Artist Development
October 21, 2025
BJRNCK via 1824
BJRNCK has stepped back into the R&B scene like an older sister to all the lover girls, full of blunt honesty (a characteristic common to Chicagoans, she points out), nostalgia, and self-expression. In comparison to the fast-paced music industry, she has been nurturing her work and taking her time to be intentional with her releases, a testament to her desire to bring authenticity back into R&B.
Born Gennae Bewernick, the stage name BJRNCK essentially represents her brand. Refusing to be constrained to the boxes of assumptions attributed to her, had she continued to go by her previous alias, Tiahna Gennae, she opted for an intriguing name that alluded to coolness and fueled enough curiosity to look up.
BJRNCK’s music is an ode to her personal growth and trajectory, in relation to not only her love life but also her individual development. “The next single is kind of like me before I knew what I know now,” she teases, but admits that even her latest single, “Safety,” used to represent a materialistic vision of love in her eyes, encouraged by media portrayals of love and what we think it should be.
“Safety” is her most recent work out of her three releases this year, and it’s also earned the title of her personal favorite – even if it almost didn’t make the cut. “Club” and “Crazy” act as the previous chapters that string us along to “Safety.” Ultimately, the bundle represents different versions of her, constructing a coherent narrative: “Club” was the girl who was tired of the club and looking for love, and once she finally gets out of there, “Crazy” explains the infatuated emotions that accompany talking stages. “Safety” manifests itself in clearer communication and the act of letting one’s guard down, and allowing oneself to be loved. “It always felt like water,” referring to the blue reflective hues that dominate the music video.
On October 6th, BJRNCK announced the release of her debut album this month via Instagram – though the date is still to be revealed. When asked if her upcoming work would resemble anything she’s put out in the past, she swiftly confirmed this, referencing older songs like “Gennae” or “Expresso Martini,” both of which offer a stripped-down experience. “More than anything,” she adds, “I feel like my sound will catch up to my style.”
“I feel like how I choose to dress sometimes, like the Harley-Davidsons and the alternative type of vibe, the cross chains, the silver, those things like that, aren’t necessarily what you think when you listen to my music. (...) They’ll match. They’ll be a great way to mesh (...) like a Don Toliver-esque vibe.”
She wants her upcoming album to feel like riding on Mulholland Drive, capturing the essence of a road trip. To her, R&B has been in a sort of limbo of themes ranging from “I don’t want to be with this person” to “I’m on my single stuff,” and that’s where her music diverges, telling the story of wanting to be loved, wanting to love oneself, “but,” she stops, “I’m also not gonna take the… the BS. I’m not going to allow someone to walk all over me because I do love myself – It’s not the sad girl music,” that can be common to the genre. A lot of her songs have been the result of girl talk in the studio sessions, realising that similar stories and experiences are shared across womanhood. She wishes to convey through her music “a story that all women want to say.”
BJRNCK’s artistry comes fully fleshed out in evolution and self-awareness. Her upcoming debut album seems to signal not only a sound inspired by her previous experiences but also the comeback of an artist fully aligned with her identity: she’s grounded, confident, and unafraid to redefine today’s expectations of R&B. Let’s just say there’s a reason why she was nominated for a Grammy.
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