FEATURE:
Spotlight
PHOTO CREDIT: Erika Kamano
who you know is the real deal. That their talent runs so deep and they have the potential be making music for many years to come. That is the case with iKeda. I am new to her work but, like so many, I was hooked on her recent single, Go!. I want to come to some interviews with her. First, Loud Women said this about an artist who is very much someone you need to know about:
“London artist iKeda shares ‘GO!’, the latest single from her forthcoming sophomore EP Bangs N Braces, out via Orbit Artist Group.
Following her breakout moment as the official opening act for PinkPantheress across her UK and European tour, iKeda continues her rise in London’s underground pop scene. With a sound that blends electropop, electroclash, Caribbean influence and club culture, iKeda creates a vibrant world of her own.
‘GO!’ is a glitchy electro-pop earworm with heart-pounding beats and sweet melodies.
“‘GO!’ is for the gyal dem, for all the unbothered girls. The girls who do things because they want to do them and aren’t pressured by what other people think. They’re naturally cool because they’re just themselves. But they’re kind, too. They have a pure heart.”
iKeda”.
I do want to get to some interviews. I would urge everyone to follow iKeda. She releases her hotly-anticipated E.P., Bangs N Braces, on 28th August. I really love the cover of it and, on the strength of Go! and Red Red, this is going to be an extraordinary release. One of the best E.P.s of the year. Not only is iKeda someone who makes this incredible and distinct music. She is also a wonderful interviewee from what I have read. I would love to see her live one day.
In the first of three interviews, I will come to CRACK from April. This was ahead of her supporting PinkPantheress. There was discussion about her previous E.P., Pretty Little Problem. I am listening back to that and sort of playing catch-up. It is bold, effervescent and punchy Electro-Pop/Dancehall. You are helpless but to resist its power and brilliance:
“She’s excited to be back out there, building confidence, dancing, visiting new cities, meeting new fans – something she got a taste of in Brixton. “There were so many people coming up and being so lovely,” she recalls. Some were a touch younger, admittedly, which was slightly daunting, she says, “because I can be a little risqué!”
But iKeda was once that same open-minded, music-hungry kid, too, growing up between north London and Cambridge, picking up influences from everywhere: a “music head” mum tapped into club culture; an older sister “into loads of different” things; friends from both cities with disparate leanings – indie on the one side, dancehall and garage on the other; and the radio. An accumulation of all sorts – probably why she finds it tricky to describe her sound, her reference points as scattered as the light still bouncing around her room.
A love for creating with those closest to her, though, is far easier to pin down. She got an early start singing at home with her younger sister, while DJing – mainly at little clubs with her friends – came later. A decade-long bond with musician and performance artist Babymorocco has stretched between life stages. “He’s like my brother,” says iKeda, whose previous releases have been supported by his PhatBoy collective, with other link-ups and appearances dotted about. “There are lots of things people haven’t seen,” she admits. “We’ve done a podcast together. We’ve done a comic together…”
For iKeda, a self-confessed art girl and “very contextual person”, the visual side of what she puts out is a forever focus. She wants to inspire. Make things that last. Be it illustrations for comics or high-drama videos like the one for RED RED (another close-friend collaboration, with photographer and director Erika Kamano, that saw Lady Gaga’s Telephone tacked firmly to the moodboard). Especially now, with a brand-new EP just around the corner.
In typical iKeda fashion, her forthcoming release, Bangs N Braces, is inspired by just about everything: children’s books (see: The Tiger Who Came to Tea), love triangles, Find My Friends-assisted cat-and- mouse games. Plus Major Lazer on the sonic tip – and, erm, cockroaches, at least in the case of Go, a track about dancing but also survival of sorts. Hence the bug comparison. “I know it’s like the worst way to describe yourself,” she laughs. “But me and my friends always say we’re like cockroaches!”
It’s the exact song she’s always wanted to make. And it’ll feel even sweeter to see how it – and the EP at large – lands live. “I feel like I’ve really stamped out my identity,” she smiles. “People are going to be like… they’re just going to see me”.
Last month, FADER spent time with iKeda. She discussed, among other things, “fusing dancehall with electropop, and her upcoming EP Bangs N Braces”. I do think that it is going to be one of the most acclaimed E.P.s of 2026. One that will lead to huge international dates:
“Can you tell me more about bubble riddim?
Bubble riddim. I'm half-Jamaican, so I'm really inspired by a lot of Jamaican dancehall, classic reggae, and stuff like that. But then I feel like I also have this other part of me that's so obsessed with electro-pop. In my head, bubble riddim is this fusion of the two. There was a lot of artists, not really right now, but more in 2010 to 2012, where there was a lot of German and Dutch producers working with dancehall artists. And also Major Lazer and stuff like that, where they were making this fusion of dancehall and electro-pop.
We saw that you were in the studio with Oscar Scheller here in New York. Can you talk a little bit about that session?
Oscar is so amazing. He's such a versatile producer, songwriter. I can really appreciate when a producer can make the beat in the session and not take up the whole session doing it, and we're making it as we go along. 'Cause that's something that I do a lot with Tausha, who I collaborate with [on] all my music.
But yeah, Oscar, just instantly comfortable with him, and we already know each other, have some history together. We did a photo shoot together like a million years ago. [laughs]
Your upcoming EP is titled Bangs N Braces. What was the inspiration for the title?
Bangs N Braces is an evolution from my first EP, Pretty Little Problem. I'm really obsessed with shorts with braces – I think you call them in America, uh, suspenders.
I like to have fun when naming my EPs. I don't really take it too seriously. Whenever I'm thinking of a name, it will just come immediately, and I'm like, "Right, I'm doing that," and I'll stick with it. But I've been working on this EP for a really long time. I think a lot of people thought I wasn't releasing or doing anything since Pretty Little Problem, but I've been working on them for like a year.
[But] Whenever people hear about the braces, they think I'm talking about the teeth braces! It's not that! [laughs] 'cause a lot of my music is inspired by nursery rhymes and stuff like that. So some people are like, "Oh, is it braces because of that?" And I was like, "No, it's literally just because I'm obsessed" with the preppy [look]— I just wear a lot of them. And especially when we were in the studio, I was wearing them every single day. And then "Bangs" was because I had like a thick, thick bang. But also 'cause bangers, like big tracks.
I feel like my look plays a big part in my music as well so I was like, I got to include my braces, honey”.
Last week, NME spent some time with one of our most talented and instantly lovable artists. In the sense that she seems to have this mix of incredible charm, wit, intelligence and personality. Such an incredible human who is also one of the most promising artists we have produced in years. NME wrote how iKeda “is on the path to pop stardom. She’s taking each step in her stride – and very seriously”. I will drop in the second half/latter parts of the interview, as we get to learn new things about iKeda:
“Single ‘Tiger Tiger’ epitomises both iKeda’s approach to storytelling and her newfound boldness: “I was going down memory lane with old childhood books, and I saw The Tiger Who Came To Tea. The story morphed into this whole thing, like there’s this secret club and you can only go if you’re a bad girl.” Beyond psychedelic imagery of perception-altering potions and spiralling white rabbits, iKeda emphasises the way the track signals her new outlook on life: “It’s part of my new path of just completely feeling myself.”
Ahead of the EP’s release later this month, that self-assurance has got iKeda feeling free – something that’s translating directly into her songwriting approach. “I just want to make feel-good music because that’s how I’m feeling right now,” she shares. But while her music evokes a fun-loving club pop sensibility, simple melodies are serious business for her. “People don’t understand how hard it is to write a catchy hook without it turning into slop,” she explains. A consummate perfectionist, iKeda is dialled into the details, focused on particulars like “the little intros and interludes, which labels don’t care about but that listeners love”.
While she might not accept herself as a pop star yet, the way she talks about her music and what she wants to do with it in the future points to an artist who’s more than fit for the role. “I just want to improve everything. I want to put on an actual production. I want to make bodies of work with coherent eras,” she replies, her relentless creative drive evident when conversation turns to what’s next. “Right now I’m trusting more in my ideas. I’m eternally grateful for all of the good times I’ve had, but I definitely have more to say”.
There is no doubt that, when iKeda releases an album, it is going to win awards. I feel she will appear at next year’s Glastonbury and will collaborate with other huge artists. Going on her own headline tour and getting a lot of love across Europe and the U.S. I feel she is this international sensation. No wonder so many people are following and showing love for iKeda. As a songwriter and artist, she is…
TRULY monumental.
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