A.K. Paul

Anup Kumar Paul (born 1986) is an English singer, songwriter and producer from London. Paul came to prominence in 2011 as a contributor to his brother Jai Paul's debut single "BTSTU (Edit)". The following year, he co-wrote the demo of Jai's single "Jasmine", as well as Big Boi's song "Higher Res".

Paul is the recipient of two Ivor Novello Awards, which he received in 2013 for his work on Emeli Sandé's single "Next to Me". A. K, Jai and Muz Azar then launched the Paul Institute, a record label and musical incubator; its first release was Paul's 2016 debut single, "Landcruisin'". In 2023, Paul performed live as a part of Jai's debut performances at Coachella and subsequent tour.

Early life A. K. Paul grew up in Rayners Lane, London, with his younger brother Jai Paul, also an acclaimed producer and songwriter. He is credited as a collaborator on Jai's early singles, and said that when Jai initially sent "BTSTU" to him, it "changed the way" he thought about music.

Career A. K. Paul was first credited as a co-writer on his brother Jai's debut and second single, which were released in 2011 and 2012. A. K. has worked with numerous artists as a musician, songwriter and producer. These include Nao, Sam Smith, Miguel, Foals, Big Boi, HIRA, Maverick Sabre, Jessie Ware, JONES, Daniel Avery, Wesley Joseph, Reinen, Ruthven, Kelela, and Emeli Sandé. Paul is a multi-instrumentalist and has often contributed bass parts to tracks, alongside production and songwriting credits. One of A. K.'s collaborators, NAO, said of the Paul brothers: "They've been sonic pioneers and broken all the rules about how you write, arrange and mix, but not at the expense of musicality. I think most artists working within alternative funk, R&B or indie music have tried to work out how they do it, but it's not anything you can recreate."

2010s Paul is credited as providing additional vocals and sound design on Jai Paul's demo recording "BTSTU", as well as mastering the track. The demo received widespread blog coverage throughout 2010, leading to significant UK national radio play. In 2011, Jai Paul's record label XL Recordings gave the demo an official release as "BTSTU (Edit)" to favourable reviews. He provided bass guitar and sound design for Jai Paul's 2012 release, "Jasmine (demo)", and also mastered the track, as with Jai Paul's debut release. "Jasmine (demo)" received critical acclaim in the media, with Pitchfork featuring the song as a "Best New Track" within an hour of its appearance on SoundCloud, The New York Times praising its "Prince era sensuality" and The Guardian describing the production as "amazing". The song appears on the soundtrack to the 2013 video game, Grand Theft Auto V.

Paul collaborated with Hackney vocalist Nao on a song called "So Good" in 2014. This was the first time Paul applied the moniker A. K. Paul. That November, singer Jones collaborated with A. K. on a song called "You". In 2015, A. K. provided production on Miguel's album Wildheart for the song "Flesh". He also co-wrote three songs on Maverick Sabre's second studio album Innerstanding.

In March 2016, A. K., Jai Paul and Muz Azar announced the Paul Institute, a record label and musical incubator. This was accompanied by the release of the single "Landcruisin'", a song by A. K. Paul, via text messages and a website. "Landcruisin'" was the Paul Institute's first release. 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 favourable reviews, comparing it to the works of Prince, D'Angelo, and Miguel. 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."

Paul collaborated with Guernsey born DJ Mura Masa with the track "Who Is It Gonna B" on Mura Masa's debut album. A. K. Paul also reached out to British R&B artist HIRA - working on production on the single "Eve" alongside Craze and Hoax. 2017 also saw the introduction of a new A. K. Paul demo track entitled "Be Honest" which was aired on an Apple Beats 1 broadcast of a live Mura Masa performance and DJ set.

2020s After a period of inactivity attributed to a legal fight, Paul released the final version of "Be Honest" in July 2020. He also worked on releases of Paul Institute artists Reinen and Ruthven, and appeared on two tracks from the album Friday Forever by Everything is Recorded, the musical project from XL Recordings label head, Richard Russell: "05:10 AM / Dream I Never Had", and "10:02 AM / Burnt Toast".

Paul uploaded a single on SoundCloud called "Cheers Mate" on 12 April 2021, which included a note that said: "additional voices from Reinen, K. Ustinov and 'Ohhh... yeah!' vox was recorded circa 1990, my dad on production."

He was credited as a producer (and additional producer) on four tracks from English rock band Foals' seventh album Life Is Yours, which released on 17 June 2022, via Warner/Transgressive/ADA. A.K. co-produced the track "Monsoon" on British artist Wesley Joseph's album GLOW, and was also featured in its music video. Paul Institute member Ruthven released his debut album Rough & Ready on 25 October 2025, for which Paul contributed writing and production for most songs.

Paul released a single "Watchin' U" on 22 May 2025, which had previously been teased in another Mura Masa Beats 1 Radio show in 2016. He co-wrote and co-produced the song "Ghostly" for another Transgressive Records artist, Miso Extra, which was released 19 February 2025, and released a new single, "We Get What We Deserve," in November 2025.

On 1 May, 2026, Paul hosted an NTS show celebrating the 10-year anniversary of "Landcruisin," and later in the month was announced as a collaborator on Kelela's "New Avatar" record.

Discography

2011-2019

2020-Present "Be Honest"A.K. PaulWriting/Production/Mixing/Mastering/VocalsPaul Institute - Summer 202028 July 2020 - -"Shadow Knight"ReinenWriting/ProductionPaul Institute - Summer 202029 July 2020 - -"Have You Decided?"RuthvenWriting/Production/Mixing/MasteringPaul Institute - Summer 202030 July 2020 - -"Cheers Mate"A.K. PaulWriting/Production/Mixing/Mastering/VocalsSoundCloud release12 April 2021 - -"Wake Me Up", "2001", "Summer Sky" and "Looking High"FoalsProductionLife Is Yours17 June 2022 - -"Monsoon"Wesley JosephProductionSecretly Canadian/EEVILTWINN20 April 2023 - -"Ghostly"Miso ExtraWriting/ProductionEarcandy19 February 2025 - -"Watchin' U"A.K. PaulWriting/Production/Mixing/Mastering/Vocals -22 May 2025 - -"We Get What We Deserve"A.K. PaulWriting/Production/Mixing/Mastering/Vocals -5 November 2025 - -"Outta time"KelelaProduction/CompositionNew Avatar10 July 2026 - -