Leven Kali is the definition of versatility — an artist whose sound drifts fluidly between funk, soul, and R&B, blending eras to create something both timeless and modern. Born in the Netherlands and raised in California, Kali grew up surrounded by music. His family of musicians exposed him early to everything from Donny Hathaway and Led Zeppelin to 70s funk and soul. Whether it was the feature on “Flex” from Playboi Carti’s self-titled project or his major production and writing credits on Beyoncé’s 2022 album, Renaissance. Or perhaps it was writing credits on Drake’s More Life album on the song “Do Not Disturb,” sampling a track he wrote with singer Snoh Aalegra. That wide palette shaped the artist he is today. With his new single, “P Funkentelechy,” a European tour, and a highly anticipated project, LK99, on the horizon, Kali is entering what may be the most defining chapter of his career. When we spoke at a press conference hosted by 1824, his energy reflected a balance of excitement and reflection, the kind that comes from an artist who’s both evolving and deeply in tune with his creative core.
The ‘tide’ concept runs through Kali’s projects, including Leven Kali: Low Tide and HIGHTIDE, suggesting that natural forces carry a lot of metaphorical weight in his storytelling. With LK99 approaching, Kali said his love of water and how water is like love itself play into this ongoing narrative arc:
I’m, like, a closet nerd. And I love learning about water and the role that it plays in our lives, like on a big scale, small scale, spiritual way and in a literal way. I’m always trying to incorporate that into the music and the nines on ‘LK99’ is a very spiritual number.
That fascination with water isn’t just symbolic for Kali– it’s the foundation of his worldview. He sees it as both a spiritual and creative force, one that continually shapes how he approaches art. This curiosity extends far beyond music, spilling into his love for film, literature, and science.
Any time I’ve had writer’s block or anything like that, I’ll get frustrated and I’ll be like, oh my God, it’s the end of the world. And then I remember, oh, I just have to get inspired again. And that could come from anything, whether it’s a good conversation with somebody, watching a movie, reading a book, learning about a new concept, you know, whatever. For me in the last year and change that I’ve been working on this LK99, I’ve really been diving into that topic of water, the Masaru Emoto experiments. If you guys have seen that Japanese scientist that was freezing water and taking pictures of the molecules after he would play certain music for it. And then also I have a friend of mine who’s a jeweler and travels the world and makes jewelry for incredible people. He’s a super interesting guy. He was putting me onto The Autobiography of a Yogi, which is a book written by Paramahansa Yogananda. That book was like a big gateway for me into meditation and yoga and Hinduism and a lot of Eastern philosophy and I’ve been heavy into that as well.
As his influences expanded, so did his sound. The experimental textures and psychedelic tones that define LK99: The Prelude reflect Kali’s exploration of consciousness, spirituality, and sonic freedom.
I think just like living life in a more psychedelic way made that happen. There’s an artist named Todd Rundgren that I started listening to a lot. And he has some really trippy, interesting sounding stuff out there. Earth, and fire, from a spiritual standpoint, like how they incorporate a lot of that and like the symbolism, just like exploring these topics, like listening to music and seeing the artists that we love. I feel like you can see the arc of people’s careers and they get more experimental and they just try new sounds and get new gear and things start sounding different. I’m just having fun and these sounds are tickling my brain and then I record them and put them in the songs.
Collaboration has always been central to Kali’s evolution. Whether crafting his own projects or working with major artists, he thrives on organic, in-person chemistry, something that became clear when he recalled the spontaneous session with A$AP Rocky that led to “Flex.”
On the spot [he] called Carti to the studio and had a vision of Carti doing a more emotional kind of record. He was just liking what I was playing and then he just set us up in the studio together and we spent that whole day and night just cooking up and coming up with the idea together. It was super organic. I feel like at a time where a lot of people were doing things, you know, like sending records from studio to studio or whatever, and not really being in person, we really made it together in person and had a great time. And then that night randomly, Kendrick Lamar came into the studio. We were recording that song and maybe he blessed it a little bit unintentionally and helped it.
Kali recently featured as a vocalist on Disclosure and Chris Lake’s house track, “one2three”, and as someone who is an avid house music listener, I was curious as to how someone who predominately makes music that blends funk, jazz, alternative, and R&B find themselves on a tune with two renowned DJs. Kali was introduced to house music nearly a decade ago and met plenty of DJs in the industry, including Chris Lake, during the pandemic to feature on an upcoming project. Kali showed his appreciation towards the genre and how it blends sounds, but he felt that the world of EDM was too separated from typical mainstream music.
And I was thinking to myself a lot around then like, damn, there’s gotta be a way for these worlds to merge and to bring the soul and R&B into house or vice versa. I started making records that I felt were a modern version of. maybe what the 70s felt like with Studio 54 when a lot of the disco stuff was such a blend of people partying together. You had celebrities and people, white, black, whatever, all different types of sexual orientations and class and everything like everybody was just partying [to] the same music and that music was also billboard charting, cracking music.
Kali said he “put an intention out into the universe” to replicate that era and almost like destiny, he connected with house DJ’s and artists from varying genres who had the same desire he did. This manifestation of inclusion led him to collaborations with Beyonce, SG Lewis, and now Disclosure and Chris Lake.
While his artistic versatility might suggest a lifelong devotion to music, Kali’s path wasn’t always straightforward. Before committing to the studio, he was chasing a very different dream: golf.
It was really the end of high school for me that I started producing music. I was playing a lot of music and jazz band. But then once I started making beats and recording and then performing those songs, it was like a light bulb went off in my head of like, wow, this really brings me the most joy and feels like when people talk about purpose, you know, it made me feel like I was walking on the path of my purpose when I was making music in a way that I thought I felt with golf. It was a feeling I hadn’t felt before and I had to chase that.
Over time, the studio became his sanctuary, but the stage became his true home. Performing live, Kali says, offers a kind of connection that no recording can replicate.
It becomes a conversation with the crowd and you’re really in front of people in real life and you can speak to people and they can feel you. I can totally tell the difference when, you know, people respond to me about music they’ve heard from me versus in person when I get off stage or someone’s like sending me a message about being at a show. I feel the energy that you get in real life is irreplaceable. It’s just the opportunity to connect with people in such a more special way. Nothing can replace that live exchange of energy. You can’t really do that just through the studio.
As our conversation came to a close, Kali’s focus returned to the future, specifically to LK99, the next wave of his evolving sound and storytelling.
I think that you could expect more of this genre gumbo for sure. There’s a whole lot of stuff going on on the project and the story continues. I feel like I’m telling a couple different stories on the project and they start to evolve and get explained more as the EP merges into the rest of the album. I think something you’ll hear more of is a little bit more of like a rock sound as well, which I’m really excited to bring out.
As Leven Kali steps into this next era, his music continues to mirror his own evolution — fluid, genreless, and full of soul. LK99 represents not just another project, but the continuation of a creative philosophy rooted in curiosity, spirituality, and connection. Whether he’s blending funk with house, experimenting with psychedelic tones, or channeling natural forces into sound, Kali remains guided by the same principle that’s carried him from high school jazz bands to global stages: to create freely and live with intention.
