Profile | Singer-songwriter who worked with Lil Durk, Kid Cudi and K-pop stars prefers producer role

Australian Chelsea Warner, 22, is leaving the mic for a behind-the-scenes role. ‘The option to be an artist will always be there,’ she says

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Australian Chelsea Warner talks about collaborating with artists, including Chinese singer Tia Ray and US rappers Kid Cudi and Lil Durk, and why she is focusing on music production. Photo: Megan Donnelly

Published: 4:15am, 18 Jun 2024Updated: 11:46am, 18 Jun 2024

Twenty-two-year-old Sydneysider Chelsea Warner is a producer, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist who has travelled the world making music with the likes of American rappers Kid Cudi and Lil Durk, fellow Australian Guy Sebastian, Chinese singer Tia Ray, and now, K-pop stars.

“There is always plenty to talk about and there are always places to find inspiration,” says Warner, on a video call from her hotel room in Seoul, South Korea. “Being a songwriter is very much about narrating the way you view the world, and the way you move through life.”

When we spoke last month, Warner was at a songwriting camp hosted by Kreation Music Rights, the new publishing arm of SM Entertainment, which manages some of K-pop’s hottest groups, including Aespa, Super Junior and Girls’ Generation.

Three weeks earlier, she was at an invitational in Bali, Indonesia, making music with MNEK, Smoko Ono and Khris Riddick-Tynes in a five-star villa in Ubud. After our chat, she is flying to California.

Chelsea Warner - Nervous (feat. Emalia) (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)

Before finding herself as a musician with the schedule of a diplomat, Warner was a solo artist with a burgeoning reputation in Australia. Her debut single, “How Come You Don’t Pick Up Your Phone”, released when she was only 18, epitomises her R&B sound and no-nonsense lyrical style.