G.E.D.: Get every dollar. That’s the life mantra Hawa outlines to me. While seemingly self-serving on the surface, the succinct phrase reflects a broader altruistic desire for the 24-year-old musician and rising cultural force.

More than just monetary, Hawa wants to build an “empire” that can provide for herself, her loved ones, and generations of people struggling to feel seen. In short, she’s a true hustler through and through — a rare breed that is driven by the belief that success is the only possible outcome.

“I like to be tested,” Hawa says with a smirk. “But not too much, now. Test me in the right way.”

I met Hawa for the first time in the basement of 66 Greene, where she greeted me with a passionate hug and a warm smile, as if we’d been friends for years rather than newly introduced strangers. I soon observed that this wasn’t just a one-off schmooze, but her default disposition as she welcomed everyone who came through the ground-floor studio-turned-lounge as if they had just entered her home.

The cast-iron building, situated in the midst of Soho’s luxury retail hub, has served as a headquarters for the rising artist over the last few years — a haven to create without restraint, connect without fear of rejection, and exist freely without reproach. In this sacred space, we’re all family in her eyes, as she ensures everyone has a drink in hand before we settle into our conversation.

“Anybody can come here and change their life,” Hawa tells me between sips of orange wine, a cigarette perpetually held between her index and middle fingers. “When people walk through those doors, there’s an understanding you have to have a different level of work ethic. Creating is a real sport to me, and I want to be great.”

She tells me about the long sessions spent tweaking and experimenting with sound in pursuit of this legacy she keeps referring to. Clocking in “16 hours” a day in the studio, Hawa has chosen to dedicate her time and energy to shaping a sonic signature that feels utterly unique — evoking ancient tribal war calls, mixed with bouncy, 808-bolstered flows and contemporary lyricism. There’s something completely raw and cathartic about her music that taps into a part of all of us that feels familiar, almost primal, while simultaneously reminding listeners that there is still so much room to explore in this life.

As we began to dig deeper, stopping only briefly here and there to refill, it became abundantly apparent that none of this is an act for Hawa — that everything about her is undeniably “real” and always has been. Born in Guinea-Conakry and growing up in South London, the burgeoning creative has maintained a thirst for unfiltered sincerity since her youth. “I look at someone, and I want to know everything,” she says with a note of enthusiasm. “Man or woman, no one is supposed to be one way. I am… we all are… human, and that’s such a complex thing.” Raised in a traditional African family, Hawa recalls that part of her yearning for authenticity involved rejecting the gender norms imposed on her from an early age. Raised with a twin brother, she sought to be viewed the same as her sibling, even going so far as to request the same chores be assigned to both of them. “I just wanted my family to prepare me to be an actual person in the world rather than play a specific role I didn’t see for myself,” she says. “My mom didn't carry me for nine fucking months for me to come out and do that.”

Identity is something Hawa has rarely struggled with in her life. She tells me she’s known she was gay since she was a “youth” (she came out to her mom during an argument). While deeply layered and fluid, Hawa finds confidence and liberation in her androgyny, oscillating between masculine and feminine energies within herself to fully embrace her humanity.

“Some moments I embody my warrior, others I step into my nurture. I’m sensitive. I love to love and be loved. It’s all me,” she says. “I don’t know much in this life, but I do know I want to be free…all the time.”

This focused meditation helped Hawa redirect her ego and energy into channels that served a higher purpose. After relocating to New York at 13, she shifted her attention to building the foundation that would carry her toward those ambitions. Moonlighting as a model and embedding herself within the city’s legacy skate scene, Hawa quickly became a recognizable face in key cultural circles — a phenomenon some would describe as a natural “it factor.” Even sitting in front of me, there’s an unmistakable magnetism about her that makes you want to lean in and see what happens next — something she herself isn’t entirely sure of.

“I’d be lying if I told you where exactly this is going to go. I’m not God,” She says. “I’m always revamping myself, but now I feel like what you’re seeing is what I’ve wanted everyone to see all along.”

As a byproduct of this unbridled self-assurance, an innate rebellion against the status quo emerges, which, if not channeled correctly, Hawa has learned, can manifest in destructive behaviors. She recounts moments of “stubbornness” (“It’s my way or the fucking highway. You couldn’t tell me anything.”) and shares stories of hanging around trap houses in London at just 10, learning to fight from men twice her age, and being exposed to a level of gritty reality not typical for most adults.

“At the end of the day, I have no fear because I know death is going to be there.” She shares. “ All I know is I'm going to do as much as I fucking can. I'm going to do what I know, and I'm going to make sure it's the best of the best.”

A striver by instinct, Hawa’s “by any means” mentality reflects her ability to shapeshift and adapt to whatever the situation demands, taking matters into her own hands when necessary — a trait rooted in her early music-making days, when she produced her own tracks and recorded through a video game microphone.

Now, working in collaboration with close friend and mentor by.ALEXANDER, Hawa is stepping into her next defining moment. With multiple credits across the famed producer’s latest work and her own project on the way, we’re witnessing a burgeoning luminary take a noticeable step forward. With talk of building her own ecosystem, it seems more fitting to describe her as the ecosystem itself, as she continues to evolve into a living source others can tap into for inspiration and energy.

This was the vision all along for Hawa. While she wasn’t sure how she was going to get here, she was certain that this was the only path that could unfold for her. “Everything you do in life is all a practice until you get that thing you want,” She says. “Then after that, you get something bigger and bigger.” As these moments continue to stack on top of one another, we’re getting closer and closer to Hawa’s final form, an incarnation that I ask her if she’s ready for.

“You have to become the person you’re looking for,” she says without hesitation. “And, I’m going to make sure I get mine, mate.”