Much like her high-octane tunes, her style is just as audacious. For the pop star's latest video, Tiger Tiger, she sports a half-shaved head, straight out of the 2010s it-girl playbook, while crawling across the floor of a sprawling manor in a chainmail dress.

Usually sporting a pair of ultra-high silhouettes, her style has become a distinctive part of her creative outputs and performances. Last week iKeda took to the stage at Berlin’s Studio1111 for an event with AllSaints, dressed in a double-breasted trench and hand-stitched court shoes – a look which fed into the singer's “dominatrix-inspired” aesthetic. “I’m all about silhouettes; I like things being cinched in at the waist,” she says.

The event celebrated AllSaints’ Autumn Winter ’26 collection, with iKeda invited to perform songs from her EP as part of an intimate listening experience. For the gig, she played one of her most successful tracks, Go!. “I really enjoy performing Go! the most because it’s just, like, really high energy,” she says with a grin.

A dancehall-tinged track, the song’s music video was shot in Jamaica – with locals even lending their homes and sugarcane fields for the video – as an ode to her heritage. “I’m so proud to be Jamaican,” she says. “My family’s from Westmoreland, so it was important to be able to do a video there. A lot of my music does have – and is always gonna have – dancehall influences because of what I grew up on.”

Growing up between Tottenham and Cambridge (and, for a time, on a houseboat), iKeda learned to navigate two very different worlds. “It was dangerous in Tottenham when I was growing up, but I’ve always felt like I belonged in London,” she says. Cambridge offered countryside and nature, but its lack of diversity was a shock after experiencing North London’s melting pot. “It was super white,” she says. “There were me and a few other Black people, and we stuck together, so I had a good time. Both [places] made me who I am.”

She went on to study visual arts at Central Saint Martins – “I was obsessed with Russian surrealism and Japanese cinema. I still am” – and there began DJing, though she admits mixing wasn’t exactly “her strong suit” (she’s still working on it). It was watching close friend and musician Babymorocco make tracks that convinced her to take music seriously. “He made it look almost so easy to make a song.” The pair, who’ve known each other for well over a decade (there are fan pages dedicated to their friendship), soon started making music together, leading to iKeda’s first written track, 2024’s Luv Drunk. “I didn’t even think people would care that much, and then when I saw how much people really wanted me to do more, I was like, ‘Oh shit, okay.’”

iKeda has a close-knit crew of creatives who make up her inner circle. Alongside Babymorocco, she works with photographer and videographer Erika Kamano. “I’m quite lucky because I came up with everything with my best friend, Erika.” Kamano has shot the majority of iKeda’s videos, including Go. Together, they conjure up video treatments inspired by books, antique shops, and retro Gaga and Rihanna videos. “We’re a really good team. She understands my music and what I’m trying to put across,” iKeda says. “It feels cool to be able to do that because it feels a bit more real.”

These friendships have helped the musician explore interests beyond music, leaning into other pursuits, including fashion, where she’s even tried her hand at making airbrushed dresses. “I convinced myself that if I spent £900 on fabric, made 25 dresses and sold them all, I’d make a profit,” she says, smiling. “I messed up, and no one bought any!” Well, almost no one. One dress caught the eye of PinkPantheress’s stylist, who reached out to pull a dress. A win is a win.

Last June, iKeda finally met Pink when she joined her on NTS Radio’s Victory Lap cypher. Fast-forward a year, and she was opening for the Stateside singer on tour. “People don’t get to do this at this stage of my career. I was thrown in at the deep end, but I stayed afloat,” she says. “Seeing people singing my lyrics was really cool.” And what did she learn from Pink? “Oh my god, she’s just so good. She’s so professional and knows what she wants. I’d watch her and be like, ‘How are you not tired?’ She has so much energy and time for people; not many people are like that. She’s just a real-ass bitch. I love her.” (There’s a fan account for them, too.)

If you missed iKeda on tour with PinkPantheress or in Berlin last week, 2027 is set to bring another milestone for the singer. She’ll be joining Aussie DJ Ninajirachi on the American leg of her tour. “My visa just got approved. I’m so happy!” As for future music, expect more curveballs. “When I travel and make videos, I’m definitely doing stuff that’s quite out of the ordinary,” she says. We’d say iKeda’s 2027 has already got this year beat.