Khari Lucas, with his musical alias Contour, belongs to a striking group of young artists who blend the traditions of black music with a modern, avant-garde approach to songwriting. Having started out as a producer, he expanded his musical knowledge with albums such as ‘Onwards’ (2022), ‘Love Suite’ (2021) and ‘Weight’ (2021), in which he switches between genres and disciplines such as dark, sample-driven R&B , post-punk and new wave.
Despite these musical excursions, his sound remains recognizable, thanks to his voice, flow and candid lyrics, which in turn are strongly influenced by rap. Khari’s curiosity remains evident on his upcoming album ‘Take Off from Mercy’. This time he leaves the samples behind and focuses on guitar-driven songwriting, with a mix of blues, tropicalia, hip-hop, post-punk and indie rock. The album documents the lessons he learned along the way. Together with his co-producer Omari, Khari worked on the songs in various cities worldwide, with the central theme of transformation through migration.
After the album’s release this fall, he will embark on an extensive tour through the US, UK and Europe, including Amsterdam on February 11.