OAKLEY FGL: KILLOWEN’S PANTHEON OF INFLUENCES

Renowned for viral hits Sober and Pick Your Poison, West London’s KiLLOWEN has steadily been making a name for himself with his multi-faceted approach to UK rap music. Honing his taste over adolescent years digging into the history of UK music, the rapper and producer – real name Owen Pickston – pulls from UK garage and grime to dubstep and drum’n’bass to nuanced effect. An amalgam of Britain’s most impactful musical exports, KiLLOWEN’s music blends this pantheon of influences and distils it into something that feels wholly his own. Passionate yet undeniably fun, the rising star is delivering a matchless perspective on contemporary life in the UK.

Combining introspective verses with beats that deftly blend influences from across the spectrum, the 26-year-old has gone from strength to strength. After a slew of singles, he dropped Pub Therapy in 2023 and six missed calls in 2025 to critical and commercial acclaim, setting the scene and introducing many new listeners to his personal brand of rap music. Switching it up from track to track, the glue that binds everything together is Owen’s honest and authentic lyricism – a far cry from the braggadocious nature of UK garage’s MCs of the late 90s and 00s. But that’s not to say that it’s all too serious, either. Writing verses about sinking cans of Guinness and 2010s teenage tearaways Cook and Effy from Channel 4’s Skins, KiLLOWEN’s appeal and genius is his ability to combine these two different modes. Playful and bittersweet, the rose-tinted lens through which Owen presents these moments that are so familiar to those who have grown up in the UK creates depth to his music, perfectly accompanied by his impeccably produced beats.

Sitting down with KiLLOWEN after his END. and Oakley FGL editorial shoot, we discussed everything from his first experiences with making music to what inspires his personal style.

UK Garage had a very particular sense of style that went hand in hand with its braggadocious attitude - what influences your own sense of style and how does it relate to your musical craft?

My personal style is always a mixture of all of the different sub-cultures and being from the UK it’s always been a simple, swagged out approach to dressing. I incorporate the dark-tones, but like the colours and fits that are linked to my interest in streetwear. My sense of style when music-making goes hand in hand, it’s a mix of so many different things. It’s important not to be in a box and escape any boundaries to an authentic version of yourself.

Across your discography, you deftly manoeuvre around a variety of different genres and styles – what guides this varied approach to beatmaking?

My listening experience and the type of things I'm interested in, I don’t think I'm a type cast person. For example, I enjoy football but I don’t have to be this ultra masculine person that wants to gamble, watch boxing if you get me? I enjoy everything from photography, philosophy, and history too and whether it’s writing songs, making artwork, directing videos or producing, it all comes from the melting pot of growing up in suburban London. Nothing in my life has ever been straight forward and black and white in that sense, it’s all an extension of my personality and influences.

Having grown up in West London before moving to Buckinghamshire, have you found that the move from the city to suburbia has impacted your relationship with music?

As I said, I grew up in the melting pot of society so moving to the area I did meant everyone looked and acted the same when I was in school. I was previously exposed to so many cultures but what that did for the better, is allow new aspects of perspective into my life and I was able to see life for what it is in new circumstances. Mixing with people who always had better circumstances gave me leverage to speak from both sides of the coin which is what I speak about in my music. I haven’t experienced every way of life but I can see that everyone has their own story and they deserve to be listened to too. I'm able to narrate that well through my lyrics.

With two EPs and a slew of singles under your belt, you’ve amassed a dedicated and ever growing fanbase over the past few years. Was music something that had always been a big part of your life?

Music has definitely been a big part of my life. There’s music in everything whether you actively listen or not. I’ve always been into anything creative, I've played instruments from a young age. I don’t think music came to the forefront until I realised I wasn’t going to be a footballer in my early teenage years. It then became an obsession and something that I properly wanted to dive in to. 

Many musicians come to producing music from different musical backgrounds – what were your first memories of making music?

My first memories were in the band practice room in school with my mates. I used to play the guitar but it became more serious when my brother got FL Studio on his laptop, and I asked him to put it on mine too. I used to make Dubstep on Native Instruments which I taught myself how to do using YouTube before tailoring everything towards making Rap instrumentals which led me to start rapping. Those are my two earliest memories.

What originally drew you to creating UK Garage music almost three decades after the genre’s first wave?

Everything I listened to growing up amalgamated into one. I grew up on Skepta, BBK, as well as US Hip-Hop, Kendrick, Kanye, Jay-Z, Tyler, The Creator and everyone who didn’t allow their music to be put into a box and pushed genres, which opened my mind. I had the live elements with the guitar and genre-blending sounds through those American inspirations. My brother was a Drum and Bass DJ so I always listened to that which led me to 140 [what Grime was based off], so I always made so many different sounds. My first Garage-Rap song felt right because of that and it clicked so I started to explore that further. It is Garage-inspired but it’s a blend of Dance, Rap, Soul, R&B and even a little bit of Indie-Rock.

Your lyrics often broach personal subject matter from an introspective point of view – when writing lyrics, what guides your output?

The input of what I see in my everyday life from being in a suburb of London and seeing what life was like for a lot of people, but most importantly, my family and me. I believe everything that goes in comes out in some way. My lyrical content comes from the filter in my brain and how I understand everything. I spend a lot of time thinking about things whether that be to do with music, creativity, my personal relationships, health and experiences, so when I do use my voice through lyrics that essence of thought comes out and I don’t really plan that. 

Being both a rapper and producer, do you find that having this wider skill set enables you to perfect your sound in a much-more streamlined way? 

100%. I’ve always thought it’d be hard for me to be KiLLOWEN if I didn’t produce the beats as I’d be rapping on someone else's ideas, which’d make it a collaboration. As much as I like working with others that can aid my vision, a lot of my music comes from my own brain based on whatever scratches an itch. It could be a chord, or a sample; I feel like I can sometimes work with others to make it better but it’s important to keep my DNA at the centre to make sure it still sounds like me. 

I read that you had been rapping since your early teens, but only dropped your first release, Pub Therapy, in 2023 and then six missed calls this year. What led you to wait before releasing music in project-format? 

I’ve been rapping for a long time. KiLLOWEN began in 2018, there are releases on my Spotify from back then too. I was definitely figuring out my sound and going through the motions around college times and wanted to figure out what defined me. My current discography represents who I am as an artist. I didn’t necessarily wait, I think people only started paying attention when things started to sound good.

Do you find that it’s easier to release new music into the world now that you have a broader catalogue of music out there?

Yes and no - people who get it get it. The only down side to having expectations of yourself is having a higher bar to putting new music out there, you always do what you want but will have thoughts like what would the fans think? The good thing about starting out is that you have a clean slate, Virgil Abloh talks about this a lot.

I've read that you enjoy making music out of the studio and in the countryside, do you find that being outdoors shapes the way you create music in a different way? Is the outdoors an escape from the studio or an extension of it?

I always need the time outside in the fresh air, in nature to reset, clear my head and give my ears a fresh landscape and my brain a fresh canvas to paint on. This is probably a testament to where I grew up. I believe you can’t make music in a studio cooped up, which some people might disagree with. It’s good to go outside; grab a lucozade, smoke a cigarette, go for a run or whatever fuel you need in terms of inspiration. 

Looking to the future, what’s coming up for KiLLOWEN?

Releasing more music, a lot more shows next year and keeping my foot on the gas. More fun things, more accolades, milestones and output. Expanding on everything I love doing, the only plans are to keep going and stay at it and progress.