British songstress Natanya first crossed our radar through, of all things, a Janet Jackson co-sign; Jackson took to social media to share a video of the rising artist singing her internet-revived hit, “Someone To Call Your Lover.” Soon after, she received one more co-sign, this time from her forever fav, Ravyn Lenae, just as Lenae was rising on the global charts.

With two American legends behind her, Natanya was well prepared for a packed trip to the States, where she had the set goal of breaking into our hard-to-crack market. She first went to LA for sessions, meetings and listening parties of her forthcoming EP, Feline Return (out June 13th). And then she was off to New York for a whirlwind jaunt which included a show at Baby’s All Right and a performance at On The Radar.

Such a rush through the States felt fitting for Natanya. She had long identified with American artists (like Lenae) over fellow British artists. “Whenever people would ask me, ‘Who’s your tribe?’ they would always try to get me to say people from my country. But it was really hard for me because I don’t feel like I relate to them musically and aesthetically,” shares Natanya. Having grown up in an international family, raised around a stream of Gospel and Motown, Natanya was inspired by the sounds and the expansiveness of art from beyond her side of the pond. “Just because of how big America is and how much expression there is, there’s so many different sounds that come out of it. If you put your hand into a massive ball pit, you’re gonna find your color. America’s like that.” She still plays up her British-ness through her distinct visual world, a combination of the uncanniness of Tim Burton and the posh glamor of Victorian and Georgian fashion.

All of Natanya’s global influences are present on her forthcoming EP, a seven-song sprint that touts her silken, slinky vocals, dense production and lush sonic world. “Dangerous,” the EP’s second single (out today), is the EP’s brashest, working as both a provocation and a flex. “Dangerous, you think I’m Dangerous/ Is it my body?/ You want to touch me?” she sings over a bed of rolling synth chords and three-step beats, weaving in elements of trap and lush orchestral pop. Though it’s about a lover and explores themes of obsession and desire, Natanya’s guiding artistic theme is her creative and professional “hunger.” “’Dangerous’ is supposed to be this breakout feeling of ‘Oh, wow. We thought we could box this girl in, but no, she’s loud, and she’s here and she’s making a statement about who she is,’” shares Natanya. As can be seen in the video, Natanya certainly knows who she is —oozing confidence and panache.

PAPER chatted with the busy star about her trip in the states, her global inspirations and her distinct visual world.

You just did your first show in New York at Baby’s All Right, right?

I did. It was thrown by Black Pop Party. I was nervous before, because I’ve never been here, and I’m kind of disoriented, but as the night continued to go on, the room filled up and it was great. I felt like I was doing my job.

Was it mainly your fans there, or was it a new audience?

It was a mix of both, but quite dominated by the fans. I had a lot of people lining up to talk to me afterwards, which really shocked me. People were gifting me things, telling me their favorite songs. People in the crowd were singing along. I was like, “Where are you guys coming from?”

I saw you linked up with Laila!?

I did! She was in the crowd. I was confused. And then they were like, “Do you want to meet her? She’s coming to the dressing room.” I was like, “Yeah, sure.” It’s mind-bending because I never expected I would ever be in front of her. She very much reminds me of myself in terms of the way she approaches music and the fact that she’s a girl producer as well. There are not many of those. I love her, her production choices. I’m such a big fan, so it was amazing to meet her.

You’re having such a whirlwind trip with so many opportunities back to back. How are you processing it?

Honestly, I have no clue what’s going on. I’m excited that people are receiving the music well. And I’m equally happy that people are perceiving it “in New York” [sung in they key “Empire State Of Mind”] [laughs]. It just tells me that when everything’s out like, it’s going to be received the right way. It’s giving me a lot of hope for the future that I can build myself a place in the industry. There’s a space for me somewhere.

When you say that there’s a space for you. How would you describe that lane?

There are many female artists that I consider to be similar to me in the UK. Whenever people would ask me, “Who’s your tribe?” they would always try to get me to say people from my country. But it was really hard for me because I don’t feel like I relate to them musically and aesthetically. I would always say these sorts of names. There was a lot of nay saying, like, “You’re never really going to be around them, so just focus on back home.” But it’s been incredible because the exact people that I grew up listening to or that I’ve fallen in love with recently are tapping in and that space is being created. It’s a little bit isolating to do something trailblazing, or slightly different in the scene where I come from, because I think people have their preconceived notions of what you should be and where you should be.

Why do you think you connected with American artists more than British artists for your own project?

My family has always been massive fans of music globally. My parents are both really international. My mom is an Asian Trinidadian woman, and my dad is a Nigerian, Third Culture Kid. They never had a specifically British approach to music in the house. We listened to a lot of gospel like Anita Baker, Teddy Pendergrass, and Motown stuff. Just because of how big America is and how much expression there is locked in here, there’s so many different sounds that come out of it. If you put your hand into a massive ball pit, you’re gonna find your color. America’s like that, whereas in the UK, there’s a very specific margin for what constitutes music from there. What I was making doesn’t necessarily fit within the zeitgeist. I do think one day it will. At this current moment, people don’t consider this sort of music as inherently British, which is why in the aesthetics, I try to pump it up a lot and make sure that people really get the message. I’m really pastiche about it, so that people understand I’m not trying to be American.

I’m curious how you would describe your visual world, and what influences you’re bringing together?

I just love the uncanny so much. My favorite directors are Charlie Kaufman and Tim Burton. I also love to take influence from old British things like Victorian, Georgian fashion, because it’s just such a play on reality. I just love how cute and weird the outfits are. Plus old-Hollywood and pin ups, like Betty page. I just love the poshness of those outfits. I love everything to look kind of posh, but in a kind of spoofy way. It’s not serious, but it just helps give that impression that I’m from the UK.

Tell me about making “Dangerous.” I know you made the whole album in a very quick period of inspiration, but tell me a little bit about the song where it fits in the creative process for the whole record.

I made “Dangerous” just before I was going to go on tour with Destin Conrad. I had the idea in the shower. I was really inspired by [the album] Beyonce by Beyonce and all the beats on that. I just kept singing that hook. I thought it would be so cool to try something like that. I really want to give it a go. So I made a mock up demo by myself on Logic, and then when I got back from tour, I took it to the studio, and we worked on that in one day. I was able to listen to the finished demo that same night. We started it in the morning and by the evening, I had it in my headphones. I had this idea to chop and screw the song at the end, and I did that on logic when I was fiddling around afterwards. It was a pretty quick process.

“Dangerous” is supposed to be this breakout feeling of, “Oh, wow. We thought we could box this girl in, but no, she’s loud, and she’s here and she’s making a statement about who she is.” I think it’s also like exposure therapy for me, because it’s such a massive song and very brash. It just pushes me to continue to be proud and go out there, even if I’m making a lot of noise and taking up space. Just be shameless. I love it.

There’s this thread on the record about being hungry for your dreams and fighting for your dreams. This song, on the surface though, is about talking to a lover. How did you combine those ideas in this song?

There was a guy I was really in love with at the time, and he told me had a girlfriend after we went on our first date, I was like, “Okay, so that means we don’t have to speak again.” But he was just so intentional about us keeping contact and continuing this flirtatious thing. It really annoyed me, because I was like, “Wow, you can’t resist me, but you won’t be brave and make a decision for yourself.” So that was part of it when I was writing those lyrics. And then I got my first adult boyfriend. I was just so enthralled by the idea of someone being obsessed with me. The second verse touches on that more, but the production is where I’m interweaving that hunger in, because the beat is so in your face. I wanted to put that same aspect of “I’m hungry” in the music, because lyrically I’m talking about an everyday situation. But even from the moment that you hear the hook, you can’t forget it. So [that hunger] is interwoven in everything.

You’re in this period of a lot of energy and excitement around your career. How are you balancing that and having a life of your own?

I don’t feel the heat as much as I did at the beginning. I feel like this is a quieter time in my career, but it’s because I’m being taught simultaneously how to live a life, by force, just because of how much I have to travel or do things that are not specifically on my schedule. I can’t stay in my bedroom and engineer my entire career from Tiktok anymore. I realized it’s not necessarily any tape or EP that’s going to change your life. It’s a collection of everything together. I’ve had to allow myself to experience things. I have to let myself be loved by somebody. That might be something I touch on in the next project. This is a period where I’m actually learning how to live real life, because I think I’m living a normal life.

The music video for “Dangerous” is coming out on today. Is there anything from the shoot that really stood out to you?

I did two massive shoots in a day, and I had also coincidentally got the least sleep I’ve ever had in my life. So I was passing out in between takes. I was so tired, but it taught me so much resilience to push to the end and that sometimes you don’t need to always be micromanaging every small thing. Sometimes you can just let people do their job and they’ll carry you to the end. So the shoot was special to me, and the video equally, because of how much I love the song, plus I just think visually, it’s so cool. It’s very creative. It’s me letting loose a bit and not being so taught with the way that I want to communicate my visual image. I’m excited for people to see it.

Photography: Tally Francis, Tallulah FX