Meet ENNY, the distinctive voice from South East London, also known as Enitan Adepitan. Grounded in her hip-hop roots, ENNY seamlessly ties in self-identifying narratives into her music. Gaining nearly 2 million monthly Spotify listeners, ENNY dropped her EP “We Go Again” in April, followed by a remix of her hit track “Charge It” feat. the rapper Smino in November. Beyond her musical talent, ENNY’s work serves as a powerful advocate for her local London community and black women worldwide. Her art delves into the complexities of adulthood, confronting misconceptions and exploring themes of loss. I had the pleasure of chatting with ENNY about her new remix, upcoming announcements and how she came to understand the type of music she wanted to produce.
This article has been edited for clarity and brevity purposes.
Isabella: Your music can be identified under the hip hop genre with assets of r&b and jazz. What have been your musical influences within the past few years and can you elaborate a little bit on why you feel connected to this specific sound?
ENNY: I work with a lot of UK jazz, hip hop, grime, and garage artists so I have a melting pot of sounds. When you get older, around 16 years old, you start discovering your own sound. Finding Jill Scott and Erykah Badu, and my brother introducing me to proper hip hop, helped me start writing my lyrics.
Isabella: You recently came out with a remix of your song Charge it. Can you delve into the creative process behind the remix, why you chose that specific track and why you chose to collaborate with Smino?
ENNY: From the jump, there was a similarity between the kind of beats that Smino and I liked, so when the song came out there was a recurring message that I would see [in our music]. My team reached out, it ended up happening and he was very receptive to it.
Isabella: In the music video for your latest track, the prominent use of yellow and orange hues is very striking. Why did you choose this lemonade theme and could you elaborate on the intentions behind the incorporation of this thematic visual element?
ENNY: When the original video came out, there were similar tones, that goldey brown [color]. After the track came out and I was seeing what people were gravitating towards, it was the [lyrics] “charge it to the game I guess, turn L’s into lemons and zest” and people really connected to that. Based on that, as a creative standpoint, it was cool to touch on lemons and making lemonade in the next push that was the remix.
Isabella: Reflecting on the unconventional debut of your EP’s, in the sense that they weren’t exactly planned, do you foresee the creation of more projects in the future and could an album be on the horizon?
ENNY: Yeah, most likely but I feel like it’s going to come from a more intentional part. I’m more level footed, so now it’s kind of just understanding what I need to be doing.
Isabella: Given that self-confidence is a prevalent theme in your music, what advice or insights would you offer to emerging artists who might be grappling with the challenge of finding their own identities and their own sound?
ENNY: Just individuality. I know it’s corny and people say it all the time but it’s really true and people gravitate towards realness. In a world where txhings seem to be so fake, being individual and being real, it’s so niche because it’s different as to what everyone else is doing. I think just standing firm in what your vision is, is probably the best thing because there’s no one like you. That’s corny from the sounds of it but it’s true.
Isabella: Is there anything else you would like to tell your fans?
ENNY: Probably just to listen to the whole project! With “We Go Again”, get[ting] that whole theme of when sometimes you f up but you can’t let it hold you, you just have to go again. Even when shit is going a bit left, you just have to press on.
