Kwn

kwn
kwn at the 2026 Montreux Jazz Festival
Background information
Birth name	Khyra Wilson
Born	(2000-04-05) 5 April 2000 (age 26) Walthamstow, East London, England
Genres	R&B
Occupation(s)	Singer
Years active	2022–present
Labels	RCA Black Butter

Khyra Wilson (born 5 April 2000), known as kwn (said as kay-wuhn), is a British singer, songwriter, and rapper from Walthamstow, East London. She makes R&B, hip-hop, and soul music.

Her 2024 song Worst Behaviour entered the UK singles chart. A new version of the song, made with American singer Kehlani, entered a US music chart.^[1]

In 2025, she was put forward for Best New International Act at the BET Awards.^[2] The music magazine NME put her on a list of one hundred new artists to watch in 2025.^[3]

Kwn grew up in Walthamstow, in East London. She has two older sisters. Her father is Nigerian and her mother is Irish.^[4]

As a child, she played piano and drums. By the age of 11, she had decided she wanted to make music for a living.^[5] She uploaded music to SoundCloud during this time.^[6]

Her father used to be a DJ and introduced her to many types of music, including R&B, pop, garage, house, and African music.^[7]

At age 16, she started attending East London Arts and Music college, where she worked harder at making music.^[8] After college, she worked as a chef for a time. Before music became her main focus, she had also thought about playing football as a job.^[9]

She first used the name k1, then changed it to kwn. The name uses the first and last letters of her last name. She changed it because she did not want people to think she made drill rap music.^[9][8]

In 2022, she signed with Black Butter Records and released her first song, "Wn Way or Another". Her first short album, Episode Wn, came out later that year.^[1] The record label dropped her shortly before her song "Worst Behaviour" came out.^[10]

She performed as the opening act for Kehlani on some dates of Kehlani's European tour.^[1]

In 2025, she was named R&B Rookie of the Month by Billboard magazine.^[1] Her second short album, With All Due Respect, came out in June 2025. A third short album, And All Pride Aside, came out in June 2026 and reached number 93 in the UK and number 74 in Australia.

Her music videos are often filmed in one single shot without cuts.^[9][1]

Kwn has said she is gay. She has said she does not like putting labels on herself and describes herself simply as a girl who likes girls.^[5]

In October 2025, she confirmed she was in a relationship with singer Kehlani after many people had already guessed this.^[11]