Kenya Grace

Kenya Grace Johnson[1] was born in South Africa and grew up in Southampton. She used to play hockey for Hampshire. She started writing when she was ten, and started singing in primary school after being gifted a second-hand Yamaha keyboard.[2] She first developed an interest in musical theatre, before growing up and developing an interest in dance music, dubstep first.[3]^: 1:09:50 She attended Academy of Contemporary Music in Guildford, first reading history and English literature, but switching to music after deciding to become a musician,[2] and graduated in September 2019 with a degree in songwriting and creative artistry.[4] She has credited the university with curing her stage fright.[5] In 2019, she released "Obsessed", her first release, and then "Tell Me Why",[2] which she wrote while drunk and having just rowed.[6] Later that year, she and Willow Kayne made the Top 21 in ISawItFirst,[7] a nationwide search in collaboration with Capital Xtra intended to find new women musicians, winning a music video for "Tell Me Why".[4] She then released "Talk",[2] which she wrote in her parents' bedroom during the COVID-19 lockdown in the United Kingdom after getting out of a toxic relationship;[5] she later moved to North London,[8] her move having been delayed by the pandemic.[5] In 2022, she released "Oranges", the 3Strange collaboration "Someone Else", and the Homebodi collaboration "Venus", and in February and May 2023, she released "Afterparty Lover" and "Meteor".[9]

In late July 2023, she started to promote "Strangers",[10] a drum and bass song she had written and produced[11] in her bedroom, with the intention of making a euphoric track,[3]^: 1:08:08 on her TikTok account.[10] This clip was viewed over 11,000,000 times, with a subsequent video being viewed over 38,000,000 times;[12] when released on 1 September 2023 on FFRR Records,[13] the song saw further success on the platform, and by 26 September 2023 had seen use in over 570,000 videos.[9] She promoted the song with a further eight videos promoting the track, all of which were viewed more than 1,000,000 times, and which typically depicted her singing the track on her electronic drum pads;[10] the song also went viral on Instagram Reels.[13] A week after release, the song entered the UK Singles Chart, eventually peaking at No. 1;[11] upon entry, the Official Charts Company attributed her success to the commercial renaissance of drum and bass and the dominance of female artists (in its first week on the charts, the top three were Doja Cat, Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo).[13] On 15 September 2023, she released a "slower and sadder" remix of the song,[9] and three weeks after that, she released a further single, "Only in My Mind", having teased the track on social media.[14] On 13 October, the song peaked at No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart, making her the second British female artist to reach No. 1 with a track performed, written and produced entirely solo after Kate Bush's "Running Up That Hill".[12]