Kamal is a 20 year old singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Harlesden. Born in London to Caribbean-British parents, he began playing piano at six and writing songs shortly after. Raised around the eclectic sounds of his mum’s shuffle MP3 player and his dad’s collection of Jazz and Neo-soul records, Kamal found his own style inspired by artists ranging from Radiohead to Sade.
While still at school Kamal wrote his first official single ‘homebody’ in 2020 during the winter school break. Centered around the mental state of being a recluse, the release timing proved somewhat serendipitous, dropping one week before lockdown was enforced, becoming an bittersweet anthem to a collective experience of isolation. Launching alongside a video shot by The Rest (slowthai) the track was streamed over 1 million times in its first month entering the viral charts in the UK, Canada and Australia while selling out three drops of ‘homebody’ tees.
Kamal followed up with ‘blue’ just a few months later, a rich R&B offering, untangling the feelings that come with being totally overwhelmed by someone. Once again hitting over 1 million listens in its first month the track resonated with the likes of Billie Eilish occupying the number 1 spot during her spotify playlist takeover, and climbing the International and R&B chart in Korea after a slew of local co-signs.
He began 2021 with his first feature appearance, alongside multi award-winning musician, Dave, on his track ‘Mercury.’ After much acclaim, the introspective cut landed Kamal both his first entry in to the UK Top 40, and Radio 1 A List.
Kamal’s debut EP ‘war outside’ earnt him an Ivor Novello ‘Rising Star’ nomination. Largely co-produced by Kamal alongside J Moon, the project was heralded as ‘an immaculate introduction’ by CLASH, ‘easily one of the most progressive releases of 2021’ by Complex UK, with GQ dubbing him a ‘teen prodigy turned Britain’s king of bedroom Pop.’
In 2022, Kamal fronted two campaigns with Converse, performed live on Jools Holland and completed his first UK Tour and festival run, this included a sold-out Village Underground show, and being hand-picked by Dua Lipa to play to an audience of 15,000 at Sunny Hill Festival.
Kamal has accumulated over 225 Million streams, with Vogue heralding him as one of the musicians set to rule 2022. He starts 2023 with the release of brand new single ‘essential’ which spirals from a brooding account of a dysfunctional relationship, into an eruption of freedom that comes with such reflection, punctuated by an explosive production switch.
With this single Kamal also announces his second mixtape ‘so here you are, drowning’ to be released on March 17th (announcement embargoed until Jan 12th)
Kamal.
Language
- English (United States)
- 日本語
