Photo Courtesy.
As she strolls from the subway to the studio, 19-year-old [HAWA](https://instagram.com/mightbehawa) shares why refuses to listen to anyone, but herself when creating her melancholic hip-hop tracks. The Manhattan-based artist is determined to be entirely her own as she starts her musical journey. Born in Berlin to West African parents and raised in New York City, HAWA has utilized the “suave” she acquired from all aspects of her identity to create the unique genre-smashing tracks where defining your sound with an over encompassing name is no longer needed. After touring the world as one of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra’s youngest composers, she outgrew the repressive confines of classical musical and found solace in the freedom of contemporary soundscapes.
HAWA debuts her first prolific body of work, entitled _the One_, a twenty-minute thesis on love and everything that comes after. Expanding outside her classical training, HAWA intertwines dance worthy beats with emotive prose surrounding every stage of the heart. HAWA finds home in vulnerability and hones in on the unstructured and unpredictability of love and relationships. HAWA shares, “Love isn’t something that is structured or written out, so I should just go with the flow of it. With _the One_ I tried to be as open and free as I could be.” Relying more on her natural instincts, HAWA transposes her romantic experiences into a modern classic in the making.
To sanctify her release, HAWA is debuting her visuals for her track, “FRICK.” One day, wired on coffee, HAWA wrote the rose colored lyrics against feverish beats, redefining the sound of love songs. She says, “I wanted to make sure that this was something that I would listen to.” The music video is a tribute to her beautiful partner and is a cinematic _Runaway Bride_ meets _Bonnie and Clyde_ set in the snowy backwoods. With her hypnotic flow of words, we think HAWA should have a always have a full mug in hand when writing her latest master piece. Flaunt had the wonderful opportunity to dig deeper with HAWA and learn how she came to be the modern classic she is today.
Photographed by Castle.
**Let’s start at the beginning. How did you find your passion in music?**
I feel like with music, I was always born with it and that it was in me. I was attracted to art ever since I was a little child I think music more than me than I found it. It’s just a lot of art and I love art in general but music was an article of the most out of all of them that’s the best way I can explain it.
**How has your background in classical music continue to shape your sound and influence how you approach music?**
It has influenced my music and sound in so many ways. I think it helps me build with music. I know how to engineer, produce and make the track sound exactly as I want it to. I’m able to just build on sound itself and I can get pretty much take any bit and make it more complex. it has also given me so much patience. Music is all about patience, wit sitting in a box from eight to ten hours.
**How has the dualities of your identity shape who you are as a person and as an artist?**
It’s suave, you know? What I mean is that the influence is my suave. I have an African swag. I have that European suave and now I have a New York suave. It definitely influences the style of my music. I also understand how to make music for people who are not in America. I feel like that’s one of the big advantages is that I can make music for Europe and know exactly what they want the music to sound like.
Photographed by Castle
**What was your vision for _the One?_**
It’s all about love. For me I wanted to depict different aspects of love. I want it to be portrayed through different types of sounds. Life for example, my track “FRICK” is one of the most hip-hop and rap on songs my EP. You wouldn’t associate that with love because it so hard. It’s all about how this person is rejecting love but also that I want to do love. With this EP I wanted to portray love in all aspects including, pain and insecurity.
**What was your writing process like?**
For this EP I tried to be as open as I possibly could, so I didn’t do much pre-writing. I didn’t want it too feel so structured. I wanted to connect with the vision I had a lot. Love isn’t something that is structured or written out, so I went with the flow of it. With _the One,_ I tried to be as open and free as I could be. The most difficult portion wasn’t the writing, but the revising. I had to try and not over think everything. With my classical training, I am used to everything having to be a certain way. I didn’t want to overthink it, but at the same time I wanted the melodies and sound to be perfect.
**How did you find performing at Telfar’s Pitti Uomo fashion show in Florence?**
He is one of my favorite designers, so when I got asked to do it I was already on board. I love to be very free, especially when it comes to art. love playing live, but whenever I perform a show, I go blind. I swear I only see snippets, like I am taking photos with my eyes. I don’t get to see what people are seeing. It was also something I have always dreamt of doing. I used to model and walk for shows during fashion week and I would always see people perform. I always thought that one day I would be performing.
**Do you have any preshow rituals?**
I don’t talk to people. I am in a corner by myself. I don’t focus on anything, but my music and right before I go on I tell myself “Lose all fear.”
**So, this is your last year as a teen. What has your own coming of age story taught you?**
Everything in life is possible as long as you manifest it in your head, while you work towards that goal. And just live life to the fullest. I had to grow up at a young age, so I have always been independent and been forced to do stuff for myself on my own. Coming to age to me is knowing that I am capable of doing of what I am meant to do and reaching the level that I want to reach.
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