Get to know KISSEY, the Swedish singer making danceable trip hop

When KISSEY, born Christina Asplund, was at school, one of her teachers snuck her into a club to see Frankie Knuckles play. A DJ at a prominent venue in Stockholm, ‘Sir’ was teaching the Swedish singer and producer how to DJ as part of an extracurricular course. “That became a very big turning point for me – he was very supportive,” she explains. “When the other kids had left I would stay at school and DJ for hours.”

A natural musician from the start, Christina’s mother – who gave her the nickname Kissey – insisted she start piano lessons at six years old after noticing the way she’d make music with whatever she could get her hands on. From there, she went on to join choirs, DJ regularly and, while studying for a fine arts degree, sing hooks for her fellow students’ tracks. Since moving to New York six years ago she has featured on the Dear White People soundtrack and provided productions for the Gucci and Givenchy catwalk shows, as well as dropping releases on various labels.

But, while music has long defined her life, only for the last year and a half has the 34-year-old been able to write what she’s always wanted to. “There have been times where I’ve not been really true to myself – moments where I’ve gone too far with adjusting who I am according to other people,” says Kissey. Now, she’s staying true to herself with her first EP on A-Trak’s Fool’s Gold label. Aiming to meld electronica with hip hop and rock, on ‘Unplug The Delusional Monkey’, the Swedish singer has teamed up with Puff Daddy-affiliated producers Sean C & LV. Coming across like a more soulful Portishead or a one-woman Gorillaz, her dark, moving and energetic trip-hop stylings delicately balance a variety of sounds.

Whether it was her teacher sneaking her into clubs underage to see her idols play or discovering Stockholm’s sole hip hop radio station, Kissey’s school years have defined the artist she’s now become. “As soon as I noticed a genre that I liked I soaked it up like a sponge,” she says. “I just grabbed the opportunity wherever and however I could.” These days spent soaking up house, hip hop, jazz and anything else she came across have at last come full circle.

‘Unplug The Delusional Monkey’ by Kissey is out soon on Fool’s Gold