El Khalil Yaaqoubi “Qaayel” is a Moroccan songwriter, singer and Producer
He was born on 18/04/1997 in Kenitra where He grew up, his childhood was rocked by the sounds of Sinatra, MJ, The Beatles, The Doors, Jimmy Hendrix, ... because the music was very present in the family home. This is how Qaayel (pronounced "Kyle") awakened his musical ear and developed his singing vocation.
At the age of 12, he discovers the robots ... Daft Punk! This electronic music intrigues and fascinates him, to the point that he downloaded a production software (Fruity Loops Studio). He begins to compose sounds, a little house, indie dance ... He learned alone to master this software. As a teenager, he spent hours and hours writing, mixing, and composing ...
Qaayel (mash between his first and last name) does not follow the classical course in a music school. He can play some instruments or as he like a to say it “ i can jam on a couple of instruments but it’s nothing too serious (drums, piano, guitar, bass ...). Even if he does not know how to read the music , his genius allows him to understand and tame the music in his own and unique way.
In 2015, he started writing his own songs and sends them to vocalists but nobody can find that "vibe" and "feeling" he had in mind when composing his songs. That's why he decided to sing his own creations and that's how the Qaayel project began!
His alternative music is a mix of what inspires him on a daily basis : Pop, hip-hop, movie scores, video games themes , ... He also draws his inspiration from artists such as Jon Bellion, J-Dilla, Bastille , Lauv, ..., his style is also special. He breaks the basic model (chorus, verses), he composes according to his inspiration and there is always a correlation between his various texts: Qaayel tells a story! Between fictions and real feelings. He expresses moments of his life, regrets, anxieties, thing he wish he could’ve said in sometimes where he just stood still and watched everything slip through his fingers...
Rather reserved in everyday life, his expression and his reflection translate into verses and songs. Qaayel has subtly fun to disseminate coded messages through his writings, his clips or Instagram: It creates an interaction with its audience.
His imagination and unparalleled talent make him an artist unlike any other, specially in his hometown , with unlimited potential. His universal music is a mix of everything and nothing, both complex and simple ... his style is indescribable ... in short, it's QAAYEL!
In April 19 He dropped Ceiling Talk EP:
only a day after his 22nd birthday , Qaayel Dropped a 7songs EP , to talk about all those moments when you’re sleepless , facing the ceiling , thinking a hole in it. That’s what ceiling talk stands for.
7 songs that are far cry from Each Other , cause in this EP he really wanted to focus on showcasing bot his creativity and productivity.
Couple months after releasing the EP , Qaayel released a song called by my side , and took off to Budapest to play Europe’s Largest Festival “Sziget”
He is currently working on his Debut album “KYLE” .
Qaayel is describing the ep as something “similar to the Ceiling talk ep” but more “mature” , weird and quite experimental.
“KYLE is the upcoming ep , and I’m working on making it something that would have some impact in the pop music scene in morocco / north africa , maybe the arab world , i wanna make pop music here something more fresh and creative , it’s about time we drop recycling the same old song over and over “
