Grace Jones

Having been hand-picked by Grace Jones for this year's Meltdown Festival, the dynamic rising artist is ready to challenge and enrapture audiences this ...

Alewya has a similar ethos when it comes to performing live, describing her shows as like a journey and “a time for me to free up and tap into my rawest emotions and dance. Much like Simz, representing her heritage in her artistry is something that is “innate” within Alewya. She was born in Saudi Arabia and raised in Sudan by Ethiopian and Egyptian parents, before moving to London and Alewya’s sound is heavily influenced by her African and Arab roots. “Allowing something to express itself out of me.” Rather than searching for gratification, Alewya says “there isn’t anyone to prove a point to, or live up to, though. “Exploring music and production and learning instruments helped me find something that I could put so much love and attention into, which is something I never had before,” Alewya says. This level of hard-won self-confidence comes after four or five years making music “super privately” as a hobby and never indenting to make a career out of it. She’s got years of experience under her belt, so it’s beautiful to have that.” I feel at home.” The curation of the festival, Alewya says, “gives room for other facets of Black music to really shine. The pair started chatting afterwards and formed an instant connection: “She’s a human, and it’s easy to talk if you’re human as well.” From then, their friendship was born and they would spend time at each other’s house, which led to the creation of their 2020 collaboration ‘where’s my lighter’, which appeared on Simz’s lockdown EP, ‘ Drop 6’. “Grace Jones is 1,000% the level of uniqueness I like to think that I can be,” says NME 100 alumni Alewya, having been handpicked by her similarly uncompromising music idol to join her self-curated Meltdown Festival line-up. “It’s certainly nice to know people are clocking on, but do I get pressure or feel any expectation? It’s nice to hear a song reworked for a different experience. “It’s so fun and such a different take.