Kamaria Sarai Is Bringing the Soul Back, One Soft Kiss at a Time

Kamaria Sarai's voice first found its footing in church, where she began singing at seven years old. Raised on Long Island by parents of Jamaican and Haitian descent, she grew up steeped in soul, jazz, hip hop and R&B — a musical foundation that would shape everything to come. It wasn't until her early twenties, when an older cousin brought her into the studio, that things clicked. As she describes it, that session was the first time she felt truly free and in control of her own life. Her path hasn't been a straight line. In 2016, serious respiratory health issues and other health scares put her music on hold for several years. After recovering, and after having her son Heruquinn, Kamaria says she recognized it as a second chance to walk in her purpose. She returned with her first EP, "On Purpose," released in November 2022 with production from Dj Monay, D.V Alias Khryst and Guaranteed Hitz, and has since worked alongside collaborators including Dj Mathematics of Wu-Tang Clan. Since then, she's carried her sound across stages in Miami, Los Angeles, Austin, Washington D.C., New York, San Diego, and internationally in the U.K., the Netherlands and Paris — including a stop performing in Europe, a longtime dream of hers. Her music has also reached radio, from Hot 97 and WBLS in New York to an interview on Global Soul Radio overseas. Now Kamaria is working on her second album, "Soft Kiss." She cites Erykah Badu as her core inspiration, alongside Lauryn Hill and Brandy, and she's direct about what she wants listeners to feel: deep love, the kind that makes you want to reach down and hug yourself. "R&B is dead? It's time to breathe life into it again," she says, tying her name — which means "like the moon" — to her own idea of moving through stages, sweet and mellow, sensual and vibrant.