One of the UK’s most compelling rising R&B artists and producers, Qendresa, has quietly stepped into the spotlight with major contributions across Drake’s surprise companion projects Habibti and Maid of Honour, both released alongside Iceman via OVO Sound and Republic Records.
The North-West London artist, whose name is pronounced “Chen-Dre-Sa,” appears as a featured artist on Habibti’s “Slap The City” while also contributing vocals to “Gen 5,” “Fort Worth” featuring PARTYNEXTDOOR, and “Stuck” from Maid of Honour. Spread across both releases, her appearances create a subtle connective thread throughout the projects, showcasing the emotionally textured songwriting, atmospheric vocal delivery, and genre-blurring production instincts that have steadily made her one of the underground’s most respected emerging voices.
The releases form part of Drake’s surprise triple-project rollout for Iceman, an expansive 43-track body of work featuring collaborators including Future, 21 Savage, Sexyy Red, Central Cee, Molly Santana, and Popcaan. Amid a lineup packed with globally recognized names, Qendresa’s repeated presence across the projects signals a major creative endorsement while positioning her among a select group of standout contributors across the trilogy.
The moment arrives shortly after the release of her recent double single, “Rain In July” / “Be the One,” which dropped earlier this month through Dream City Discs. Accompanied by an anime and comic-inspired visual directed by Sofire and animated by Liffia, the release further expanded the immersive creative universe Qendresa has been steadily building through previous projects like Midnight Request Line and Londra.
While the collaboration with Drake may feel sudden publicly, the relationship has reportedly been developing behind the scenes for years. Both OVO Radio and Sound42 have consistently championed her music, with Drake eventually reaching out directly earlier this year to begin collaborating. According to Qendresa, “Slap The City” became the first record they created together and remains one of her favorite sessions from the experience.
“OVO Radio and Sound42 have been so supportive of my music, so hearing from Drake himself was a really special moment — so many summers soundtracked to Drake,” she shared. “‘Slap The City’ was the very first song we collaborated on and one of my personal favourites. He is a generational artist and brilliant A&R, and I’m very grateful to be part of it all across both Habibti and Maid Of Honour.”
Long regarded as an “artist’s artist” within underground music circles, Qendresa has built a reputation through emotionally raw songwriting, self-produced electronic soul, and a sonic identity that resists easy categorization. Her work consistently merges intimate, diaristic lyricism with club-rooted production influences, creating music that feels equally suited for solitary late-night listening and immersive underground spaces.
That distinct approach has already earned admiration from artists spanning multiple worlds, including Lil Yachty and Deftones, both of whom have publicly supported her work. Her growing presence across Habibti and Maid of Honour feels less like a breakthrough moment and more like the next natural step for an artist who has spent years carefully refining a singular creative voice.
With these latest credits, Qendresa further establishes herself as one of the most intriguing multidisciplinary artists emerging from the UK’s alternative R&B and electronic landscape — collaborative yet unmistakably individual, understated yet increasingly impossible to ignore.