B-ahwe Transports You To A World Of Ethereal Imperfections And Dreamy Introspection

We all want to escape from our lives sometimes, in one way or another. Some people will spunk all their hard earned money an all inclusive fortnight in Corfu, whilst some will drop a load of acid and drivel on about how everything is connected. A far more viable alternative of escapism is music. Whilst some music may be designed to ground you in the everyday grit of life, and some will just plainly fail at unleashing your imagination, there are rare gems that act as the anthesis of reality; music to take your mind away from your body and unleash a sense of wonderment deep within your conscience. B-ahwe is a diamond of such ilk.

Sweeping up genres like crumbs on the floor, B-ahwe’s sound is an incessant Venn diagram, combining styles and interlinking their sensibilities whilst remaining rooted in her sense of self and her sonic proclamation. Gaining esteemed from her work with underground royalty Nix Northwest and enigmatic genius Lausse the Cat, B-ahwe has fed her ingenuity through her experiences, and emerged as a more rounded musician and person. ‘Being in rooms with people as creative as Nix and Lausse is so inspirational’ she comments, and it’s easy to imagine why. The community of artists and creatives that has developed around her allowed her to see a vision of her own music, and start shaping her own path to success. ‘He (Lausse) believes in me. You need to believe it yourself. There’s not a timeline for success, you’ve got to be patient and kind with yourself and let it happen when it happens’.

Her journey has not been without its difficulties. Illness and anxiety have provided stumbling blocks in her rise, but B-ahwe isn’t afraid to face them head-on. ‘I’ve always been so jealous of people who go through life blissfully, like nothing touches them’, she offers. ‘If I don’t deal with stuff I can end up paralysed by it. Sitting down and writing lyrics is almost like therapy. Recently I’m wanting to bring positivity into things, I’m manifesting it by putting it into songs. Some things are a part of you but don’t define you’. Like far too many women in the industry, another issue that B-ahwe has felt plagued by is the toxicity of the culture: ‘I struggle as a woman in the industry. We’ve been drip fed this idea that you need to be young and that your image is everything. I find it a lot of pressure, the idea that I need to be really skinny, to be a certain way and fit this mould for people to find me attractive and want to listen to my music’.

It’s something of a crossroads moment for B-ahwe in her artistry. After unveiling her dreamy and moody tapes Nuance and Motions in 2020 and 2021 respectively, she is experimenting more with her writing and her sound. ‘I’ve had a turning point, a maturity of having more perspective. When I first started writing it was very metaphorical. I’d be talking about a situation and would make it sound very pretty and skirt around the edges of it. More and more, I’m getting to the point of not running away from what I’m trying to say; I’ll say it eloquently and be poignant with it, but be more straight to the point. I’ve been playing with new genres and lyrically trying to be really honest’.

This evolution of style has come to the surface on her first new release of the year, the effervescent and uplifting ‘Smile’. The track sees B-ahwe work with hotly-tipped producer and friend Tambala, with the song written whilst the pair explored the depths of the Far East in Vietnam. ‘It came out of something special’ B-ahwe emits. ‘You can’t create that type of happiness, of being somewhere else for a month and not having to think about anything’. There is a revered vitality to the cut, an untampered purity that renders colour and hope; a swift yet subtle turn from the darkness that bubbled beneath much of her previous work. ‘It’s about not being so harsh on ourselves. We are all trying so hard, we need to take the pressure off sometimes’ - a piece of advice that we should all take forward in daily life, as we swim against the unwavering current of modern existence.

Looking forward to the future, B-ahwe seems hopeful and full of ambition. She longs ‘to have the time to create, to present the art to the world in the way that [she) envisions it’. With her endless innovation and tantalising introspection, B-ahwe could be anything she wants. Really, all she wants is ‘to help people fall in love with music’.

Words by Ben Tibbits