UK rapper Enny is a breath of fresh air. A true artist in every sense of the word, she has taken the London music scene by storm with her unapologetic approach to rap. A true visionary whose music reflects the complexities of everyday life, Enny is pushing the boundaries of what it means to be a rapper today.
Born and raised in South East London, Enny has always been drawn to the raw, gritty energy of hip-hop and the soulful sounds of R&B. Her unique blend of genres sets her apart from the pack. From the track that put her on the map Peng Black Girls to her single on the trials of dating No More Naija Men, Enny’s music defies easy categorization, drawing from a wide range of influences to create something truly original.
It’s not just Enny’s musical style that sets her apart – it’s her lyrics, too. Enny’s has a gift for storytelling, painting vivid pictures of life in inner-city London and touching on themes of identity, social justice, and the struggle for personal and collective liberation. Her work is a reminder that we all have the power to connect through art and music in a world that often feels divided and disconnected. Both raw and polished, Enny’s music is the sound of a young artist pushing herself to new heights, refusing to be confined by the limitations of genre or convention. As she continues to grow and evolve, Enny proves why she is one of the most exciting and dynamic voices in British music today.
How has your background and heritage influenced how you approach your artistry?
Upbringing will always play a vital role in my artistry. The music I grew up on and the things I’ve been exposed have laid the foundation for the type of human I’ve become.
You grew up in Thamesmead, South London, which has a Black and working-class history. Its recent regeneration may contribute to changes in the area’s demographic. How does that make you feel about home?
I went through ups and downs. Initially, I felt very annoyed but then I felt like I was at a point of acceptance that sometimes things need to change to get better. Even though it’s uncomfortable change is often painful. As long as it’s not displacing people already living there and keeps the core and essence of the community before it shouldn’t be too bad. They’re building homes for people who already lived there to continue living there so far.
How do you balance representing your community and expressing your individuality as an artist?
They both co-exist. I’m just a part of where I come from. Naturally, some of the things I’ve experienced would be something that many people around me may have experienced. I think we’re all living in a similar simulation anyways. If I’m fortunate enough to make a song and people connect to it, that feels like a sense of identity behind a community, and that’s such a beautiful thing.
You recently dropped a brand new six-track collection We Go Again. What was the creative direction?
The inspiration behind the whole thing was just how it was formed. It’s sporadic and not intentionally created, but just happened naturally.
You’ve been compared to Lauryn Hill at times. What are your thoughts on this?
It gives me joy in my craft, to be honest. She’s a fantastic artist because her music beautifully conveys her emotions.
Can you speak to any challenges or obstacles you have faced as a Black female artist in the UK music industry?
I’ve never overtly faced any problems in the music industry and I hope that’s something I don’t have to experience throughout my journey making music. I acknowledge that some Black women go through obstacles throughout their music careers but I’m blessed not to have experienced that this far.
How do you think the UK music industry can better support and uplift Black female artists?
There needs to be an intention to do so. I think people must want and understand why they want to. I feel like Black women don’t want to be pitied for support. In the same way that Black women always champion Black men, I think it must be natural. You can’t force people to want to support you. The urgency has to be genuine.
How do you envision the role of Black and minority artists evolving and shaping UK music culture in coming years?
I can only speak for myself. I want to keep growing. I hope there’s a natural evolution to hone my craft. Craft is the most important thing. I think when people in the music industry understand the value of music, learn to understand it and focus on longevity, that would be better for the culture rather than just trying to knock out hits. For me, I’m just figuring out what I want to be in music as time passes.
Documenting life is an integral part of the human experience. For British singer Hope Tala, her weapon of self expression lies in lyrics and melodies. She spent over three years creating her debut album ‘Hope Handwritten.’ In the album’s opening track ‘Growing Pains,’ Tala reflects on “trying to write about what’s in my heart.” The result is a time capsule of her 20s spanning heartbreak and self-growth. It’s her very own coming-of-age piece. From 10 November she’ll be taking the magic of her album to stages across the UK and Europe on her ‘Hope Handwritten’ tour, following the US leg earlier this year. Before she heads on the road, she spoke to Schön! about the journey to her first album, her favourite tour memories and what fans can look forward to this November.
You released your debut album ‘Hope Handwritten’ this year. What do you think you learned from the process?
I was making the album for three and a half years so I always think of it like a degree because it was the same amount of time you’d be at uni. It was kind of like my songwriting degree. I collaborated with lots of different people which was amazing and learned so much from all of them. [I] really just learned to trust myself and trust my gut. A lot of times I felt like I was not getting it right over those years and then, you know, managed to come out of it with this body of work I was really proud of.
Our environment shapes the kind of art we create so how did your background influence this particular project?
I feel like the kind of album of my life is ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.’ I have always felt so inspired, not just by that music, but also just by that artist, her process, her lack of compromise, her commitment and dedication to authenticity and quality. The impulse and the desire to say something in her own words. I knew I wanted to make an album that felt soulful, but also, I really wanted to tell a story. I always have loved coming of age novels. I read a lot of them growing up and I still do. Literature has always been quite a big influence on me and I studied English at university. Sonically, I was branching out from where I’d been before which was really liberating and fun.
If this album was a city, what energy is it giving?
I wrote most of the music in Los Angeles where I’ve been living half of the time on and off since I basically graduated from university. So, LA is so influential on this album, but then I feel like there’s such a London influence because I’m from London and I spent a lot of time in London during the making of this project. So, [a] kind of hybrid of London and LA.
What will your upcoming tour feel and look like for the audience?
Hopefully, it feels really joyful. I did the American leg of this tour earlier this year and it really was so special and joyful every night. For me, performing isn’t something that comes naturally. I love doing it. I love playing shows. It’s such a privilege to be able to do that and connect with people in person. I’ve sometimes compared it to doing exercise or going for a run where, sometimes, you feel really scared or kind of feel reluctant to do it, but then you always feel better afterwards. I love just dancing with everyone, singing with everyone. Something I’ve really enjoyed doing this year is just chatting.
Is there anywhere on your EU tour you’ve never been to before that you’re looking forward to?
I don’t think I’ve actually played a live show in Berlin. I’m so excited for this to be my first show there. I’m also really excited to go to Bristol which is where I went to university. The venue that we’re playing in Bristol is on a boat and I used to go clubbing there sometimes as a student. It’ll be a huge full circle moment going there.
From your album, what song do you love to play live?
I have to say ‘Thank Goodness.’ Everyone sings along, it’s such an amazing feeling. When I play a show, the best case scenario is that there’s a group of friends who have come together and they’re just living for it. In Boston, there was a group of girls, that must have been like six girls, and the whole show they were kind of like ignoring me and just singing to each other which is my ideal scenario. I love it because I’m like, you know, this isn’t even about me. This is about you guys having an amazing [time] with your friends. As an artist, to be able to see people interact with each other in the presence of your art, there’s no feeling that’s more amazing than that. That makes me feel so lucky.
Step into ‘House of Guinness’, and you might half-expect the air to smell of stout and scandal. Set in 1860s Ireland, the series is a delicious tangle of ambition, clandestine affairs, and family feuds that make soap operas look like polite afternoon teas. Among its cast of characters is Lady Olivia Hedges-White, a woman whose elegance and authority belie the constraints of her era. A cash-poor noblewoman in a “lavender marriage,” navigating love, power, and identity in a society that tightly policed women’s bodies and desires. At a time when Irish women rarely had the freedom to express themselves sexually or physically, Olivia’s boldness feels extraordinary – and today, as debates over bodily autonomy and women’s rights resurface globally, her story feels even more relevant.
The show’s creator and ‘Peaky Blinders’ legend, Steven Knight, has long championed complex female characters, and in Lady Olivia, he entrusted Danielle Galligan with a role that, while anchored in the past, feels strikingly modern. The Dublin native, whom many may remember as Nina Zenik in ‘Shadow and Bone’, brings nuance to Olivia’s negotiation of marriage, ambition, and unexpected love, exploring how a woman might assert agency in a world designed to limit it.
In conversation with Schön!, Galligan reveals how inhabiting Lady Olivia allowed her to explore the complexities of love and loyalty in a society bound by rules, connect deeply with her Irish heritage and language, and channel unexpected insights – from ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’ to her own non-romantic instincts – into a character defined by her courage, wit, and surprising tenderness.
shirt. MCM
jewellery. Maison Lumiere
opposite
shirt. Lurline
skirt. 7 For All Mankind
shoes. Axel Arigato
earrings. Retro Chic
belt. Massimo Dutti
‘House of Guinness’ has been out in the world for a little while now, so firstly, how has it felt to hand it over to an audience?
The reception has been really lovely, honestly. A lot of people have questions because the narrative itself is so sprawling. It investigates a lot of different human experiences and a lot of different levels of Irish society, so a lot of people have different theories and engage with different characters in different ways and are reading into little things. I just love all of that, especially that people are also asking me a lot about Irish history.
I completely understand that, I don’t think I’ve been as fascinated by a historical figure in a drama as much as I have been by Lady Olivia since I became obsessed with Anne Boleyn back when ‘The Tudors’ came out. How familiar were you with Lady Olivia before signing onto the project, and with the story of Guinness as a whole?
I knew Guinness from drinking it, obviously, and then also there’s a thing in Ireland where if you say Guinness, someone has a story about a Guinness family member; there’s a lot of hearsay. I also know someone whose granddad worked for Guinness, got an injury, and then they continued to pay his salary for his whole life, so there were some historical facts that I did know quite a good bit about, but I had no idea about Lady Olivia. To be able to research and prep for a role like hers and colour it in with the real person was a real treat.
Was there something in your research that you found that hasn’t made it into the show yet but shaped how you came to understand Olivia as a character?
She passed away on her own in The Shelbourne Hotel, which is right in the centre of Dublin, and I thought that was incredibly fascinating. She was also part of the Watercolour Society of Ireland and would paint landscapes from their Dublin house, from St Anne’s. That image – of this solitary figure, looking out a window, painting the horizon or the sunset as if she’s searching for something that is missing – stuck with me.
That is such a stark contrast from how viewers first meet Olivia in ‘House of Guinness’. Right from her very first scene, she takes up space – quite literally. In your mind, where did that perceived confidence come from?
She is of noble birth, even though she’s cash poor, she’s asset rich and has an unshakeable sense of self-worth – one that I cannot relate to. But I think that it comes with old money and also the fact that, to her, the Guinnesses are upstarts; they’re new money, and so, even though she comes from this kind of ruined family with her father having essentially gambled their wealth away, I wanted her to be really dignified and have a lot of integrity.
She carries herself with such authority it is easy to forget that she, like Arthur, needs something from their “lavender marriage.” Was her ambition always central to how you played her?
I love your earlier comparison to Anne Boleyn because I was listening to something a while ago about how difficult it is to track women’s influence throughout history. For Olivia, that really resonated with me because she’s a really strategic, intelligent, pragmatic woman who has all this potential but exists in a society where there is no outlet for her to realise that potential or to have any sense of self-actualisation or purpose. She sees her marriage contract with Arthur as a contract, as a job. She’s almost like a Guinness employee.
There’s this quote from ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding’, which is one of my favourite films, about how if the man is the head of the family, then the woman is the neck, and she can steer the head wherever she wants. That, to me, is Olivia.
I might be naïve, but I sensed a deep platonic love between Arthur and Olivia. Was, or is, there love and loyalty or was it never more than a business deal that happened to be a comfortable arrangement until it no longer was?
Oh no, I absolutely think they fall madly in love with each other in a very platonic and complex and nuanced way, which was one of my favourite things to explore throughout the series.
Did she underestimate him? Or her own capacity for love?
She completely underestimated her capacity for love and how deeply she could love. It really starts with her love for Arthur, who then underestimated her capacity and her need for love when she begins to fall for Rafferty.
Speaking of Rafferty, he did not exactly sneak up on the viewer, nor on Olivia; it almost felt like both the audience and Olivia herself were still blind sided by her feelings for him.
Absolutely, we had a lot to achieve here in a short space of time, but he really is one of those storms that she just couldn’t have prepared for. I’ve never been that much of a romantic, so, as much as I love the storyline, there was a bit of me that, for a while, hoped there was an option C. But you know, Steven Knight is so surprising, and he understands the complexity and nuance of human emotion and human action so well. I fully trust him that Olivia’s sense of spirit and her sense of self will not be sacrificed on the altar of a love story.
Another storyline that felt incredibly modern, even though it was dealt with arguably better than we often see in the real world today, was Olivia’s abortion. As an Irish woman, how did it feel to bring those themes to the screen, especially given the country’s long and complex history with reproductive rights?
Ireland has such a tenuous history with reproductive rights, and I remember the marches. I remember clutching my best friend Alex when they announced the result of the referendum in Dublin Castle and crying. I remember all those feelings and how much it meant to all of us as women who are just here in the modern world, but also to carry a woman’s story because so many women have made that journey. To be able to give life, words, and breath to such a universal Irish female experience, which, I think, is often swept under the rug, was really special. I wanted those women to feel taken care of.
The show isn’t all hardship, though, and I won’t lie, for a while I half expected a love triangle, or even a throuple, to emerge – especially after that wedding scene. Which begs the question, how does one focus, and what was more distracting to act opposite of – James Norton’s slutty little hoop or Anthony Boyle’s enormous moustache?
It’s all about exposure therapy. No, I’m joking, I’m ever, ever the professional, nothing’s a distraction from my job, ever (laughs). They’re both just brilliant actors to work with, and I honestly was just pinching myself. I learned so much from both of them; their ideas always felt really exciting and kind of dangerous.
What was lovely about working with Anthony was that during rehearsals, he’d go, “I had this idea that Arthur would end up with his head in her lap at the end of the scene.” And I was like, oh, okay, cool, so this is the level of improvisation that we can play with. It’s not going to be this stuffy, stiff-collar, etiquette-ridden kind of period piece. Obviously, that’s all there, and we have to have those rules, but then it became about how many times we could break them within the scenes. Sometimes we tried things, like throwing grapes, but other things had to be toned down a little.
Like you just said, ‘House of Guinness’ is a period piece and with that one some absolutely incredible costumes, especially for Olivia…
I could talk about the costumes for a whole hour. It’s one of those things where, when the costumes work, you don’t notice – does that make sense? But when it’s wrong, it’s all you can feel, all you can think about, all you can see. Edward and Nadine did such a brilliant job, and he works really emotionally, so when you’re going into a costume fitting, you’re not just a hanger or a mannequin. Every fabric, every colour, everything has a story and a reason.
dress. Lurline
earrings. Retro Chic
opposite
shirt. Lurline
skirt. 7 For All Mankind
shoes. Axel Arigato
earrings. Retro Chic
belt. Massimo Dutti
Do you have any specific memories of a moment when a costume told the story within a scene?
There’s that scene where Arthur is telling Olivia, “You can choose him and live in the streets, or you can get rid of him and stay with me.” The costume for that was so specific. She’s wearing this skirt – I don’t know the names of fabrics – but it’s this sheer, really pink, flesh-coloured, hard fabric. Edward was like, “This is because she’s like a shell of herself at the moment. She’s still recovering, she’s exposed, she’s very raw. This fleshy colour is her exposed insides, and this is her trying to protect herself.”
And then there was another one, the blue dress she wears at the dinner with Arthur when they’re talking about the abortion. There were little blue bows that Edward added in because the baby was a boy, in his mind. In the scene, when I noticed the bow and remembered what he had said, my heart just broke for her.
I can only imagine, and I am actually surprised I haven’t seen anyone pick up on that detail online yet. After all, there are some wild fan theories out there when it comes to the show. Have you heard of any, or do you have a personal favourite?
I do have a favourite theory, but it’s purely mine. It makes no sense within the story, but I just really want Jack Gleeson, who plays Byron Hedges, to be my cousin. There’s a line where she says, “I have this cousin who’s a devil, but I can trust him,” and I just think it would be great if it were Byron. Plus, then there’d be some kind of connection with Olivia and the Fenians. I just think it’d be really spicy because what if she is up to more than we think?
It could also explain why Olivia speaks Irish. How did it feel to speak and hear the language on the show? While we’re seeing more Irish in music and media again, it’s still relatively rare.
I don’t have a word for it, but it felt like kicking down a door. We Irish are very proud, patriotic people, and our language was definitely taken from us. So to have Irish being spoken on a commercial, global Netflix TV series is something I never thought would happen. To be able to say a line in Irish, the significance of it is not lost on me, even though I’m not a Gaelgóir.
Speaking of lines, Olivia has no shortage of brilliant one-liners. Do you have a personal favourite?
The line in Irish is definitely one of my favourite lines, but one of my other favourites was actually cut. You know, the bit where she makes Rafferty jump out the window, and he goes, “You’re fucking insane, do you know that?” In the script, she goes, “I’m a Guinness. We’re all fucking insane.” I can obviously see why it was cut, but yeah, I really enjoyed that one.
Finally, you’ve given us such a compelling Irish historical figure in Lady Olivia, and I truly hope we will get to see more of her in a second season, but is there another Irish historical figure you’d love to see brought to life on screen?
There are loads. I’ve always had a dream of playing Gráinne Mhaol, but I also think our pirate queen, Queen Maeve, is such an interesting character. All of our Irish mythology is so rich. Tír na nÓg could be a beautiful, tragic story as well if it’s done right, so I’d love to see more of that. And then definitely the women of the 1916 Rising. I think Steven Knight is getting at it with Ellen Cochran, which is great, but we need even more.
Talking with Haley Lu Richardson is like a breath of fresh air. She feels like that friend you’ve known forever: easy to talk to, thoughtful, and unguarded. Most of all, she’s refreshingly real. “I am a lot,” she admits to us for her Schön! 49 cover story, dazzling in Pandora. Now 30, Richardson is embracing herself fully. “I’ve really reconnected to my feelings, being my own buddy, putting myself out there, doing creative things and rediscovering the creative expression that I love and is natural for me,” she says.
As a child, she dreamed of being a pop star, an ambition curtailed only by the fact that she’s tone deaf. “I do still wish I could sing, gosh darn it,” she laughs. She soon shifted her focus from songwriting to poetry, a pursuit she returned to intermittently as her acting career grew, portraying notable roles in season two of ‘The White Lotus’, ‘Columbus’, and ‘Five Feet Apart’. “I feel like in another life, I would be a pop star, but in this life, I figured out another way to express those similar themes a lot of songwriters in my generation do – with poetry.”
It was while filming an unreleased movie in South Africa that Richardson realized she could share her poems with the world. Her co-star, Asim Chaudhry, asked what she’d call the book, and she replied on the spot, “Probably ‘I’m Sad and Horny’.” She recalls, “When I came up with the title, I saw it all and I was like, ‘Oh, I could put this out there in the world and someone would read it and relate,’ which is enough of a reason.”
Nearly two years later, ‘I’m Sad and Horny’ has become a collection of poems capturing the highs, lows, and chaotic moments of life as a 20-something woman. But the book is more than Richardson’s reflections on adulthood; it’s a deeply personal exploration of heartache, self-acceptance, and growth through pain. Throughout the raw, intimate verses runs one steady thread: change. “Change is the only constant that we’ll ever have in life,” she says, “and it’s the only thing we can actually ever rely on. So, for me, a huge perspective shift that came at the end of my 20s – and now going into being 30 – was seeing change as this beautiful thing I can rely on as opposed to this scary thing.”
Enny’s new EP ‘We Go Again‘ is out now.
