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Five years into his journey and still every inch the pop prodigy, writer, producer and performer Kamal. is blooming into a creative powerhouse. With new single, ‘hurt people’, focusing on the music is clearly paying off. Check out the latest cover story for our New Music Friday playlist edit, PLAY.
Words: Martyn Young.
Ever since he emerged as a precocious 16-year-old with a stunning voice, exquisite songs and an innate ability to forge a truly resonant connection with his raw and intimate songs, Kamal. has been a prodigy. The multi-talented producer, writer, singer, and performer from Harlesden in North West London has packed a lot into the last five years, including landmark collaborations with Dave and Central Cee, an Ivor Novello nomination, and two gorgeous EPs, including the evocative and dreamy R&B soundscapes of last year’s ‘so here you are, drowning’.
As he gears up for a year full of new music and bold ambition with a striking new single, ‘hurt people’, Kamal. ponders from his garden shed converted home studio just where the time has gone since his breakout arrival.
“It feels sometimes as if I’ve only been doing it for a year or two years. I started when I was 16, and now I’m 21, so that’s five years, which is crazy,” he reflects. “Honestly, I’m not sure if this will ever change, but I still feel like I’m in the same position, always treating myself as a satellite for whatever art I’m consuming. I want to soak it up like a sponge and recycle it. I don’t want to overthink my position numerically or what my objective trajectory has been from the outside. I’m more thinking step by step, me as a creative individual, and how I can satisfy that need and drive I have to be making new and exciting things and things that satisfy me. Because that’s the way I look at it, I don’t get too bogged down about the other stuff connected to it. I really try to keep it music-centric still.”
There’s an inescapable sense that Kamal. is an artist wise beyond his years, enlightened and perfectly attuned to his creative instincts and with a voracious appetite to challenge himself. “As I’m growing, I’m becoming more confident in myself and my ability as an artist to put my emotional expression into form,” he explains. “I’m enjoying it as I evolve. I’m taking it however it comes and not trying to restrict that process to any one lane.”
An illustration of his desire to challenge his artistry and put all of himself out there is the run of solo piano shows he performed in January, including two headline shows at the Tabernacle in London, a perfect showcase for his tender and delicate yet rich and rousing music.
“I’m loosely talking about working towards an album now”
Kamal.
“It’s about combining sounds I’ve gotten to know in the past and making an amalgamation of those that feel like the purest and most me,” he says of his developing creative process. “I’m definitely getting there now. I’m loosely talking about working towards an album now; I’m getting some themes and different sonic pallets. I’m thinking about the way that I create songs because some of the songs have more of a studio vibe, and some will be more at home, just me and the keys. I’m almost trying to combine all of those and see which bits I align with most, describe me or epitomise me the most, and lean into that so I can get the crux of the emotion that I want to get out. That’s where we’re at now. I’m definitely getting there with a few of the songs I have coming up. I’m finally getting into that stride and finding a real place to sit in.”
For Kamal., expression and creativity are central to his songs as he continues to explore and develop his voice both musically and lyrically. “The best artists are ever-evolving,” he says. “You don’t ever want to let yourself become stagnant or too comfortable sitting in a certain sonic or lyrical space. It’s important to remember that what we’re engaging in is a more embellished form of expression that we lean into from day to day.
“I treat music as trying to encapsulate the emotions that a conversation might not be able to. There are other ways to talk than just words, and some of those are through chords or different sounds. If I look at it that way and remember what I came into it for, it’s very difficult for me to feel like I’m getting too stuck or just sit still in a sound. It’s definitely always about staying completely open as an artist and just being captive and allowing the ideas to flow through you rather than feeling that you’re having to think about how you have to dictate the emotions.”
His new single ‘hurt people’ is an encapsulation of all those undulating powerful emotions that drive his music. “It’s a play on the idiom that hurt people, hurt people. It’s using that as a way to paint a picture and a story of a relationship, which is the same relationship that I’ve spoken about in the previous song I released called ‘Still A Little Something’,” he explains as he illustrates the connective tissue that links his music together. “It’s a philosophy that I carry with me in the way that I look at the world. It’s often difficult to lay full blame on someone for their actions because so many things are reactions rather than original actions, and I thought that was a really interesting concept to try and write about. Even when you’ve been damaged by someone, it can be difficult to fully reject them as a person because you’re aware that the reason they did that to you is because they’ve experienced their own share of pains and tribulations.”
“Sometimes I’ve been like, wow, I can’t believe I said that in a song – it’s the most liberating feeling”
Kamal.
The single’s release is part of a plan to drop more exciting new music throughout the year that finds Kamal. exploring different ways to harness the rich emotion and feeling in his music. “I’ve got a few songs that I’m sitting on that I’m really excited to drop that I just need to make sure I’m dropping in the right way so they can be received as I’d like them to,” he says excitedly. “I’m finding a way to talk about the shit that I want to talk about in the most succinct and effective way that I can.”
“I’ve got some material coming that’s more honest in lots of ways and more raw than the stuff I’ve spoken about before,” he continues. “I’m a bit nervous but also excited to see how the audience receives that because it’s even more vulnerable than previous. Who’d have thought it?” he laughs.
Vulnerability just feels right for Kamal., though. “It feels very natural for me,” he says. “I’ve always been a person who wants to take those emotions and embrace them. That’s always been a no-brainer. Every time I make something that feels vulnerable, I have the addictive urge to share it. Sometimes, in retrospect, I’ve been like, wow, I can’t believe I said that in a song, and I can’t believe I let that part of myself out there for everyone to know, but at the same time, it’s the most liberating feeling that I can imagine and I love it for that.”
Five years might not seem a long time, but in terms of Kamal.’s sonic evolution, it’s an odyssey as he discovers more about himself and how to translate his art into the world with music as his guiding light. “Growing up and finding my place in the world has influenced the way that I write. If anything it’s made it feel more important to me. As you get older the world can feel a bit more dangerous and chaotic than you might have viewed it when you were young, or at least the dangers change and can have more depth. I’ve seen that as almost a challenge to try to translate that Into my art. It’s exciting to try and translate the more convoluted emotions and feelings I’m getting as I’m becoming older. My music is evolving and getting a bit wiser, which I’m enjoying.”
Becoming wise and learned has enabled Kamal. to make some smart decisions like surrounding himself with an enriching environment of creative people and collaborators like his recent team-ups with Humble The Great and Gglum, but you can’t just get by on being smart on its own, and it’s that assuredness and clarity of thought aligned with incredible raw talent that makes the future so exciting for an artist with big plans. “Keep your eye out,” he says excitedly with a smile as he offers just the slightest tease of a big year ahead. ■
Kamal.’s new single ‘hurt people’ is out now. Follow Dork’s PLAY Spotify playlist here.
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