Meet Miles from Kinshasa. Born in DRC and raised in London, with time also spent in France, his life has welcomed in a multitude of cultures which are all now reflected in his lively lyricism and laidback melodies. But as with many third culture kids, he’s been on a journey in order to bring out the best of his creativity and find a sound that’s true to him. And now he’s arrived.

The singer-songwriter reminisces on a childhood spent surrounded by music. “My parents always used to play Congolese records when I was younger and I’d go into the living room and pretend that I was on stage performing the songs,” he recalls. He grew up to become part of London’s grime scene and formed the duo Men Among Boys, which nurtured a strong foundation for his craft. Yet as a musician his longing for something more personal became profound. “At first, I didn't really know how to approach putting Congolese culture into my music. I was doing grime and rap and felt quite limited in how I could express myself all of me,” he admits. “When I decided that I wanted to produce and sing for myself, I finally delved deeper into questioning how I get my identity into my art.”

The first step was to come out as a solo artist under the catchily straight forward moniker Miles from Kinshasa. Ever since, he’s been working on cultivating a new genre-bending sound reflective of the technicolour of his life. The first fruits were his 2017 mini album ‘Limbo’, followed by the 2020 EP, ‘Beloved’, which was an emotional, honest and thought-provoking body of work coming from the perspective of a 20-something millennial. “That project was me just trying to refine what I'd done before and having fun with it as well because I'd gotten to a point where I was overthinking things,” he says.

Nostalgia has become a common device in his music, fusing rumba, pop synths “from way back” and soulful R&B hums to create a naturally cohesive sound. His approach is simply to give his audience “really, really good music” while challenging himself to continually experiment. “I've kept that same energy moving forwards into all my projects. Good music is very subjective but the best music becomes part of our lives.”

His 2021 single ‘Don’t Be An Opp’ in collaboration with his peer and friend Kadiata, is perhaps his most fully rounded project to date. The upbeat tune is reminiscent of “LA in the 80s” with nods to Congolese dramas. “It taught me a lot about taking your time and not rushing because me and Kadiata had that song sitting there for a year. We knew it was a banger but it was always like, how do we get this across?” The answer was making a must-watch video that takes place on a London housing estate and recreates a modern-day, Black West Side Story-line. In this reality, the girls take on the boys and armed only with gold-plated cassette tapes, the prize is not turf or love but excellent music. “Friendships were even made from that shoot,” he reminisces of the good vibes shared on set, where the girls most definitely won.

While Miles has now found his groove, it feels as if he’s only just touching the surface of his ideas with so much more to explore. “In any craft, you develop a formula for yourself or a workflow, and sometimes I throw that in the bin and try something else,” he says of his brave approach to music making. Proof is found on his new single ‘Glitchin’, produced by Kadiata, which he describes as “an exploration of toxic love but not just on a surface level.” Alsoupcoming his is a mixtape expected this Spring. So, keep on your toes because according to the Miles from Kinshasa: “I’ve only just begun showing people just how big my world is.”

‘Glitchin’ by Miles from Kinshasa is out now. Discover it here.

Photography Elena Cremona and Corey Chuck
Words Aswan Magumbe

Visit Miles from Kinshasa

Published on 15/04/2022