If she looks exotic, she is: 21-year-old Dua Lipa was born in London to ethnic Albanian parents from Kosovo (her dad is Kosovar rock singer Dukagjin Lipa).

Though the family went back to Kosovo when Dua—Albanian for “love”—was 13, she returned on her own to London at 16 and began to model, work as a hostess and seek out her music-industry break.

Given her bee-stung lips, bluesy voice and tall and slinky drop-dead-gorgeous looks, said break should have been a foregone conclusion. Now that Warner Bros. Records has signed her, the singles have been coming out one after another: “Be the One” and “Hotter Than Hell” below, and her newest, “Blow Your Mind (Mwah)” above. Her first album is due in 2017.

“I write about the dramas I’ve seen, the dark side of nightlife,” Lipa says. “It’s a good time to be making music that is seductive and sweet but doesn’t sugar-coat it. There are so many great new girls, and we’re able to tell the truth now about what being a teenager is really like. Before, everyone was singing about how amazing it all was. We’re bringing a bit more realness.”