Khyra Leah Wilson (born 5 April 2000), known professionally as kwn (pronounced kay-wuhn) and formerly k1, is a British singer, songwriter, rapper, and producer.[1] She is best known for her 2024 single "Worst Behaviour", which entered the UK singles chart, while its remix (featuring Kehlani) entered the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.
She was nominated for Best New International Act at the 2025 BET Awards,[2] was named Billboard's R&B Rookie of the Month,[3] and was included on the NME 100 list of "essential emerging artists".[4]
Early life
Kwn was born and grew up in Walthamstow, East London.[5] She has two older sisters.[6] Her father is Nigerian and her mother is Irish.[7]
She started playing piano and drums in her childhood.[6] She realized by the time she was 11 years old that she wanted to become a musician,[5] after which she started making music and releasing it on SoundCloud.[1] She was inspired in part by her father, who was at one time a DJ,[7][1] and who exposed kwn to a wide variety of Western musical genres, including R&B, pop, garage, house, as well as various genres of African music.[6] When she was 16, she began attending the arts college East London Arts & Music,[3][5] which pushed her to work harder at her music.[8] After college, she worked as a chef,[5] and before deciding to pursue music, she was interested in playing football professionally.[9]
Career
Initially known as k1, she changed her stage name to kwn – incorporating the first and last letters of her last name – to avoid being mistaken for a drill rapper.[9][8]
She began releasing music with Black Butter Records in 2022, debuting with the single, “wn way or another".[1] Her debut EP episode wn was released later in 2022.[3] She was dropped by the label shortly before the release of her single "Worst Behaviour".[10]
Kwn opened for Kehlani for some of the latter's Crash European tour dates.[3]
She was nominated for Best New International Act at the 2025 BET Awards.[2] In March 2025, she was named Billboard's R&B Rookie of the Month.[3]Billboard called her music "a moody amalgam of trap, soulful vocal stacks and splashes of dark electronic music that both captures and reimagines the post-Bryson Tiller R&B landscape."[3] When asked about her own genre placement, kwn said, "I don’t really think I could pinpoint a sound; I just do whatever feels good," though she noted R&B as a consistent influence in her music.[3] She also received a place on NME's 2025 list[11] of one hundred "essential emerging artists".[4]
Kwn has described herself as "literally . . . gay since [she] came out of the womb". Of her sexuality, she has said, "I’m just a girl who likes girls. I don’t like putting labels on things."[5] She is an introvert.[2] Her favorite tattoo reads "lord i've tried" in Spanish ("dios he tratado"), after her song of the same title.[9]
In October 2025, she confirmed that she was in a relationship with Kehlani, after months of speculation.[12][13]
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