Artist Spotlight: B-ahwe
Shot by @millysphotographs
Some things in life are inexplicably beautiful. The smell of freshly cut grass, the first sip of a cup of tea when it’s just the right temperature, and B-ahwe’s soaring, celestial voice.
The rising soulstress has been stunning listeners with her jaw dropping talent for a while now. Whether blessing us with her layered, innovative and dazzling solo material (see 2020 album ’Nuance’), or lending her peerless vocals to underground rap frontrunners like Nix Northwest and Lausse the Cat, it seems impossible not to appreciate her swooning, impeccable talent. Her concoction of jazz, soul, R&B and hip hop is simply sublime; lifting you out of your own conscious state and into a world of infinite possibilities.
The Nottingham-born, London-based singer songwriter has just released her new EP ‘Motions’. A six track embracement of both vivid and metaphorical narration, B-ahwe recruited old friend and hotly tipped producer Tambala to lend his sonic finesse for some of the silkiest, smoothest beats you’ll hear this year.
I managed to catch up with B-ahwe to discuss all things ‘Motions’; her constantly evolving writing process, coping with an ever changing industry climate, and her future plans.
Has the pandemic been difficult for you creatively?
It’s been a blessing and a curse. I feel like I definitely made the most of it. I wanted to use the time to come out of it a better person. I wouldn’t have had the time - I literally had 7 months of just back to back recording for the EP, which if life was happening I would never have had that time. I moved to London in lockdown, lived with strangers for the last 8 months, and tried to make the most out of the situation. Opening back up has been mad though, I fully lost my mind for the last 2 months and I’m only just getting it back.
You’ve had a few live shows haven’t you
I had one with Nix Northwest, my first time in Brighton. It was beautiful, I loved it so much. Having 2 years of not playing with a live band was so sad. I’m doing 4 dates this month with my full band, we’re like a little family.
Like many of the more engaging artists in modern music, you are very fluid with genre and style. What do you think of the concept of genre and where do you fit into it?
I used to worry about it but now I’ve got to a point where I don’t care really. My first two projects have been an extension of each other and developing within the same sound, despite the fact they’ve been floating between a lot of sounds like R&B, jazz, hip hop, soul, which to be honest I think come under one bracket, I think there’s a huge fluidity. There’s certain things that come under everything now, like electronic music because production is such a big part of composition. I think genres are at their best when they’re mixed with other things. I used to be really worried when people said they want to know what they get when they listen to you, but I think if you aren’t experimenting and trying new things then you aren’t progressing as an artist. Some people belong in one genre, but I think nowadays everything is so interlinked. I don’t think genre is one pocket anymore, which I think it’s sick.
Would you agree that genre is more relevant to the industry itself as a marketing tool rather than artist expression?
Yeah probably. I think the industry tries to understand the way that people consume and enjoy things, and the best way to understand things is to put names to them and group them. There is a lot of humans who want to stick to the sound they like. I guess it comes from a good place of trying to make people happy. For an artist, I think it’s best to find your own way through it all.
In terms of your mood then, did it come naturally when you began writing or did you have to work on it and explore?
I think you’re constantly working on it, it’s constantly evolving. But I think there’s the quintessential essence of a human being. It’s like old friends; you see old friends develop and become wiser to the world and more confident but they always are that person. Even if something I do is really different, there’s always the elements of ethereal, narrative-driven, rich harmonies, even if the vibe is completely different. I think especially as a singer, your voice is always going to be essentially you whilst evolving so much. It’s quite beautiful to be fair. You can hear the influences that make you as well, the ancestry of influence that has created you.
What influences the way you write?
My friends are my biggest influences. I’m lucky enough to be surrounded by incredibly creative human beings, and every time I work with them, it inspires and changes the way that I look at writing. Also human experience and listening to more music. People allow you to look at the creativity differently and they feel the same about you. You can get so in your own rabbit hole and just work on something on your own then show people and get such perspective.
I think collaboration is the key to creativity really.
We humans are a tribal people, we’re meant to be. Someone was telling me yesterday that the reason we evolved from Neanderthals is because they had loads of ideas but couldn’t communicate them to each other so they just died out, whereas when we evolved we were able to communicate.
Has your writing process changed since last years EP ‘Nuance’?
‘Nuance’ and ‘Motions’ both sort of came out of his period when I was in Leeds when I would make tracks and then work on them with my band and develop the ideas together and record them live, then work on them with a producer, layering the stems. It’s kind of changed now; with the next project I’m producing tracks myself and having sessions with musicians and asking them to replay certain ideas and approaching everything from a very different angle, changing the sound world means there’s a lot more experimentation with the production. I always feel like I’m a bit of a production baby so I’m learning a lot, so we will see what happens. It feels very different but it feels like it’s really me still. After these 2 projects of me just honing craft and working with musicians and learning about everything, it could go anywhere. I’m trying to be open to the fact that it’s different and new and shiny. We’ll see what happens.
Do you think you’ll go back to majority live recording?
I think it’ll just be different. I’m really on a wave of threading production through everything I do instead of putting production on afterwards. I do really miss recording live though.
Where did the ideas for the EP stem from?
The EP ended up being called ‘Motions’. I was thinking of loads of different names for ages and it just felt right. It’s really funny, people used to laugh at me because all my song names were one word and they were a movement - bewitching, waiting, holding - and as the process of this going on… it’s kind of beautiful, with music you don’t know what you’re feeling until you write it, it’s like unpacking things and therapy for yourself. It can be 10 years of memories crystallising in one mood. The whole thing felt like the soul and whole thing moving in motion to get somewhere and still kind of unpacking it all and figuring things out, whilst being really willing and ready. ‘Nuance’ was written when I was really ill, so it’s just this deep yearning for wanting to understand what’s going on, feeling really lost. ‘Motions’ is an extension of coming out of that, feeling more present but still just feeling like you’re there but not being all there yet. When I listened to the EP I remember thinking it’s so emotional! I’m quite a happy person in normal life but I guess that’s where all my cathartic energy goes. My music is just really emotional and raw, and this celebration of emotion and being in motion and being in the process of everything.
I absolutely adore the EP. You write and perform with this like oxymoronic assured delicacy. Did it come naturally or have you had to work on it?
I try to dabble in everything and learn everything, but my voice is my thing, it’s my baby. Lyrics and melody are the first thing that come to me. If I create something, even if the idea isn’t cohesive yet, if the lyrics really mean something you just know. ‘Bewitched’, for example, was about this emotionally abusive relationship I was in that I’d never put into music before. You think you’ve really dealt with things and then realise you haven’t at all and it still affects you so many years on. The chorus itself says a lot, as it’s not words it’s just notes, like I can’t put it into words still. It was quite difficult realising that, that I still couldn’t put it into black and white yet.
My writing is emotional and celebrates mental health, but then everything is cloaked in metaphors and I love that kind of writing - beautiful words, wrapping something up in this ethereal, magical way of making emotions something that are glorious. But at the same time, I’m getting to this point of wanting to not be scared of emotion. Clearly I am still developing a way of expressing it fully.
How was working with Tambala?
He’s the goat. He’s an old friend of mine, so it was kind of just an excuse to spend some time with him and speak to him more. It was just a beautiful experience. He’s a genius as well. On ‘Fall Into’, going into the second chorus there’s all these reverse cymbals where everything has been taken out and then drops into the chorus. He did that on like the final mix. I literally stood up and was like what!!! The EP generally is quite dense and has lots of stems so it was more about making the sound that’s there really sing rather than changing too much.
I have to ask - where is Lausse The Cat? I’m a massive fan of him - what’s going on?
The feline is a magical, magical human being that I’m beyond blessed to know and cherish. He makes me think about life differently. In complete honesty, I’m not allowed to say anything and I’ve been vowed not to say anything. They are alive and very well, everyone just needs to tryst the process. In this world we are expected to have social media and have this certain way of life. So few people try to do it this way and I really respect it. People put so much pressure on artists, they’ll have just dropped a project and people will be asking when the next one is. It takes time to be truly lost in the whole thing, it’s difficult when people put pressure on you.
What about Nix Northwest, you planning on collaborating with him again?
Definitely! He’s such a dope human and his album is sounding absolutely disgusting. I don’t know what the future holds but the special community that has come from the Leeds to London scene is definitely a special one.
How do you feel about the EP coming out?
I’m gassed. There’s been so much build up, you get to the point where it’s mad that it’s happening. I’m obviously nervous as well, especially as it’s been so long since gigs and everything, everything is happening at once. It’s sick, I feel human again and I’m doing what I want to be doing again. I think you have to be proud of yourself for making it, and I’m proud of myself.