Get to know: Khamari

Photo taken by Rachel Blackman

A debut album is personal, it’s an opportunity for an artist to reintroduce themselves to their fans and a wider audience, and with A Brief Nirvana, rising R&B singer/songwriter Khamari took the time to compose an intricate body of work documenting his personal experiences during a period of stillness birthed from Lockdown when the world stopped moving.

Thoughtful and insightful, however the need to move, for motion and agency is ever-present. The album is an honest take on a young generation that is still feeling the effects of isolation and, can’t help but look at things with cynicism at times and frustration with the state of the direction his life is taking and the pace it’s setting.

Catching the Boston-born musician as he enjoys LA’s warm gaze, we immediately start discussing the rapid approach of summer and the chaos it brings. “I feel with summer comes a lot of energy, in a lot of ways.”, Khamari shares.

Such as being drawn out to attend the social aspect by friends and family, balancing that with the demands of work and everything else that gets thrown at you it is fair to agree that sometimes there’s simply not enough time.

The album was released in spring, right on the cusp of summer in May, I ask Khamari to think back to that exciting time. "It was a good time; I spent the last two years building up to this point. It’s always weird when you’re working on something for a very long time, and you then have to put it out in some type of final way."

“Because” he continues, “I’m the type of person who’s trying to tweak and perfect the way that it sounds and the way it’s presented. It’s a little bit like a release of control.’

The title of the album A Brief Nirvana is a line taken from the track ‘Drifting’, explaining what the project means to him, Khamari says “Throughout the project. And in all the songs. I’m sort of going through a bunch of situations that I’ve been in these last couple of years and I felt that were important to speak on.”

One of those experiences beings the move from Boston to Los Angeles, “but I’m also touching on anxiety and things that kind of weighed on me in a way; and were waiting to be spoken about.”

Explaining further on that line, “It’s kind of just imagine what it would be like without all of those anxieties that weigh on you. So, for me A Brief Nirvana is a moment without all the things that make you anxious, that makes you worry, drag you down and feel that your kind of lagging with life.”

The project is relatable due to its honest outlook on life and the expression of frustration and dissatisfaction that is felt due to the lack of progress Khamari, like a lot of us, feels we are not where we want to be.

“It definitely comes from the perspective of we all did go through a lot. It’s a story I started to tell during the peak of covid, so it is coming from a very isolated and singular headset that I was in.”

“There’s room in the last song ‘Requiem’ to kind of question that mindset and to say okay, what’s coming next? It does feel like we’re on the horizon of something different.”

And interestingly that transition from not quite being able to articulate how you feel at the very beginning on ‘WaX Poetry’ to the realisation that has been hinted at in moments during the project but finally clicks on the last track that we’re in the midst of something happening is a specular listening experience.

Wax Poetry is about the need to truly express yourself through your music, and the obsession to get the right version. “On some of the songs I was trying to get the right voice and the right perspective to tell the story I wanted to tell. So I wrote the songs a hundred times, I reproduced the sounds around the songs a hundred times and changed different things to make it sit right.”

Circling back on the idea of singularity, I pointed out that at times, the project feeling quite timeless. sonically it draws inspiration from soul and Motown artists from the 80s and 90s. You can hear elements of Nina Simone on ‘Drifting’ and the spirit of Al Green’s ‘Love and Happiness’ on ‘On my way’.

Distinct sounds have been with Khmari since he was growing up. “For me, it was more about finding the right music to tell the story, and to also help maybe introduce people to things that aren’t necessarily easy to access today.

“And I mean in a sense that you might not go out of your way to find them”, he adds. “I think a lot of my favourite artists J.Cole or Kanye, produce in their artistry and introduce their audience to things that they wouldn’t necessarily be exposed to without them.”

The decision to lean in towards his influences, rather than shy away is also rooted in the reasoning that “what people get wrong sometimes is that they feel they need to invent the wheel and I think once you realise everything has been done and we’re all sampling and interpreting concepts that we’ve already heard on songs.”

What’s shaped the project isn’t just music influences but personal ones. We are taken aback by a moment of intergenerational dialogue between Khamari and his grandfather who speaks to Khamari via an audio recording on 'Doctor, My Eyes', Khamari empathised with the value of having deep meaningful conversations of substance and seeking advice from older generations.

“I think part of the thing that going through covid made us realise was we were all, during covid, in covid, pre and after covid were kind of struggling to create new relationships in a quickly changing generation.”

“By this I kind of mean, in the way, we use social media, and I definitely feel that it feels very singular intentionally, but I also wanted to highlight that it’s also about trying to find a connection.”

“He (grandfather) has always supported my interest in music from a very young age. He was the first person who brought me a keyboard.”

“I was making music in his attic, Khamari says. “I had a little studio and mixer set up in there before I made the move to LA. So, he’s always been very supportive of me and I always go to him for advice.”

A Brief Nirvana is a relatable body of work that lives with the uncomfortability of growth, and the acceptance of the journey never-ending. It also in a way deals with the mourning and loss of an old self and the freedom found in expression.

Laughing lightly, he answers a short but sweet “Nah”, when I ask him if he feels lighter in the aftermath of the project being released. “I’m always thinking what stories I am going to tell next and how I am going to present them.”

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