For years, alt-R&B artist Kareen Lomax has been best known as a co-writer and collaborator, including lending her voice to five Diplo singles and having songwriting credits for artists including ZAYN, Leon Bridges, Maroon 5 and Syd, but 2026 has been the year she’s fully steps into her own as a soloist.
That culminates with the release of her debut album, NAJI, out today, Sep. 18. The vulnerable 13-song project explores identity, growth, grief and learning to hold two truths at once, and it truly feels like everything she’s built so far has been leading up to this moment.
Propelled by Kareen’s rich vocals, touches of soul, electronic music and indie-pop and her personal and profound songwriting, the album reflects on a period of deep loss for the artist following the passing of her adopted sister in 2020 and her father in 2021. It gets its title from Kareen’s first name, which she didn’t utilize or personally identity with for much of her life. Now, she’s decided to embrace it, creating a story of duality, with Kareen and Naji feeling like two complementary pieces of the full artist.
Ahead of today’s release, we had the pleasure of hopping on a Zoom call with Kareen to learn more about her process, the different facets of her identity and what releasing the new album means to her. Read our full interview with Kareen Lomax below.
(Photo credit: Joey or John)
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Sweety High: Why did this point of your career feel like the right time to release your debut album?
Kareen Lomax: That’s a good question. I think it was just things aligning.
I feel like I’m in a transitional period in my life. Now’s the right time to finally make my statement. To show who I am.
I’ve done a lot of “work,” quote unquote, behind the scenes. I’ve always wanted to make my statement of “Hey, this is who I am. This is where I come from.” My story, you know.
I made the project that I needed at the time, and it just kind of developed into my debut album.
I didn’t set out to make a full-length album when I started this. It’s been such a long process. It evolved into something that felt bigger than me—what needed to come into fruition.
SH: You mentioned your work behind the scenes. You’ve worked with a lot of people on co-writes and collabs, including Diplo, ZAYN, Leon Bridges, Syd. Do you think there’s a big difference between how you approach collaborative work and how you look at solo work and telling your own story?
KL: Yeah. When I’m writing for others and collaborating, I feel like the work has traces of me. I always make sure that whatever room I go into, my work still shows, even if the project is different from my usual work. I still try to show up as myself, and remember I’m in the room for a reason—to bring what I bring sonically to the world.
The difference is that in those situations, I’m trying to tell the story of the room, even if it’s with different artists who live in different spaces musically. I just try to step out of my own story a little bit while still showing up as myself. That’s how I collaborate with others.
I also keep in mind that I’m kind of a chameleon in the industry. I do multiple things, and I adapt. I can be writing today, or producing or doing my own thing.
(Photo credit: Mancy Gant)
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SH: Was it strange to no longer have to be that chameleon and find out how to adapt fully to writing for yourself?
KL: Yeah, it’s hard. It’s hard to write for myself.
I was always an artist, but when I get to myself, overthinking is the main thing. When I’m working on my stuff, I can be like, “You know what? This isn’t good enough.”
I’m my worst critic. That’s the hard thing about working on my own stuff. The imposter syndrome.
But someone told me one time, “No one can do you like you,” so, it’s about just trying to remember that.
I’m grateful that music has been my means of sustainability. I’m really blessed in that, especially in this world. But lately I’ve also been making sure that I understand it’s okay to create for fun. Working on other things that take me out of that, if I’m being honest.
The hardest part is overthinking and staying focused on the reason I started making music. I didn’t know anything else when I started making music, so I’m always chasing that feeling.
SH: The album is titled NAJI, your first name. Why did it feel right to give it make it self-titled, but also using part of your name that even fans might not be familiar with?
KL: Well, it’s because people don’t know that that’s my first name. Even in school, growing up, the teachers would call like me Kareen. Even if they knew me, they’d be like, who’s Naji? That’s my first name, legally. Kareen is my middle name.
I’m stepping forward with this project where people are getting to know me. I think I got to step into my whole truth. There’s this whole other side of me.
Like, I’m adopted. I wasn’t given a new name, but for whatever reasons, my adopted parents went with “Kareen,” and that’s what I know.
Naji was always just an entity in the room that I didn’t really know about, so that’s what I wanted to set forward with. I felt like the best way was my truth of who I actually am.
Those names are now gonna be side my side. NAJI by Kareen Lomax. I felt like that was how to put my best foot forward.
(Photo credit: Mancy Gant)
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SH: What do you feel are sort of the biggest themes of the album? What do you hope fans take away when they listen?
KL: I think the biggest thing for me is remembering that you get to tell the world who you are. You can’t let the world tell you who you are. Not even just confining you with labels, but knowing you’re your own person, that you’re allowed to exist and take up space.
I think a lot about truth and and being able to hold two truths at once. We’ve kind of divided it up into two worlds. I have the side of Naji, who’s more of an up-front, in-your-face approach, just saying the things that are on my mind. Then there’s Kareen, who’s kind of going through losing her family and the idea of bring strong and hurting at the same time. I can be in love, but also unsure.
Then there’s grief as the underlying thread throughout everything. There’s no right way to grieve, and there are also different types of grief.
SH: As you worked on the album and thought of your identity as these different sonic components, did you start thinking about yourself as these two distinct entities as well? Was there anything you learned about yourself along the way?
KL: Yeah, I definitely have like more of a Naji side and more of a Kareen side. And the biggest thing I learned is to let myself hope. That’s what makes me me, and embracing that, and not being as—I don’t want to say scared, I was never scared about talking about Naji or my origin story and where I come from—but being more open moving forward, because, unless someone saw it on my license or something, I never really spoke on Naji. I never really felt comfortable walking with that. I feel like I’m closer now, especially with this coming out.
SH: What’s your favorite song on the album?
KL: It’s always changing. For the longest time it was “somewhere in the world.” I think “apartment” is one of my favorites because sonically, it’s somewhere I’ve always wanted to go. I thought it was really just cool, and the way we did it was really intentional and interesting. “AOTW” is a good one.
So I would say it changes, but it started with “somewhere in the world.” That was my first song that I was like, “Oh, okay. We’re making something.”
And “remedy,” too.
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SH: Was there anything that surprised you about the process of recording and putting together your first album?
KL: How hard it is! No. No, it is a lot of work.
I think in music, you can always underestimate how much needs to be done. Music being the first part is the most important part to me, but what I know now is that unfortunately, in this world and this industry, in terms of the work, it’s just the beginning.
You really have to have a vision, and I underestimated how much you find yourself in the process of making a focused project. As creatives, we tend to dwindle. We can tend to wander and get off-track. But in making a focused body of work, what shocked me was hor much I found myself at this point in my life and in the process.
(Photo credit: Mancy Gant)
SH: We really love your song “OFFLINE.” What are some ways you personally get offline or get into the headspace where you’re able to disconnect from the noise?
KL: Nature. I don’t want to say you can’t escape the online noise, but it’s hard in this world.
But keeping my music human is important, and looking within myself to keep my creativity is how I stay offline.
And I love going outside. That’s why the album trailer, for both Kareen and Naji, we did outside. One was in a greenhouse. My favorite color is green and I love to be immersed in nature and trees and stuff, reminiscent of where I grew up.
SH: At the time of this interview, we’re one month out from the album’s release. How are you feeling about the debut?
KL: I don’t want to say I’m feeling relieved—like, let me get this over with!—but I definitely underestimated, how special it is to complete something that you started years ago. It’s keeping that in mind. I think I’m trying not to have any expectations. I have no idea how it’s going to be received. The main thing is I hope it reaches the people that need it.
You can listen to NAJI in full here:
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