video.

SHE KNOWS HER WEED

HAWA is a cannabis connoisseur. Her favourite strains to smoke right now? Runtz, Green Crack, Wayne Cake, and Sour. Oh, and one called ‘cat piss’ – lovely stuff!