Kamaal Williams

Henry Wu, Yussef Kamaal, Wu Funk

Henry Williams was born on December 14, 1989 in Peckham, South London, went to Dulwich College and studied music production and keyboard at the Bermondsey Centre of Southwark College. He records as Henry Wu, a house and broken beat producer from 2011, and as Kamaal Williams for his band and solo work; he said in 2018 that Henry Wu is his ethnic background and Kamaal his spiritual background. Around 2007 he met the drummer Yussef Dayes. His early records include Stir Fry Beats (2012) and WU15 (2015).

Black Focus (November 4, 2016, Brownswood), by Yussef Kamaal, began as a rehearsal of his solo material for a Boiler Room gig and was recorded at Quartermass Studios with Malcolm Catto producing; Metacritic scores it 82, and the duo won the 2017 Jazz FM Awards Breakthrough Act. On May 4, 2017 they announced the original line-up would no longer perform together. His solo The Return (2018, Black Focus Records) was improvised from seeds, jammed for around 20 minutes and then edited over six months, he told Bandcamp Daily, with Pete Martin on bass, Josh McKenzie on drums and Richard Samuels engineering. Mixmag ranked Black Focus Records the best label of 2018. He made DJ-Kicks (2019), Shades of Wu (2020), the Phone Call EP (2022) and Stings (2023), and co-wrote "Homies" with Fred again.. in 2021.

He rejects the jazz label and calls his music the essence of the London Underground. Wu Hen (July 24, 2020) is the album he calls a revolution of the mind and a spiritual rebellion. He names Miles Davis, Coltrane, Herbie Hancock, Jamiroquai, Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd and J Dilla as influences. A monthly NTS show as Henry Wu, El Primo, ran from January 2019 to April 2020.