HNY (pronounced “henny”) is a solo recording artist and performer originally from New England and now based in Seattle, WA. Her name— a monogram for “How And Why”, reflects both her curiosity and purpose as an artist and storyteller.
A lifelong musician, HNY began playing violin at just four years old and recorded her first CD at age six, singing in church and touring the East Coast alongside her father, also a musician. She adopted the name HNY in 2020 while living in Walla Walla, WA, and released her debut single in 2021. Since then, HNY has made her mark on iconic stages including SOB’s in New York City, Los Globos in Los Angeles, and Barboza in Seattle. Her momentum continued with the release of her most popular single, “Little Things,” which introduced a wider audience to her genre-bending sound.
HNY blends soul, R&B, rap and spoken word with her classical training and contemporary influences with raw storytelling and emotional depth.
HNY looks forward to the release of her first EP “Exodus” — which draws comparison between the artist and Eve in the garden, a precursor to her first studio length visual rap album entitled “Hero in My Own Mind”.
Through her passion, craft, and lived experience, HNY aims to inspire younger generations from all walks of life to pursue their dreams, embrace their truth, and step fully into their power.
Photo: Joel Nunn Sparks
Hero in My Own Mind is a 13-track concept rap album coming late 2026/early 2027 that explores the internal struggle between good and evil that lives within us all. The album takes its name from a quote by actor Tom Hiddleston: “Every villain is a hero in his own mind.” This powerful idea serves as the thematic foundation for the project.
Through a rich tapestry of personal narrative and symbolic storytelling, HNY weaves elements from both ancient mythology and modern pop culture to reflect on her own life journey. Drawing from a cast of complex “villains” such as Ursula, Scarface, Loki, Medusa, Joker and more, the album uses these characters as mirrors to examine the shadow self – the parts of us we often hide, fear, or deny.
At its core, Hero in My Own Mind poses difficult yet essential questions: Is anyone truly good or evil? And how do these qualities reveal themselves in the everyday actions of ordinary people? What is sin and who (or what) is God?
HNY only listened to classical music until she was in the 8th grade, after which when she was introduced to a world of infinite genres. Sonically, HNY uses this unique upbringing to blend timeless classical music sample selections with sounds of the 21st century — a subtle nod to HNY’s unique life story.
Through a blend of lyrical introspection, narrative parables, and emotional ego death paired with a one-of-a-kind soundscape, HNY arrives at a hard-earned truth: that each of us is a constantly evolving interplay of light and dark — a multifaceted, beautiful blend of perfect contradiction. The project emphasizes that personal growth begins with radical honesty and self-awareness, encouraging listeners to take accountability, reflect deeply, and strive toward a greater good — not by denying their flaws or their greatness, but by embracing both simultaneously.
Relatable to listeners across generations, Hero in My Own Mind is more than an album — it's an invitation to confront your inner world, make peace with your imperfections, and recognize that, like everyone else, you're simply doing your best.
3 SINGLES, 12 Tracks, 1 bonus track, 1 deluxe album
Hero in my Own Mind will follow HNYs story through three pre-release singles, 12 main tracks and a bonus track, followed by the release of an 18 track deluxe album.
VISUALLY IMPACTFUL
Hero in my Own Mind will be a start-to-finish visual album with visualizers, skits and music videos to represent each track that will tell a story of their own. Shot by Ettie Wahl of Bioluminescent Films, HNY hopes to take it to a plethora of film festivals.
LIVE THEATRICAL MUSIC EXPERIENCE
HNY aims to blend her background in theatre performance with her electric live music performance style to provide a rap experience unlike any other before it with plans to perform the album on large West Coast stages through the end of 2027.
Lasting impact
It’s a tale as old as time with sound inspiration that is fresh while still dating back centuries. Hero in my Own Mind is an album that will age with it’s listeners thematically, sonically and emotionally. There are some questions that we’ve been asking since the beginning of time and will until the end. Am I a hero in my own mind?
A precursor to Hero in my Own Mind — Exodus is a 5 track concept EP due to be released in summer 2026. The project delves into HNY’s inner world of loneliness and depression amid heartbreak, likening her to Eve when leaving the Garden of Eden after eating the fruit in the Bible. A cinematic genre bending trailer that introduces HNY’s understanding of the knowledge of her good and evil thematically to set up for release of Hero in my Own Mind — the introduction to the forthcoming album’s “thesis statement” track 10, Luna.
While Hero in my Own Mind is a rap album, HNY takes careful time to flex the singing muscles her established fanbase know and love while introducing the thematics of what is to come. Inspired by the likes of Adele, Rosalia and _____ — HNY’s airy, alluring vocals drip with grief, disappointment, vulnerability, like a woman on the precipice of finding her power.
Sonically, the project relies begins with simple acoustic guitar arrangements that evolve to more complicated cinematic sounds melded with guitar — meant to represent HNY’s journey from being raised singing in the church at worship service to redefining her faith and understanding of the world while still contextually having an understanding of her roots in fundamentalist Seventh Day Adventism.
HNY takes the listener on a journey through the vulnerability of being Naked in the garden, to feelings of being Scorned by one you loved, to teetering on the edge of life and death standing at The Edge of Eden, to understanding that there there is no going back — the garden is Decayed, to the resolution that continuing to live in this world of knowledge of good in evil in a sort of Life After Death.
It is the genesis of the Exodus, the beginning and the end, a hero/villain origin story… a parable of purgatory and redemption.
5 tracks, 1 single
Exodus features 5 tracks which will feature track 4, “Decay” as it’s precursor single.
Visually Striking
Each track will pair with powerful visualizers with shocking biblical thematics filmed in Seattle WA by Ettie Wahl of Bioluminescent Films, with a full music video for Decay to release upon single release.
live in concert
HNY plans to play a plethora of intimate Seattle venues to build her audience in a way that feels that she can interact with her audience one on one — experiencing grief and heartbreak together while blending the theatrics of what is to come through styling and storytelling.
Lasting impact
Stories of heartbreak are timeless. What happens when it is packaged with the understanding many young people have of freeing ones self from Christian fundamentalism while still unraveling indoctrination daily? HNY says — “something that will impact generations to come.”