Qendresa

Qendresa knows firsthand that you don’t have to dress up honesty — but lately, more and more people are paying attention to how she tells the truth. The Northwest Londoner has been quietly, steadily building a name for herself: a singer, songwriter, producer, and DJ whose work has earned co-signs from tastemakers like Lil Yachty and Daniel Kaluuya, alongside early support from Drake. It’s the kind of momentum that feels underground until it suddenly isn’t. Qendresa has arrived at a precipice of career expansion because she prefers dealing with the naked truth, distilling it and offering it back to R&B lovers who recognize themselves in her vulnerability. “I can't sit at my laptop without an emotion,” Qendresa says. “Or without an experience that I need to talk about. Because I’ve got so much to say.” After speaking through a relatable, fed-up female protagonist on her breakthrough mixtape Midnight Request Line in 2020, Qendresa expanded the concept further on her follow-up, 2024’s Londra. “I’ve always wanted to discuss the experience of a woman, but I feel like every day, there’s something new that needs to be discussed,” she says, an ethos that now feels poised to reach a much wider audience.

The eldest and only daughter of three children, Qendresa was born and raised in Queen’s Park, London. She struggles to comprehend how her family made it through those early, tumultuous days when her home country Kosovo was occupied by Serbia. “My parents fled the occupation in ‘89, and I was born in 1990,” she explains. “I still don’t understand how they did it; how they came to the country with no English and immediately went into work. Apparently, my mum was doing cleaning jobs and I was just there playing or watching TV while she was working.” Qendresa remembers hearing her father listening to artists like Sade and Lisa Stansfield, while she explored Eminem, Dido, and the Spice Girls independently. It was her discovery of Mariah Carey that had the greatest impact; the melismatic vocalist’s careful runs, unmatched whistle register, and award-winning songwriting spoke to a young Qendresa, who began exploring music in earnest in 2015 with the English trip-hop/electronica duo Zero 7. “That was through a friend’s mum, who knew them, who grew up with them, but I also used to listen to their music as well,” she explains. “So it was really quite a serendipitous thing.”

Qendresa’s expressive London R&B is as personality-driven as it is a natural groove. According to the artist, her environment significantly impacted the music she makes today. “By having multiple sounds coming from London, like grime, it was always a subconscious little push that I probably didn’t realize,” she reflects. “But as I look back now, I realize it shaped my music a lot.”

The Kosovan artist also points to her heritage as a major source of influence and development. “There’s this thing about London, being an ethnic minority, where you feel like you’re not going to be perceived,” she shares. “People aren’t going to get you because no one really knows about the subcultures and cultures of London, unless they do their research. That’s why I think it’s important because now it’s like actually, out of necessity, I’m gonna talk about who I am.”

While working with Zero 7 was a great learning experience, Qendresa finally discovered her voice when she began creating her own music around age 21. During these collaborative sessions, she found herself inspired by neo-soul purists like Erykah Badu, and left-of-center hip-hop artists like Outkast, J Dilla, The Roots, A Tribe Called Quest, and MF DOOM — artists whose emotional depth and sonic individuality helped shape her approach. That absorption of creativity hasn’t gone unnoticed: the Canadian rap behemoth and trendsetter Drake shared Qendresa’s song “Tearz” on his Instagram Story, on top of posting a picture of both the Midnight Request Line and Londra vinyls. That hat-tip turned into a DM, which turned into a co-sign.

With her new, self-produced singles, Qendresa is preparing to share an evolved edition of her main character’s story. “Rain in July” both twinkles and pulsates, as she intimates her desires and fears to her partner: “I don’t wanna be just a memory to you,” she repeats in a lilting tone, attempting to control her own fate. “I really thought about Burna Boy when I was making ‘Rain in July,’” she reveals, pointing to Afroswing as a source of inspiration. The swirling, percussive “Be the One” sees Qendresa pitching her aching vocals up as she digs her heels in even deeper with her lover: “Can you take me back? / I just want to rewind.”

The animated music video for the double singles is illustrated and directed by multidisciplinary artist Sofire, who created the artwork for Midnight Request Line. In the visuals, we see our familiar female protagonist taking agency and engaging in self-care (smoking, bathing, and driving), as Qendresa croons for simpler times in the background.

Qendresa’s objective at the beginning of her creative journey was to do something that she loved that would get her parents off her back; her goal has understandably shifted since then. “I just want to enjoy my life,” she says matter-of-factly. “I don’t want to struggle. I don’t want to suffer. I want to enjoy my life doing what I love. Obviously, life has always got suffering in it and joy, and balance. But as I get older and I grow, it changes, because now I feel like I have a responsibility to change the narrative of my bloodline, if you will. There was a time when the aunties were telling me to get married at 20. There was a time when they were telling me I was on the shelf at 23. I just don’t think that was my story. I think my story is to change the trajectory of where my bloodline’s going