As the pandemic hit and battles for artistic control intensified, Darkoo entered a period of depression. “I was definitely very suicidal. I just didn’t feel understood.” What pulled her out of that dark time? Going independent in 2023. Almost immediately, her “sauce and passion” for music was revived, and with it came a wave of relief. “My life has been upwards from there. It did scare me a little bit, not being signed – and I’m open to being signed in the future. I just want to be signed by the right people who will be like, ‘I want to make this girl the biggest star.’” And until that happens, Darkoo’s determined to prove her worth as an independent artist.

“Now, I’m three bangers in and no one can say nothing!” she says, laughing. The reception to those said three bangers speaks for itself. Last year’s Favourite Girl, featuring US rapper Dess Dior became a quick fan favourite, thanks to its savvy sample of dancehall classic Diwali Riddim (you’ll recognise it from Lumidee’s Never Leave You (Uh Oooh, Uh Oooh)) and Darkoo’s swooning yet swaggering lyricism. Then, she upped the ante by enlisting Afrobeats royalty Davido for Right Now, showcasing her more sentimental side with lyrics such as “You’re the kind of woman that I want to have my kids with”. Now, she’s hailing 2025 as the year everyone has a “Sexy Girl Summer”, ushered in with party anthem Focus On Me (All The Sexy Girls In The Club) – the kind of song that seems destined to soundtrack long, hot days in the city over the coming months. Darkoo also featured on last month’s F1 The Album soundtrack alongside Dojo Cat, Burna Boy, Raye and Ed Sheeran. One week after we meet, she releases a surprise single Like Dat, the video of which features her now trademark gyrating female dancers and pays homage to her British roots with Union Jack flags in the background.

But Darkoo’s full vision as an independent artist will be revealed in the next few months, [no release date or title was available at time of publication] on her upcoming EP: seven tracks recorded in Zanzibar with a team of her favourite producers. The vibe is Y2K but not derivative. Rather than leaning fully into nostalgia, the musician once again became a student of her craft, analysing the instruments, chord progressions and sonic textures of her favourite noughties tracks, then translating them into songs stamped with her signature Afrobeats flair.

“It was like, OK, Rihanna made a massive hit with these five instruments, so let’s use those to play different things,” she says. Above all, though, this project is driven by Darkoo’s ambition to create music for women, not just about them. “Not enough artists make music for women,” she says. “I’m trying to make music that they listen to and feel like, ‘I’m the baddest bitch in this place. I’m gonna go on a yacht and I’m gonna shake my bum.’ You know, music that makes them feel themselves.”