Heavily influenced by D’Angelo, Kumail also cites Marvin Gaye, James Brown, Curtis Mayfield, J Dilla, Erykah Badu and Aretha Franklin, as musical inspirations. “The list is long, but it all comes back to that old school soul energy.”
Starting out in 2015, Kumail rapidly ascended to the forefront of India’s burgeoning electronic music scene, on two distinct and parallel paths - as a prolific DJ, and as a gifted bandleader, drawing expansive canvases of rhythm, texture and emotion. Kumail frequented local music venues, rubbing shoulders with musicians, “and it kinda snowballed from there.” he says. With no formal musical training, he says music “just came to me naturally.”
His debut album Yasmin, released on Bastard Jazz Recordings, saw support from Rolling Stone, Grazia, GQ, Red Bull, Afropunk, Resident Advisor, Bandcamp Daily, Score Magazine, Platform Mag and Wild City. Kumail has opened for the likes of Kamasi Washington, Four Tet, Teebs and Mount Kimbie, and had support from Boiler Room, COLORS, Sofar Sounds, DJ Mag and Resident Advisor. After a few years’ hiatus spent in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, pursuing a lifelong dream of building and running a restaurant, Kumail is now signed to Tru Thoughts for the next chapter in his musical journey.
