Two years ago, she was delivering parcels - now KWN is an R&B star

Image source, Michelle Helena Janssen Image caption, KWN, pronounced K-One, was born and raised in Walthamstow, East London By Mark Savage Music correspondent Published 1 hour ago "You can fake a lot of things in this industry," says East London R&B singer KWN. "You can fake streams, followers, likes... all of that stuff. But selling out a venue and having real people come to see you is different." She should know. Ever since breaking out with her Worst Behaviour last year, the 26-year-old has been packing fans into concert halls worldwide. Last month, she steamed up the windows of the Sydney Opera House, with a sultry, sensual set of bedroom jams like Touch Myself, Do What I Say, and a cover of Ginuwine's Pony. "That was just a crazy moment for me," she says. "I don't think the Sydney Opera House has ever had anybody come in there singing a bunch of sex songs before. "Everyone was standing up and dancing after 30 seconds, and afterwards, the people at the venue were just like, 'We've never seen it like that before'. It was insane." Image source, Jess Gleeson Image caption, More than 2,500 people came to see KWN's show at the Sydney Opera House last month Reactions like that show how far KWN (pronounced K-One, her real name is Khyra Wilson) has come in a short time. Two years ago, she was delivering packages for Amazon after being dropped by her first record label. When that wasn't enough to pay the bills, she sold her car and took a part-time job working alongside her dad in a restaurant. The 26-year-old was determined to keep making music, but the odds were against her. "Me and my manager [Carlyn Calder] were just like, 'We're so broke, we don't know how we're gonna do this'," she recalls. "We were trying to get either a publishing deal or a distribution deal, but no one was offering the money that we wanted. "My manager was like, 'You're worth way more than this. I'm not tying you into any of these deals because I know this time next year we're going to be in a completely different position'." Her faith paid off. An online gamble At the end of 2024, KWN uploaded clips of Worst Behaviour to her social media accounts. It was only a demo, but the response was unlike anything she'd experienced. The only problem? They didn't have enough money to complete the song and put it on streaming platforms. Then Calder came up with a plan. How about building a website and selling the demo directly to fans? "I was like, 'I don't know, that might make us look a little bit desperate'," KWN remembers. "She was like, 'No, trust me. If we sell it to 500 people for £1.99, that's £1,000 in our pocket and we can release it [properly]'." "So I said, 'I'm cool, I trust you, let's just do it'." In two weeks, they sold 5,500 copies. Record labels who'd shunned the singer suddenly clamoured for her signature, but KWN signed instead to RCA Records (home to R&B legends D'Angelo, SZA and Miguel) just before Christmas. Image source, RCA Records Image caption, The video for