ON THE RISE
“Steppin,” by Flow $tro (featuring Skooly), is an ode to the quiet confidence of a beautiful woman. With a smooth beat, a bassline that bounces like a basketball, and wavy, synth-infused vocals, the song’s melodic trap vibes hook the listener from the jump. Flow $tro lets his woman know, I like how you steppin’:
You know how good you look but you don’t never brag
She ain’t got no makeup on, baby girl don’t need a man
Virginia-based artist Flow $trow got the idea for “Steppin” in a spontaneous moment in the studio late one night. He explains, “I heard the beat and just came up with the concept.” This is a track exuding confidence, swagger, and a deep admiration for the beauty of a well-put-together woman. The song captured the attention of Atlanta rapper Skooly, who raps a guest verse on the bridge about “Her body sent from heaven / She the devil.”
Flow $tro says has long admired Skooly. "I really looked up to how he was doing music coming up," he says. The collaboration was put together by his manager, Wave Team, a man he considers "like a big brother, family for sure." No doubt having this support system combined with management helps Flow $tro stay grounded and focused on his art.
Flow $tro has evolved as an artist, both in his style and his creative process. Compared to when he started releasing music in 2021, he now favors a much more improvisational approach in the studio. "Back then, I wrote more of my music ahead of time,” he reveals. “Now I kind of punch in and follow the music." Recording line by line, this method allows him to be more responsive to the beat's energy and create a more fluid sound. “I’m more listening to the beat, trying to find the melodies, then coming up with the words based on what I’m hearing.”
To source beats, Flow $tro works with a talented network of producers. “Steppin” was produced by Yayo and Noisy J, both from North Carolina. Other producers he works with include RK and 88. Sometimes the producers send beats to them. Other times he reaches out to them. These producers complete the wide-ranging team responsible for Flow $tro’s impressive creative output.
Flow $tro is carving his own niche in Virginia and the wider hip hop scene, offering a sound that blends seamlessly between hip-hop and R&B. He describes it as a “melodic sound,” drawing on his diverse musical tastes, drawing inspiration from both old-school legends like The Temptations and Smokey Robinson and contemporary stars like Future and Lil Baby.
In the immediate future, Flow $tro's goals are clear: "Release more content, release more videos, continue dropping music, and hopefully get this sh** to pop off!" He embraces the challenges of being an independent artist through resourcefulness and a level of dedication that simply doesn’t quit.
Fans won't have to wait long for more content. The music video for “Steppin” is out on Valentine's Day, 2025. And he's already planning his next single release for later this year, as well as more visuals and videos on the way.
Stay up to date with Flow $tro on Instagram, X, TikTok, Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.
Watch out as Flow $tro continues to "Step" into the spotlight and make his mark on the music world.
Based in London, vocalist and DJ iKeda already appears to be following the path of a major pop act, although she is hesitant to accept that description. “These days, it’s just too easy to call someone a pop star,” she tells NME during a conversation in the sunshine at a Hackney pub garden. With her newest EP ‘Bangs N Braces’ almost here, she insists that such recognition should be deserved. “You really need to earn your stripes to have that label. Someone like PinkPantheress or Addison Rae, they’re building a whole image and world – those are true pop stars.”
Although she has yet to reach the same heights as those artists, her career is clearly gaining momentum. Since 2024, she has released songs combining the irresistible energy of UK funky, electroclash and dancehall, while becoming a familiar face across the London underground electropop scene. One of her biggest opportunities arrived earlier this year when she was invited to open for PinkPantheress during the celebrated ‘Fancy That’ tour, an experience she describes as “almost like a dream”.
“I just couldn’t believe I was playing venues that size at this point in my career,” she recalls. Instead of allowing those initial worries to overwhelm her, she transformed them into “super healing positive energy” and committed herself to delivering the strongest performances possible. “I told myself that I was asked to do this for a reason, that I need to take the audience reception as actual constructive criticism and not crash out. It was too amazing an opportunity not to go one hundred per cent full throttle.”
With a tequila soda in hand, iKeda discusses a musical palette shaped by everyone from Santigold to SOPHIE. However, much of her creativity is fuelled by the trusted circle of friends and artists around her. Fellow club scene regular Babymorocco encouraged her to try songwriting in 2024, leading to her debut single ‘Luv Drunk’: “It was such a far-away concept, going into the studio and writing, but he started doing it, and I saw how quickly he got good.”
Her childhood was divided between Tottenham’s “concrete jungle” and life aboard a houseboat in the peaceful surroundings of Cambridge, giving iKeda an early instinct for creating stories. During her teenage years, she tried her hand at short fiction before studying visual art at Central Saint Martins. “It’s so powerful when you can take something into your own hands and write these things which you wish could happen in real life,” she says while discussing why visuals remain so essential to her creative identity. “I love just being in a world when I’m listening to music.”
That sense of entering another reality sits at the heart of ‘Bangs N Braces’, her forthcoming second EP. The project steps away from the Y2K dance pop character of her 2024 debut, ‘Pretty Little Problem’, and moves deeper into dancehall and funky house. It also serves as her personal declaration of the “gyal dem” lifestyle. In iKeda’s eyes, the meaning of being a “gyal” is not limited by gender or sexuality: “It’s all about one goal, moving toward complete liberation. It’s about maximising disruption, taking up space regardless of if someone has a problem with it.”
That fearless attitude has helped her explore sounds she previously felt nervous about approaching. “Jamaicans can be very perfectionistic about their dancehall, so I’ve always been a little bit intimidated,” she admits before explaining how the music honours her Windrush heritage. “I’ve always wanted to make this kind of music, and I’m finally at the place where I’m confident in exploring that.”
The result is a sound iKeda has named “bubblegum riddim”, blending electronic club pop with dancehall rhythms. “I feel an obsession with music that’s very effervescent and bubbly – it’s like your head is fizzing.” Beneath that sugary surface, however, lies something much rougher. “A lot of pop music is meant to sound quite tuned,” she says. “But with bubblegum riddim, there’s an edge. I love how in a lot of ’90s dancehall, the female vocals are a little off-key, almost fighting the beat.”
“I want to put on an actual production. I want to make bodies of work with coherent eras”
Across ‘Bangs N Braces’, this refreshed creative perspective moves between the grime coloured intensity of ‘Red Red’ and the bright dancehall energy of ‘Go!’ and ‘Meoww’. ‘Tiger Tiger’ captures both iKeda’s vivid imagination and growing confidence. “I was going down memory lane with old childhood books, and I saw The Tiger Who Came To Tea. The story morphed into this whole thing, like there’s this secret club and you can only go if you’re a bad girl.” Alongside surreal visions of mysterious potions and twisting white rabbits, the song reflects a broader personal transformation: “It’s part of my new path of just completely feeling myself.”
With the EP arriving later this month, iKeda says her newfound confidence has brought a welcome sense of freedom that is now influencing how she writes. “I just want to make feel-good music because that’s how I’m feeling right now,” she says. Even though her songs capture the carefree thrill of club pop, she treats simple melodies with genuine seriousness. “People don’t understand how hard it is to write a catchy hook without it turning into slop,” she explains. Her perfectionist nature keeps her focused on every small element, including “the little intros and interludes, which labels don’t care about but that listeners love”.
Although she is not ready to describe herself as a pop star, her ambitions suggest she already possesses the imagination and determination required to become one. “I just want to improve everything. I want to put on an actual production. I want to make bodies of work with coherent eras,” she says when asked about her future, revealing the constant drive behind her creativity. “Right now I’m trusting more in my ideas. I’m eternally grateful for all of the good times I’ve had, but I definitely have more to say.”
iKeda’s ‘Bangs N Braces’ EP arrives August 28 through Orbit Artist Group.
