HAWA B Just Broke the Language Barrier With “oui non I know”
The Montreal alt-pop visionary blurs French and English in a magnetic new single that turns instinct into art.
by Glenn Alderson
Photo by Charlotte Rainville
- Published on
HAWA B’s latest single, “oui non I know,” is a hypnotic tangle of voices, languages, and emotions—an irresistible bilingual anthem that captures the thrill of connection in real time.
True to her boundary-pushing blurry pop sensibilities that we grew to love on her 2024 LP, better sad than sorry, the Montreal-based artist layers French and English vocals over bright, kinetic production, creating something that feels both familiar and brand-new.
“I wrote this song in a writing camp with close friends who have different music backgrounds, different music direction. So I wanted something that we would all genuinely love,” Hawa B tells RANGE. “It was really easy to understand each other, so it inspired the lyrics. It felt like no matter how we were expressing what we wanted; in French, in English, frenglish, jibberish, with just facial expressions or noises, we got each other. Like when you know someone so much that you can almost read their minds and you know all the simple things that make them comfortable or happy.”
The song’s refrain—“oui ou non ou oui et non, oh oui oui, I know”—becomes a mantra for emotional honesty, where uncertainty sounds as seductive as confidence. It’s classic HAWA B: sharp, intuitive, and always a little cheeky. Check out the song’s accompanying music video where she is standing scantily clad in the middle of the frame surrounded by trippy cat memes and psychedelic antifa frogs and you’ll see what we mean.
“I wrote a canon in French and English that intertwines, which results in a soothing chaos,” she says. “Thats how I like my life: kinda geeky, surprising, and fucking up the rules — but in a very rigid way.”
With “oui non I know,” HAWA B bridges language and feeling with effortless charm. It’s something only she can do, and we’re here for it.
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