A rockstar rapidly on the rise, Alemeda is crafting a path entirely of her own.

A year after joining the same influential label as SZA and Doechii, her striking authenticity and heart-wrenching lyricism have earned her acclaim from fellow artists and fans alike – her latest EP, What the Hell Do I Know?, is no different.

2025 has been an undeniably breakthrough year for women in the music industry. Unapologetically carving out space, they’re redefining what it means to lead and shattering expectations – most noticeably sweeping the awards and topping the charts. A future figure at the forefront of this cultural shift is Alemeda, also known as Rahema Shifa Alameda. 

With minimal musical influence at home growing up in Ethiopia and later Arizona, the Ethiopian-Sudanese artist absorbed her earliest inspirations through the TV – namely late 00’s cult Disney classics, Hannah Montana and Camp Rock, which formed the gateway to later obsessions with Arctic Monkeys, Paramore and Coldplay. 

Her breakthrough came in 2021 with a snarling, garage-laced debut, “Gonna Bleach My Eyebrows”, that’s since clocked over 14 million streams and cemented her as one to watch. Last year, she joined the prestigious ranks of Top Dawg Entertainment alongside the likes of SZA and Doechii – and delivered her first EP, “FK IT”, powered by fan-favourite “I Already Dug Your Grave.” Recently joining Halsey and Rachel Chinouriri on their tour too, Alemeda is quickly ticking off all her childhood dreams and leaving fans hopeful that a headline tour announcement is certainly imminent.

Returning with her latest EP, despite the title containing a question mark, it’s the most intimate and self-assured work of her career to date. Doubling down on a sound that sits somewhere between confessional indie, alt-rock grit, and pop-punk sensibilities, she continues to dissuade attempts to box her into the R&B genre. Switching from karmic reflections alongside Rachel on “Chameleon” to fierce loyalty on “Beat A B!tch Up” with Doechii – the latter was born from a late-night birthday party moment.

Across the EP, she unpacks family tensions, tricky relationships, and the sharp-edged lessons that come with growing up, handling with a vulnerability that manages to be both comforting and cathartic. Proudly calling herself a ‘cat mom’ to Cinnamon and Truffles, you may not hear about them in her music just yet, but you can find them on her Instagram and their dedicated account. 

1883 Magazine chats with Alemeda about her new EP What the Hell Do I Know?, achieving a bucket list moment, being inspired by Hannah Montana, and what happened to Tyler, The Creator’s cookie.

Do you have any favourite memories from creating your latest EP, What the Hell Do I Know?

I had a camp where I invited a whole bunch of producers and musicians to have a jam session. It was really fun. I like it when making music is fun, and you’re not thinking about the pressure of having to write a song. The camp gives you the freedom to not make a song one day and then just write the next day. It was just a good experience for me in general.   

Rachel Chinouriri and Doechii each collaborated with you on a song for this project. What was the process like?

It was good. I’m a fan of them both. I was a big Rachel Chinouriri fan. I already knew Doechii. When I met Rachel, I was like, “Oh my God.” Then she took me on tour with her. She’s the sweetest person ever. Making music with them was on my bucket list because they’re both very, very talented Black women who make amazing music.   

Did you gain any advice or have any experiences that stuck with you from the tour?

Rachel’s tour inspired me to have my own tour in the future and gave me a lot of hope. Her fan base is so dedicated to her, and they’re so respectful. I think just seeing her do that inspired me. I’m like, “Okay, I can’t wait to have my own headline tour.”

How has it inspired your future headline tour? Did it spark any thoughts on your live performance, setlists or merch?

We have merch that we just put out that was like, “I love Alemeda”, but the heart is like my cats sitting together. It was a photo of them, and they’re shaped like a heart. It’s really cute. That was something I was really happy about, because I was trying to get that shape to be part of the merch for so long.   

I really love that they’ve got their own Instagram. 

I feel like people think I’m crazy, but I’m like, “Bro, I just want to share their cuteness with the world.” 

How did you settle on the names Cinnamon and Truffles?

I was going to have ten cats. Name them all after spices and call them The Spice Girls. I had started with Cinnamon and Truffles. Then, I got allergic to cats. The dream ended right there. I kept them, obviously. I just take an allergy pill every day, but that was the goal. I was going to have Paprika, Cumin, and Black Pepper…  

In a previous interview, you mentioned that if you were to write a love song, it might even be about your cats. Has this changed?

I don’t know if I’ve written one about them. I don’t write many love songs. Even when I do write love songs, like on this new project, there’s one called “Happy With You”. It’s still about being unsure. It’s like, “Oh, I don’t know, maybe I can be happy with you.” It’s not all lovey-dovey. It’s me talking about all the bad that comes with it. I think if I were to make a real corny, lovey-dovey love song – like the ones people play at weddings or something, it would have to be from my cats because that’s the purest love I have.   

On this EP, you delve into the full spectrum of human emotions. When you’re writing, where does it usually come together for you?

I haven’t been recently because I’ve been performing this whole year, but when I’m down at home and everything, I usually like to write in my diary. I feel like any situation, any conversation, or any emotion is going to end up being in there. It could be from anything. The past or present. I feel like the biggest misconception people are going to have about my music forever is thinking it’s about men. I very rarely get inspired by men. I guess that’s the only rumours I have to clear up. My whole last project was about a friend.   

I feel like I’ve always held friendships, especially female friendships, to a higher respect. The majority of anything that’s hurt my feelings has always been from that.

On the new EP, which are your favourite lyrics you’ve written?

There’s a song out already called one “1-800-Fu**-You”. The first lyric says, “I don’t want to hear you, I cut you off like Van Gogh”, because Van Gogh cut off his ear. Those are my favourite lyrics.   

With the reference to art in your lyrics, do you enjoy going to galleries in your spare time?

Maybe in another life, like I really need to be home. Nothing makes me happier than just being home, cosied up with my tea and my cats. I’m really like a grandma at heart.   

My glam team will come to the house, and they’re literally like, “Okay, Auntie.” You would not think I’m 25 years old if you saw me the way I’ve been posted up at home.   

Is there a particular song off this new EP that you were really excited to share with your audience?

I think “Losing Myself”, because it’s so different from the rest of my music. It’s slower. I think when I’ve performed it a couple times as a preview like, “Oh, this is going to be on my next unreleased song on my next project.” Vocally, I feel like it’ll be more of a ‘wow’ type of thing, because a lot of my songs are very ‘talky-talky’. That song has more space, and I get to ‘sing-sing’. I don’t think I’ve got to show those skills of myself yet.    

What were you most excited about delving into on this new project?

I have a new set of viewpoints on life, now that my frontal lobe has developed. It feels right to talk about that. Before, a lot of things were very emotion-based, and now I have so much more understanding. I’ve been humbled. The early twenties humbleness. I’ve been through that. I was excited to write from that perspective that I’m not just mad. It’s all of these things that it stems from.   

You’ve mentioned being inspired by Hannah Montana while growing up. Did anything stick out to you, in particular?

I don’t know if anything really stood out. I feel like if you grew up during that time, that’s what was being basically force-fed to you. We didn’t really have any other options. It’s not like Disney Channel had some jazz. It’s kind of all I had. I think it was inspiration by force, especially because I didn’t grow up with music in my household. I think that was really the only music I was watching and hearing, so it just naturally inspired me.   

Did you ever consider having an alter ego like Hannah Montana or relating to it?

Never had the alter ego feeling. I think I always wanted to just be who I am. I think I already have the kind of Hannah Montana vibe going on, because I come from a very religious Muslim background. And then go back home, and no one knows anything about my music. They don’t really like to listen to music, period. Let alone mine. Even back home in Ethiopia, no one really knows anything. They’re not watching my videos or listening to my songs. I go back home, and I’m just Rahema. No one knows anything. Except my siblings, because they’re my age. And then I come back here and I’m like an artist again. I kind of have that. I feel like this is my alter ego, even though it’s myself.   

How do you find balancing that?

My siblings are super supportive, but they’re the only younger people in the family. I’m the third youngest. Everyone else is much older than us. I think they’re the only ones who can understand what’s going on. Mom’s from a village in Ethiopia. She’s not online. She’s just older. She needs help to turn on YouTube. She’s not really looking my name up on YouTube or anything. My siblings are really the only support I care about. 

What drove you to create music?

I feel like I ran away from it, rather than forced myself to do it, because I feel like I had a lot of imposter syndrome. I just didn’t think it was a realistic job to have, and it was a big risk. But once I got serious, I had someone reach out to me, and I got signed. I was like, “Okay, clearly, I’ve been avoiding this and neglecting what I felt I wanted to do.” I was like, “Let me just really lock in. And if it works, it works. I’ll keep doing it.” I’ve always had imposter syndrome with it. I was never like, “I have to keep going.” If anything, I’ve tried to quit more than convince myself to keep going.   

How did you combat the imposter syndrome?

I think I’d just sacrificed so much already. I left home, came here, and put in years and years. I was pretty determined to feel like it wasn’t for no reason.   

If you’ve got an idea for a song or a voice memo to share, who’s the first person you’d normally send it to?

I usually just put it down myself. On the new project, there’s a song called “Stupid Little Bitch”. I voice memoed the guitar when I came up with the riff almost a year ago. I kept it as a voice memo, but I just went back to it. Replayed it. I keep it to myself mostly. If I decide to go to the studio that day, like I might go, “I had this idea.” But other than that, I just keep it to myself. I turn it into a thing on my own.   

You went on to be inspired by Coldplay, Paramore, and Arctic Monkeys. What’s your favourite song from each of them?

For Coldplay, “Yellow”. For Arctic Monkeys, “Arabella”. That was the first song I fell in love with. Paramore, I like a lot of their music. It has to be “Misery Business” because I could play that 100 times.   

You’ve recently marked one year since signing with Top Dawg Entertainment. Did you do anything to celebrate?

No, I didn’t. For some reason, I don’t celebrate anything. I barely celebrate my birthday. I’m not a celebratory person, really. I’m pretty boring.   

Are you always focused on the future and where you’re going next, rather than what you’ve achieved at the time?

It doesn’t hit me until way later. I’m like, “Oh shit, I did that. I accomplished that. That was crazy.” But while it’s happening most of the time, I’m like, “Okay.” It’s a weird, delayed reaction.   

Once you’ve released your music, are you thinking of your next project straight away?

I feel like more on to the next. If I dwell on the outcome of my art, I feel like it’ll only hurt me more than help me. But you don’t force yourself not to care. It’s hard to explain. You just want to put it out there and hope something comes out of it. I’ve had a lot of things come out of it, so I’m like, “Okay, it’s moving in the right direction.” Even though it’s not super-fast, which I don’t mind. I think that every time I put something out, it’s leaning towards a new fan, a new opportunity, a new artist that fucks with me, and it’s really cool.  

From your socials, it’s clear you’re surrounded by a supportive community with lots of lovely comments from fans and other artists – from Mae Muller to Rachel.  How does it feel to be part of it?

I love them too. The British artists are so supportive. I’m grateful because I’m so anti-social and so introverted. I’m not as out there like that. I’m like, “Okay, you guys don’t think I hate you.” I’m just in my home with my cats, not doing shit.   

On your TikTok, there was a video of Tyler, The Creator giving you a cookie. Is there a backstory behind this?

He’s an interesting person. It was at Doechii’s mixtape release event, and he was there. I asked the owner of the label Top [Dawg Entertainment], I was like, “Hey, can you introduce me to him? Like, I’m low-key a fan.” I was being all shy, and he was just being very sweet. But he randomly goes at the end of the conversation like, “Hey, nice meeting you. You want this cookie?” And I was like, “No”.  

He literally spent five minutes trying to force me to take that cookie. It was this crazy back and forth of like, “Take this bitten cookie”. I was like, “Is this a test?” I’m confused. I took the cookie and gave it to my friend. She’s a bigger fan than me. Really huge superfan. She put it in a box in her room. He’s so who he is, I feel like who he puts out.   

For the music video for “Beat A B!tch Up”, you did water skiing even though you didn’t know how to swim. When you approach things, do you debate them beforehand, or do you just throw yourself in and ask questions later? 

I definitely just throw myself in and ask questions later.   

If you were performing on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury, who would you bring out with you?

Probably Beabadoobee, Rachel Chinouriri, and Dominic Fike.

What do you want people to take from your latest EP?

I just hope they can relate to it and that it makes them feel something. Because I really opened myself up on this project more than I usually do. I was more honest and vulnerable about a lot of things I went through. I just hope in the same way that certain artists that I love, whose music hits my heart and makes me feel seen and heard, I hope people could feel that.      

Can we expect any future collaborations?

I don’t have any. I love the collaborations I have on the project, but I don’t collab like that. For now, no. But listen, if Hayley Williams calls me – I’m there. I’m in Paramore. I’m driving on the freeway before you even finish your sentence.  

Alemeda’s new EP What the Hell Do I Know? is out now.

Interview Camilla Whitfield

Photography Abdi Ibrahim

Stylist Jai Simmons