Alewya

Alewya is a child of many worlds: born to an Ethiopian mother, Egyptian father and raised in West London. Now, as a multi-hyphenate artist — singer, musician, painter, sculptor — Alewya draws from many worlds, too. At home, her parents’ Arabian and East African music influence gave her a spiritual release. Revolutionary singer Teddy Afro and jazz icon Mulatu Astatke were on rotation, alongside drum-heavy sounds infused with the meditative strings of the krar and masenqo. Her brother’s tastes in alternative rock and electronic music showed her alternative ways of being as a young woman of African descent, exposing her to the Pixies and Smashing Pumpkins, among others. Out in the streets, London’s pulsing sound-systems gave her a physical release, raving to funky house drums, junglist breakbeats and the meditative bassweight of Caribbean dub music. These inspirations have all come together in Alewya’s sound: a raw, renegade blend of the devotional rhythms of East Africa and the funk ‘n’ grit of Black Britain.