Born Kenya Edwards, Girlfriend has always moved with a quiet sense of purpose. Raised in Mississippi, before relocating to Los Angeles, the R&B singer-songwriter’s journey has been shaped by two contrasting worlds, one grounded in close-knit family values and simplicity, the other defined by constant motion, ambition and creative expansion. That shift, she says, sharpened her perspective as both a person and an artist, pushing her to value experience, emotion and intention in everything she creates.

From an early age, she felt a deep connection to music — one that revealed itself fully in middle school when a classroom assignment led her to record her first song in a studio setting. What began as an academic project quickly turned into a defining moment: classmates responded with immediate excitement. Just like that, she became known as “the girl who does music” — and even as life pulled her in different directions, she always returned to it.

Now, after years of development, she reintroduces herself with her latest project Honey Water, a body of work rooted in emotional clarity, vulnerability and intentional storytelling. As she prepares to step into a wider spotlight, including joining Ella Mai on tour this summer, Girlfriend is beginning to define not just her sound, but her space within contemporary R&B, one built on intention, individuality and emotional depth.

Below, Billboard’s R&B Up and Comer for May 2026 opens up about building a world of her own, trusting her instincts and why she believes R&B is most powerful when it takes risks.

Why the name “Girlfriend”? What does that name represent to you creatively?

The name “Girlfriend” came from a few different things. For one, I’ve always loved the mystique behind certain artists. Like when H.E.R. first came out, I loved her name. I also knew I didn’t want to use my government name.

Then I started thinking about what I actually sing about. A lot of it is vulnerability, love, self-love and just taking life experiences and emotions and connecting them to music. So I started thinking about what a girlfriend is supposed to be. To me, a good girlfriend is someone you can be vulnerable with, a safe space, someone you can cry to, someone who listens to you and hears you out.

That’s what I want my music to feel like for people. I want listeners to feel like they have a safe space when they hear my music, and that’s ultimately how I landed on “Girlfriend.” I sat with the name for a while, asked people what they thought, and everyone was like, “Nah, that’s a really fire name.” So it just stuck from there.

A lot of people are discovering you now, but what’s something about your journey people don’t see behind the scenes?

I think the biggest thing people probably wouldn’t know is just how long I’ve actually been creating music. I made my first record when I was 12 years old, and I’m 26 now, so I’ve really been doing this for a long time.

People always see artists pop up and it feels like they came out of nowhere, but for me, this has been years of work and growth. So I’m super thankful that people are discovering me now, but yeah — I think that’s probably the biggest thing people wouldn’t realize.

Your debut project Honey Water feels very emotionally open and intentional. What was the emotional space you were in while making it?

I think I was healing during that time. I had a lot to say, a lot to spill, and a lot of things I had been holding in for a very long time.

Before that, I used to meditate every day, and I kind of took those meditation sessions into the studio with me. Before every session, I would sit with my thoughts, feelings, and emotions, and I wouldn’t start writing or singing until I felt like I was in a courageous enough space to approach the production.

I was very meticulous about everything because this project was really special and intentional for me.

Why was ‘Honey Water’ the right title for this chapter of your career?

I think “Honeywater” just encapsulated everything about who I am and who I was becoming at that time.

Where I’m from in the South, we call everybody “honey.” Southern hospitality is a real thing, so it’s a term of endearment. You can go into a store and somebody will say, “No problem, honey,” or “No problem, hon.” So to me, it represents sweetness.

And then water can be peaceful and tranquil, but it can also be destructive depending on how you look at it. So “Honeywater” felt like the perfect mix of my background, being from the South, being a sweet person, but also knowing when enough is enough and understanding that transformation side of myself too.

It felt like the perfect way to say everything I needed to say in just two words.

Songs like “Deep” and “Sticky Situation” feel vulnerable without oversharing. How do you decide how much of yourself to put into your music?

I’ve always had a love for language, making plays on words, using double entendres, and saying things without fully saying them because I love mystery. It’s just a habit for me.

Even on “Deep,” I’m speaking on a past situation, but you still don’t know exactly what happened. I like to leave part of it open for interpretation because if I spell everything out exactly as it is, it doesn’t leave room for people to connect to it in their own way.

So I like to give some of myself while also leaving space for mystery and interpretation. That way other people can attach their own experiences to the music too. If I ever feel like I’m saying something too plainly or predictably, I’ll usually go back and rewrite the lyric another way.

Early-2000s R&B feels like a clear inspiration in your sound, but it still feels modern. What parts of that era are you most inspired by?

What I’m most inspired by is probably 2008 to mid-2010s R&B. That was the part of my adolescence where I was growing up and experiencing the world, and art reflects life, so I was also taking in all this dope art.

I just remember back then, every single that came out would flip your world upside down — that’s what it would do for me. So a lot of the music I create, I try to keep that element of surprise. When you hear the production from that era, people were taking a lot of crazy risks, and then bringing it all together in a way that felt fresh.

There are records you can hear like two seconds of and you already know what it is. So even when I’m picking beats or choosing production and instrumentation, I want it to feel immediate.

What do you think today’s generation is craving from R&B music that maybe was missing for a while?

I think people crave dynamics right now. I think sometimes you can have a formula — and I know many of the greats have formulas — but I think it’s a balance of knowing this thing works, but also taking a risk here.

My favorite album of all time is Anti by Rihanna, and I don’t think when she dropped that I had heard anything remotely that sounded like that production. I can name a lot of other albums too, but I think it’s just people taking risks. People should take more risks because at the end of the day, it’s art, it’s literally just art.

I think people like having fun in their music. I listen to Lil Wayne a lot, too, because I love his plays on words. When you listen to him, you can tell he was in the studio just having fun. So I think it’s a balance, having fun, taking it seriously and also taking risks. When you lean too much in one direction, your music becomes one-dimensional. 

How did your collaboration with Jaymin come together?

I gotta give that one to my A&R. I think he’s connected to Jaymin’s team, and it had been something we had been speaking about for a little while.

I happened to be performing at a SoundCloud event, and he had performed as well, so it was kind of organic. We ran into each other and chopped it up, and we were like, “We should definitely collab,” and it just happened. He was in LA at the time, so I want to say that next week, we were in the studio cutting a record. It was pretty fun.

What kind of atmosphere were you trying to create with that record?

He played the record for me and I was like, “Nah, that’s fire.” As soon as I heard it, it was special.

What I liked about his writing on the record is that a lot of times with duets, you see the male longing for the female — but the way he approached it, it was more like, “I know I have something valuable, and I want to take care of myself as a man as well.”

So it kind of flipped it on its head — like, “Can you take care of me like I take care of me?” I thought that was dope, and I just tried to match the world that he was building.

What do you hope people feel after listening to “All U Need”?

I hope they feel nostalgia from the record, but I also hope they feel like it’s pushing the genre forward, something that’s very modern. And I hope it makes people think and really sit with it.

I think Jaymin’s an amazing writer, and I’m not too shabby of a writer myself — so I feel like the writing is really fire. And I think it’s a record you can just ride to and really take in.

You’re joining Ella Mai on tour this summer. What excites you most about stepping into those rooms every night?

Being able to share myself and my personality with so many people, to be able to get my music on a platform that I know people are gonna love, as soon as they hear it.

I’m just really excited to meet and connect with people, [and] hopefully give them something that remains with them.

As an opener, you have a short amount of time to win over a crowd. What do you want people to remember after your set ends?

I just want them to think, “D–n, who’s that?” And I think they will. I want them to remember how dynamic the performance was. I think that’s a big word for me. Just the same way it feels when you listen to it, I think it’ll be even better in person.

I just want them to remember how great of a show it was. It is a shorter amount of time, but I also think it’s perfect because it’s a taste, and I think it’ll pique people’s interest.

What’s one thing you’ve learned about yourself through performing live?

Performing is all about how you view yourself. If you view yourself as an amazing performer and you really commit to the experience, feel what you’re singing, and allow yourself to be lost in the music, then I think you’re going to be an amazing performer. And if you don’t, then I think the performance won’t come off as authentic as it should.

Performing is about other people, but it’s also about performing for you, and remembering that you wrote this music for a reason. Whatever emotions I felt when I wrote it, this was my therapy, so I’m just revisiting those emotions.

It’s kind of like acting. When you act, you have to fully step into that role and exhibit that emotion. So when I perform, I’ve learned you have to be in the song. The more in the record I am, the better I even sing.

How do you protect your individuality in an era where artists are constantly pressured to chase trends?

If you chase trends, you’re already too late to them, and you’ll never carve anything [out] for yourself. If you chase every trend, you could be at the top of every trend, but you’re just gonna be known as a trendy person.

in terms of being an artist and creating new music, I don’t think you should give that too much energy. Because you can be the person setting the trends, or you can be the person that is always following.

I don’t know which one of that will lead to more longevity. But I mean, if you love chasing trends, that’s you. It’s all about what impact you wanna leave on the world.

What do you think separates Girlfriend from everybody else in R&B right now?

Definitely my writing. I consider myself a lyricist, and lyricism is something you see heavily in rap and hip-hop, which is something that inspired me a lot. I play with words and use a lot of double meanings in my writing.

I also think I’m just as good of a rapper as I am a singer, and that’s something that sets me apart too. Beyond that, I engineer, produce, play multiple instruments on tracks, and work as an executive producer as well.

So, I think being an all-around artist, somebody who can contribute to every part of the process and write across different genres, is what really separates me. It’s still early right now, but I think over time people will really be able to see that.

Is there a misconception people have about you based on your music?

I think the biggest misconception I’ve gotten is that some people think I don’t necessarily have a sound. Some people feel like, “Oh, you should do one sound and stick to that,” or they’ll say they can’t fully digest what I’m doing, because I’m not staying in one lane.

But for me, that’s a misconception. Because I’ve always looked up to true artists — people who create from emotion. I think when you’re really an artist, you have to understand that some people are purists when it comes to their art, and they’re not creating from formulas, they’re creating from feeling. Those are usually the people who continue pushing things forward.

So when people think I don’t have a sound or think I’m not being intentional with what I’m doing, that’s probably the biggest misconception. Everything I do is intentional. I just think some things take time for people to fully understand, and that’s okay.

I also don’t think anybody who comes in and is instantly accepted by everybody is necessarily creating something that challenges people or makes them think critically. Sometimes creating conversations or even being a little polarizing can be a good thing.

What’s the most toxic lyric you’ve ever written, and did it make the final cut?

Probably when I said, “I was high as f–k when your mama called and said, ‘Don’t break it off.’ So I hit my blunt and responded, ‘I’m not toxic like your son.’”

That’s from “Emergency.”

If someone wanted to understand Girlfriend in five songs, not just your music, but songs by any artist, what songs are you choosing?

I would say probably “Father Time,” “Higher” — those are two of my records. Then “When I Think of You” by Janet Jackson, “Mind Control” by Stephen Marley, and “Poetic Justice” by Drake and Kendrick Lamar.

What’s one early 2000s R&B album you think every young artist should study?

 Confessions by Usher.

If somebody is hearing Girlfriend for the first time today, what song should they start with first and why?

If they were hearing me for the first time today, I think they should listen to “OG” because it shows my range and my ability to approach music in a way that feels really unique.

I haven’t heard too many R&B singers approach a record like that, so I think it would just make people curious, like, “Let me really figure out what this person is doing.”

What’s a green flag in relationships that people don’t talk about enough?

I’ma say empathy… People always say loyalty, but I feel like empathy covers everything. If a person has empathy, even when they’re upset or pissed off, they’ll still stop and think, “Dang, let me put myself in this person’s shoes…” And because of that, they might choose not to do something because they know how it would make them feel if it happened to them.

When people look back at this era of your career, what do you hope they say about you?

I hope they’re like, “Dang, she was making so much good music, even early on.” I want them to revisit my music in the beginning and let it really have its moment again. I think it will.

What’s the biggest thing you’re manifesting for yourself right now?

The biggest thing I’m manifesting for myself is continued happiness, peace, and purpose.