Awa Santesson-Sey

Awa Matilda Isakine Santesson-Sey (born 6 July 1997), known professionally as AWA, is a Swedish singer based in London. Her father is Senegalese, her mother Swedish.

At age 12, deciding she wanted to study classical music, she applied to and later attended Adolf Fredrik's Music School in Stockholm.

Career
AWA was the winner of the first series of the Swedish version of The X Factor in 2012, at age 15. In 2013, she won a Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award and released the single "Not Ready to Say Goodbye". Taking her time to work out her sound, she released the single "Obvious" in 2015. During this time, AWA worked with producers and collaborators including Aston Rudi and Show N Prove.

In 2019, AWA was signed to Columbia Records. She released three songs on the label, followed by a six-track EP titled cry.baby. "F**kin' Love Songs (ft. Ebenezer)" was premiered by Julie Adenuga on Beats 1 and was Yasmin Evans' 'Track of the Week' on BBC Radio 1Xtra. Complex premiered the official video. In November 2019, Vevo named AWA one of its "Artists to Watch" for 2020.