The west
London Singer on her biggest laugh in lockdown, her favourite black-owned arts hub, and a podcast revealing how classic songs took shape
Singer-songwriter Nilüfer Yanya was born in 1995 in west London to artist parents of Irish-Barbadian and
Turkish heritage. She started out playing classical piano at secondary school before falling in love with the electric guitar after being taught by Dave Okumu of the Invisible at Saturday school. Inspired by artists such as Nina Simone, Bill Withers and the Cure, she began releasing demos on SoundCloud in 2014, followed by her first EP, Small Crimes/Keep on Calling, in 2016. She was longlisted for the
BBC Sound of 2018 and her debut album, Miss Universe, came out in 2019. Her latest EP, Feeling Lucky, was released last December to critical acclaim.