Kenya Grace Johnson, better known by her stage name Kenya Grace, topped the U.K. singles charts in 2023 with her hit song “Strangers,” which she wrote and produced, like the majority of her music from the comfort of her bedroom.
The singer initially dropped “Strangers” in a TikTok video earlier this year that went on to rack-up over 30 million views.
The almighty social media and chart success of the drum and bass anthem solidified Kenya Grace not only as a musician to watch but as the only British female artist alongside Kate Bush to reach number one with a song written, produced and performed entirely solo.
Despite the swelling hype around her, and the fact that she’d performed at Spotify’s Wrapped party in London barely a week prior, when Kenya Grace sat down in Now Toronto’s studio earlier this month, she spoke with a softness that teetered on shyness, and with the unassuming candour of a person wanting to take everything happening around her in.
Kenya Grace first found music in elementary school when she began participating in musical theatre around the tender age of six.
“I remember just singing in all the musical songs and I really loved it, and then through secondary school I did Les Mis and Cats, and I fell in love with singing very ballady songs, which is crazy,” she admitted with a giggle.
Then as her teenage years came around, so too did the desire to go out, it was at this juncture that Kenya Grace discovered House music.
But, an even larger shift to navigate than the exhilarating yet daunting freedom of adolescence is unprecedented public recognition.
Like most musicians who land in the lap of fame, Kenya Grace had been producing and releasing music prior to her breakthrough single, though she admits openly that she feels she has achieved more in the last three months than in her whole life. Her tour and being able perform live, which she surprisingly hasn’t done much of, were high on her list of pinch me moments in 2023.
“It’s been amazing to go around to different countries and to perform to people, and them knowing the words to my songs is such a crazy thing…and also getting number one in the U.K…it’s insane,” she said of her momentous year.
Adjusting to people reacting to her work is an experience Kenya Grace described as “surreal.”
“I still can’t really get used to it at all, it’s so incredible and it makes me so happy that my music has actually affected people in some way,” she said.
Perhaps the most impressive thing about Kenya Grace is her solo production and performance style, a quality that people seem to be both drawn to and in awe of. Her appeal is reminiscent of a loop-peddling, baggy-clothed Ed Sheeran carrying a crowd of tens of thousands alone. Except, Kenya Grace exudes the same quality in a new age, where her captivated audience until recently were sat largely behind a screen.
Her new single, “Paris,” speaks somewhat to this theme, the idea that our online selves are falsified and often assume the form of something entirely unattainable and over-romanticized.
Looking ahead, Kenya Grace is wrapping up production on a full body of work. “I’ve only done singles up until now,” she said, it’s clear to see she is keen to release a fleshed-out solo project and to show off the full scope of her artistry. Similarly, she hopes to one day explore collaborations with artists like Flume, Disclosure, and Kaytranada, all of whom she deeply admires.
As a monumental year in Kenya Grace’s life draws to a close, I wanted to know her biggest take away from it.
“I didn’t realize the power of social media, I think I learned that pretty hard core, I never expected it to go this far from a couple of posts about a song…I never expected it to be like this,” she admitted with a giggle.
