Awen (FRA)

AWEN has always navigated between distant worlds. Born in Paris from a French mother and a Malian-Senegalese father, she’s long been torn
between her passion for singing and her successful career in Hong Kong as a lawyer. But when her father passed away in 2016, she decided to give up her job and move back to France to try to become a professional artist.

Building upon her cultural heritage and her musical tastes (she grew up listening to artists such as Nina Simone, Bob Marley and Marvin Gaye), AWEN started to produce her unique style of Afro-house. It mixed electronic instrumentation with timeless melodies - and a touch of spirituality.

In 2019, AWEN released her first solo album, Redemption. It was followed by 6 EPs and singles, including collaborations with upcoming afro-house stars such as Floyd Lavine, Daniel Rateuke or Enoo Napa. It includes “Your Voice” with Caiiro (2020), a song that channels raw feelings of faith, love and hope with such intensity that many listeners wondered if the lyrics were about God - AWEN actually wrote them as a letter to her son, who was unborn yet. “Your Voice” gained a cult status that made it unescapable among house fans - with the exception of Adam Port. Strangely enough, the legendary DJ/producer only heard it for the first time two years after its release (!), while he was in a bar in Istanbul. Impressed, he shazamed it and proposed to produce a remix. Released in 2022, his version confirmed the song as a global sensation: it dominated the Beatport charts and took Coachella by storm when AWEN performed it on stage.