Authenticity, Growth & Pinterest Brooched: Sekou Interviewed

At just 21, Sekou has already established himself as one of the most compelling new voices in homegrown R&B and soul. Channeling lived experience with a clarity far beyond his years, the Leicester-born, London-based artist moves effortlessly between emotional extremes, delivering music that feels just as powerful in intimate moments as it does on the stage of a sold-out venue.

Armed with a voice so distinct it can command a room from the first note, Sekou has opened for SZA, completed UK and European tour runs alongside FLO, and become the youngest-ever nominee for the BRIT Rising Star Award. A tastemaker favourite, and without doubt a generation talent, he was also shortlisted for BBC Radio 1’s Sound of 2024, while collaborations with Justin Bieber, Central Cee and Kevin Abstract underline the industry-wide recognition surrounding his ascent.

Following a period of reflection and refinement, Sekou has entered a new creative chapter. Recent retro-leaning euphoric singles ‘Catching Bodies’ and ‘Never Gunna Give You Up’ have surpassed six million streams combined, signalling a shift towards confidence, joy and expressive freedom. That evolution continues on his debut mixtape ‘In A World We Don’t Belong (Pt. 1)‘ – a five-track statement shaped over eighteen months that charts an emotive journey to self-definition.

Now, as he steps into a new visual and cultural space through his Pinterest Brooched collaboration, Sekou speaks to Mixtape Madness about the special feature that dropped this week, 2026 plans and how embracing freedom has reshaped both his sound and sense of self.

This week marked a very special live performance video of your wonderful recent single ‘Love Language’ – can you chat to me a bit about the collaboration with Pinterest? 

Yes, of course… so the Pinterest trend is all about Brooches, and obviously, I’ve used Pinterest for a very long time. I’ve also used Brooches in my past videos, and I’ve always felt very inspired by that. When this came together, I knew that it made a lot of sense. We got to do an incredible video and live performance – it was really nice to do this together and make the Brooches world a lot bigger. To have my band as well and make the stage bigger – that’s what it’s all about.

Pinterest’s Director of Marketing, Louise Foley, says your “performance embodies the reinvention at the heart of Brooched; a celebration of individuality, heritage and the freedom to show who you are on your own terms.” How important is individuality and authenticity to you? 

It’s very important – I think it’s one of the key things. You always have to do your own thing and stand out. I think the most important thing is to be who you want to be, be yourself. I always go by that, and make sure I don’t get bogged down by being compared to somebody else – I remain my authentic self.

What advice would you give younger artists trying to stay authentic in today’s music landscape?

My advice would honestly be to break the rules a little bit. Don’t listen to what people tell you. I mean, you have to play the game, be respectful and professional. But, there’s no right or wrong answer, and you own your career. You need to be your own boss, and you have to shake up the rules a little bit. Find your own way around, and your own way into people’s lives, and once you’ve come around to that, you’ve just got to keep working at it. I think that would be my advice – that and always taking care of your mental health, because it can be pretty dark sometimes.

Your project ‘In A World We Don’t Belong Pt.1’ dropped just under a month ago. How has the first month been having such a special project to you out in the world, and what has the reaction been like? 

It’s been really good, I definitely think its’s been my most reactant project. This whole year, the past five/six months, have been very different to the past three and a half years. There’s so much growth, so many people discovering, so many things going on and trying new things. It feels great and really exciting. It almost feels like I’m one step ahead of something great and continuing to push do better things and more things. I’m excited – I’ve just sold out a tour as well which I’ve never done before so I’m very looking forward to all of that stuff.

What was the starting point for this mixtape – a song, a feeling, or a moment? How did you decide how to curate the project? 

It was at a low point – I said to myself that I wanted to create something different, something joyful. I went into the studio with ‘Catching Bodies’ and told myself “I really want to make something different”. I’d been stuck in the pianoey world for such a long time, and that was one of the first ideas that came. Everything else after that followed, because I was already in that mindset of joyful, uptempo music. It came from a low feeling but wanting to make happy music.

You performed at your sold-out Bush Hall show just a couple of weeks ago, celebrating the release of ‘In A World We Don’t Belong, Pt. 1’ – I know you were really looking forward to it – it must have been so special? 

It was really, really great. It feels so nice to start progressing into bigger venues. It felt like every show I had ever done has been a bigger step each time – it was great. Performing all the new music live, seeing everybodies reactions – it’s just such a great feeling and so new, because there were lots of new fans in the room, people who hadn’t seen me perform live before. I always enjoy playing to those people for the first time.

Directly off the back of that, you’ve just sold out your whole UK tour in such a short amount of time… It’s just achievement on achievement for you at the moment, it feels. Has that sunk in yet, especially to sell out bigger venues than you have been performing in of late? 

It definitely feels weird, but I enjoy it. It was a great time to announce a tour – I’ve been doing this for a little while – I didn’t think it would sell out as quickly as it did, but I’m so glad it did. It really shows that people are starting to pay attention now – I feel that if I put this tour on a year ago, it wouldn’t have moved. It really shows that people are listening, and I like that.

I remember you saying you’d never play things by ear, and you have moves calculated all the time – say you’re sitting down at the end of 2026 reflecting on your year – what is it you would like to achieve? An album? Part 2 of the Mixtape? 

I’d definitely like to have finished the album by then. I think it’s about making sure of what it is I stand for, making my brand clear to everyone. Consistently growing and finding my way in music, whether that’s trying new things, new sounds – nothing crazy different. Trying new things and continuing to be myself. I definitely want the album done; I would’ve played a lot of shows. I’m enjoying growing up as an adult as well, which I want to make sure I like. All that’s on my mind is the album, though.

The special live performance video of Sekou’s highly acclaimed recent single, “Love Language,” was developed in collaboration with Pinterest and inspired by the Pinterest Predicts™ 2026 trend, Brooched and can be viewed here:  Sekou– ‘Love Language’ | Pinterest Predicts: Brooched | Live Session