This article was first published on NITV in Australia.
By Madison Howarth of NITV.
It’s a venue that has seen performances from the likes of Amy Winehouse, Adele and Olivia Dean.
Now, another rising star takes the stage at the Camden Assembly in London, raises a fist and makes a declaration.
“My name is Miss Kaninna, and I’m a very proud Aboriginal woman from so-called Australia.”
Miss Kaninna is met with cheers for her final show off the back of a whirlwind tour supporting Irish hip hop trio, Kneecap.
The proud Yorta Yorta, Dja Dja Wurrung, Kalkadoon and Yirendali woman said it was a “dream come true” to perform in places that hold such rich music history, not only as an artist herself but also as a fan of those who have graced the stage before her.
“I’m such a huge fan of Amy [Winehouse], not just because of the way she sings but also her attitude towards music and her authenticity,” she told NITV.
“She is a white woman in a Black genre, but I feel she still uplifted the community while she was in that space and just how real she was.
“To be here is very much a dream come true. I never thought I would leave the country, let alone leave it on the back of my career. I love Olivia Dean, I’ve been playing her music like crazy; she makes me cry. She hits something deep in there that’s just so beautiful. So it feels quite special to be here.”
Miss Kaninna’s career has reached new heights over the past two years.
In 2024, her track Blak Britney earned her a place in history as the first Indigenous woman to be nominated for an ARIA for a debut single, nabbing three nominations for the song.
In 2025, her debut EP, KANINNA, won Best Independent Hip-Hop, EP/Album at the AIR Australian Independent Music Awards, where she also took home Breakthrough Independent Artist of the Year.
Miss Kaninna’s sound is an effortless blend of hip hop, neo-soul and R&B, and her stage presence is second to none, commanding audiences across the globe.
Her headliner at the Camden Assembly marks her 18th show in 22 days, spanning 12 cities and 5 countries.
Touring on this side of the world for the second time, Miss Kaninna said it’s completely different to performing on home soil.
“Coming over here for the second time, I was a bit like, how do I educate these people without being aggressive because these people don’t know what’s going on, and I’ve actually found that the UK and Europe audiences that are white to be a lot more responsive and understanding of the deep trauma of Aboriginal people,” she said.
Miss Kaninna said, although her music isn’t all political, she wanted to maximise the opportunity to educate global audiences.
“I’ve actually found the UK people and the European people are far louder, far rowdier, far more ‘let’s go Aboriginal rights’ than back home,” she said.
“We had 13,000 people screaming ‘Always Was, Always Will Be’ back to us last week,” she said.
Opening for a band like Kneecap - politically outspoken on their support for Palestine, their anti-colonial views and their working-class, Irish-speaking roots - gave Miss Kaninna a receptive audience who were familiar with some of the themes she often speaks on at her shows.
“I already knew that going into the room they’re already very much Indigenous sovereignty, they very much care about the minority, the working class, they’re very much anti-establishment, anti-colonisation, so what they’re hearing, it’s falling on very open ears and so I already knew walking in that it would be good, but I didn’t realise I would leave feeling this full,” she said.
While on tour, her latest track, Backstreets, dropped with the music video release set to follow.
The single shows a more vulnerable side to an artist almost synonymous with the words staunch and fierce as she opens up about a past relationship.
Miss Kaninna said now that time had passed, she had space from the situation and clarity over the reality of what she had been experiencing.
“It was really hard when I broke up with him,” she said.
“I still had this deep sense of don’t talk shit about him, and nobody’s really going to believe you, and it doesn’t matter - he wasn’t physically extremely violent, so why does it matter, but verbal and emotional abuse is just as damaging. Now I’m in a much healthier relationship where I’m actually realising those things that I thought didn’t matter are actually extreme abuse.”
Miss Kaninna said she also thought it would be challenging to capture her emotions from that time in a song, but when she got in the studio, it became “one of the easiest songs” she’d written.
“Also, I didn’t really want the world to see me as a vulnerable little petal, because I’m not that,” she said. “I wanted people to know who I was first before I was like ok, now, I guess I’ll give you a little bit of something something.”
“I wanted people to feel something that was acknowledging the trauma, sitting with it and then letting it go. I am the woman I am today because of that, and I’m not saying I’m grateful for the trauma, I’m just saying it has made me the person I am today.”
At the time of writing, Backstreets has been out for just one week and has hit 30,000 streams on Spotify so far, ahead of the music video dropping, which will be her very first.
Wrapping another stellar year with a show at an iconic music venue in London, Miss Kaninna is now looking towards a packed 2026 with performances at music festivals Beyond the Valley, Wildlands and Party in the Paddock.
Perhaps most exciting is the new music on the horizon, which will include a new EP and a whole stack of new singles.
“We have so much new music coming out as well,” Miss Kaninna said. “Out of my ears, babe.”
“The new EP will be out next year, and we’ll do the whole nine yards, the music videos and everything. It’s been really nice to be able to level up.”