Birth name Anup K Paul Labels Paul Institute Genre Pop | Siblings Jai Paul | |
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Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter, record producer, instrumentalist Similar Jai Paul, NAO, Sam Smith, Emeli Sandé, Jimmy Napes Profiles | ||
Anup K. Paul is an English singer, songwriter, producer, engineer, mixer and recording artist from Rayners Lane, United Kingdom. He and his brother Jai Paul, along with Muz Azar formed the collective called the "Paul Institute" in 2016.
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2007–2011
A.K. was heavily involved with the production and background vocals of brother Jai Paul's single "BTSTU". Which received widespread blog coverage throughout 2010, and has been played on UK national radio by DJs including Gilles Peterson, Zane Lowe, Nick Grimshaw, Reggie Yates and Fearne Cotton. "BTSTU" was said to be released by A.K. Paul.
2012
On 30 March 2012, A.K. co-designed, co-wrote, and did the bass for Jai Paul's new demo release titled "Jasmine" via his personal SoundCloud page. The demo was given an official release via XL on 9 April 2012. Pitchfork featured the song as a "Best New Track" within an hour of its release, and as a result, the track gained 500,000 plays on SoundCloud within a month. On 2 April, Zane Lowe played "Jasmine" on BBC Radio One, who chose it as his "Next Hype Track." On 9 April, Annie Mac named it her "Record of the Week." "Jasmine" received critical acclaim in the media, with The New York Times praising its "Prince era sensuality" and The Guardian describing the production as "amazing." "Jasmine" would also appear in the 2013 video game Grand Theft Auto V.
2014
A.K. Paul collaborated with Hackney vocalist Nao on a song called "So Good".
In November, Miguel posted a photo of himself with A.K Paul and his brother Jai Paul on Instagram, marking a rare appearance from both artists.
Also in November, singer Jones collaborated with A.K. on a song called "You". "It’s significantly more dialed-down and intimate when compared to “So Good”, but every bit as captivating. Jones’ voice is both airy and striking, flowing over Paul’s warm backdrop of crystalline synths and steady percussions."
2015
A.K. returned with another production credit. This time on Miguel's album Wildheart (album) for the song "FLESH".
2016
In March 2016, A.K. and his brother Jai, along with Muz Azar announced the Paul Institute. This was accompanied by the release of the single "Landcruisin'", a song by A.K., via text messages and a website.
"Landcruisin'" is the first release from Paul Institute. The song premiered on Zane Lowe's Beats 1 radio show before receiving digital, streaming, and 7-inch vinyl releases. Most music critics gave the song favorable reviews, comparing it to the works of Prince, D'Angelo, and Miguel, saying it matched expectations. It managed to enter the Billboard Twitter Emerging Artists chart.
James Vincent McMorrow reached out to A.K. Paul after listening to "Landcruisin'", calling it "a huge record". James asked Anup to put his own twist on the lead single from We Move, "Rising Water". The result was something extraordinary, James wrote in a statement to Complex. "He said to me after it was done that he's never done something like this before, lifted an entire vocal from an already written and produced song and then flipped the chord structure and premise of the song."