The First Time With... Series 36 - 4. Alewya

THE FIRST TIME WITH... SERIES 36 - 4. ALEWYA (320kbs-m4a/137mb/60mins)
BBC Radio 6 Music broadcast: 30th July 2026

Matt Everitt presents in-depth, exclusive and revealing interviews with major artists revealing the pivotal moments and songs that shaped their lives and their careers.

Matt Everitt is joined by multidisciplinary artist Alewya to share pivotal musical moments in her life, including her New York murals, and her love for Moses Boyd and Little Simz.

Alewya is only one album into her career – her debut Zero landed earlier this year – but it follows a string of singles and EPs that stretch back over six years and encompass club rhythms, the energy and lawlessness of punk and her African and Arab roots.

We cover her circuitous route into music, her earliest musical loves, and the influence of her family. There's her love for Wyclef and Mary J Blige, and how the cultural eclecticism of growing up in West London, then later New York, helped form her artistic identity – and how a career modelling led her to become a visual artist, then animator, then musician.

A BBC Audio North production for BBC Radio 6 Music.

Alewya - Selah [Because London]
Whitney Houston - My Love Is Your Love [Arista]
Mulatu Astatke - Yèkèrmo Sèw (A Man Of Experience And Wisdom) [Late Night Tales]
Animal Collective - Applesauce [Domino]
MJ Cole (feat. Elisabeth Troy) - Crazy Love [Talkin' Loud]
Ashanti - Foolish [Murder]
E.R. - In My Sleep [Ethiopian]
Wyclef Jean (feat. Mary J. Blige) - 911 (Radio Edit) [Columbia]
Ejigayehu "Gigi" Shibabaw - Guramayle [Palm Pictures]
Deerhunter - Revival [4AD]
Frank Ocean - Nikes [Boys Don't Cry]
Alewya - Ethiopia [Because London]
Alewya - Sweating [Because London]
Alewya & Moses Boyd - The Code [Because London]
Little Simz (feat. Alewya) - Where's My Lighter [Age 101]
Alewya - Zero [London]