DANIYA KANWAL

Daniya Kanwal is a rapper whose artistry is rooted in cyphers, movement and lived experience. With a foundation in hip-hop dance, she has developed a style that is raw, fearless and unapologetically authentic.

Although she has been releasing her own music for just over a year, Daniya had already established herself as a performer through music videos and live stage performances. One of her early appearances was in Owais Wahab’s 2020 music video ‘Adhoora’. In 2025, she gained widespread recognition as a contestant on ‘Tamasha Season 4’, marking her first major breakthrough in the public eye. Later that year, she made a powerful impact on the music scene with her breakout single, ‘Jihadi Aurat’.

Known for seamlessly blending rap with choreography and dynamic stage performance, Daniya views hip-hop as a way of life rooted in authenticity. Her writing is sharp, witty and socially observant, often challenging conventions and confronting uncomfortable realities. Bold, provocative and uncompromising, she brings that same energy to her music, performances and storytelling.

In a candid interview, Daniya, who is also the Ambassador of the July-September Quarter for EQUAL Pakistan, shares her likes and dislikes with our readers. Read on...

What inspired you to pursue music?

My friends.

What is your specialised field of singing?

Rap.

What is your most memorable concert to date?

I opened the PSL ceremony with Atif Aslam in a stadium of 35,000+ people. That was crazy and felt like a fever dream.

What are you currently working on?

Experimenting with my sound and making a lot of music.

How does it feel to be the Ambassador for Spotify’s EQUAL Pakistan?

I am honoured. It’s a much-needed initiative that gives women the opportunity to make space for more loud, visionary and beautiful voices from our country.

How important do you think such initiatives are for women artists of our country?

In a heavily male-dominated music scene, the EQUAL playlist is like a girls’ night: a space for feelings, debriefs, anger, love and gossip. Every emotion has a place here. We need more spaces where girls can simply be girls.

Tell us about your song that is being featured on the EQUAL Pakistan playlist.

‘Bin Ranjha’ is a question tied to a woman’s story without a man.

Have you released any music albums so far?

I released my mixtape ‘Kanwal’ like a month ago.

Top 3 songs in your playlist?

Right now, it’s 6LACK’s ‘All That Matters’ (with Leon Thomas & AZ Chike), J. Cole’s ‘I Love Her Again’ and Abida Parveen’s ‘Yaar Ko Humne Ja Baja Dekha’.

Your favourite international music celebrity?

Karan Aujla.

Who is your icon in the music industry?

J. Cole.

What was the role of music in your early years of life?

As an avoidant, music has made me feel things I didn’t want to feel.

Who was your favourite rock star when you were in your teens?

Atif Aslam was the ROCKSTAR for me in my teens.

What was the first instrument that you learned to play?

Electric guitar.

Your most irritating habit...

Even if I wake up at 6 PM, I still have to have breakfast. I can’t start my day without my first meal being breakfast.

You don’t like people who are...

Incompetent.

You are afraid of...

Anything that crawls.

Your most valuable possession

My friendships.

Are you a shopaholic?

Yes.

What bores you the most?

Mediocrity.

You are crazy about...

I am crazy. Period.

How do you like to spend your Sundays?

Getting ready with my girls and a slow brunch at a nice cafe is my ideal Sunday morning.

If you could have a musician tag along with you on tour, whom would you choose?

My friends Ahsan, Musti, Hassam and Zain.

If you had access to a time machine, which era would you revisit?

I’d go back to the early ’70s, when hip-hop was just coming to life.

Who do you see as your main competitor?

I know it’s cliché, but “It’s me. Hi, I’m the problem, it’s me.”

Do you agree that it is important to learn and understand old music and its history?

Yes, definitely. Art is not as much theoretical as it is shaped by culture, time and geography.

Song always gets you on the dance floor?

Any upbeat song.

What’s the last thing you bought?

I bought groceries to make achar gosht, which I cooked for my friends.

What books are on your bedside table?

‘Ganjay Farishtay’ by Manto is my current bedside book.

First thing you do when you wake up in the morning?

Make coffee and gossip with my roommate.

When I’m not working, I’m usually...

Either I have 50+ side quests, hangouts, new hobbies and an overwhelming urge to fill my life with everything or I sleep in my room for two days. There’s no in-between.

The most important relationship lesson you’ve learned so far...

Female friendships are pivotal in shaping your perception of love, so let it be a woman who shows you love before a man does.

You get super uncomfortable when...

When someone violates any of my boundaries.

The biggest misconception about you is…

The biggest misconception about me is that I forgive. I don’t - I just forget.

Something very few people know about you...

I love pink.

Where do you see yourself in the next 5 years?

J. Cole said, “Watch dreams bigger than you can and then protect them from the world.”