A challenging past couple of years would be an understatement.

Harris Hameed is no stranger to challenges. Rejection and the constant doubting by industry professionals who told him 'No" throughout his career were a few of the many hurdles the singer-songwriter had to surpass.

"People expressed that my talent was not enough and my career in the industry would be short-lived," he recalls. "This has always been a driving motivator to inspire me to not only prove to myself but others [also] that I am more than capable of sharing my gift and story to the world. 

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How has life been? 

Life has been a rollercoaster over the last few years, dealing with a global pandemic and directly being affected by the grief and losing family members has reinforced my resilience. Life has been full of opportunities and blessings and I'm very grateful to be in the position I am in having learned the lessons I have. I'm exactly where I need to be in my life and musically I am growing and carving my sound in the industry. 

For those who do not know, please introduce yourself. Tell us about your musical journey.

My name is Harris Hameed I'm a 24-year-old musical creative from Leeds, my background is British South Asian and I have been making music for the last half a decade. Having worked with some of the most influential artists of my generation from the UK, artists such as Sneakbo, Yaseen Rosay and Mic Righteous I initially broke onto the UK scene after competing on The Voice UK, not being successful on the show my audition clip, went on to receive one million views and has aided me in building a fan base and growing musically through the years. Taking influence from American, UK and Pakistani raag.  My music is a combination of soul-felt lyricism and melodic tones. 

The very first music you wrote, what was it about? ‍

The first song I ever wrote was back in 2010 and it was called "Out Of Here". It was a record about two of my family members at the time being hospitalized and the journey they were on through their health and how they were struggling. This was the start of many heartfelt meaningful records and very much threw me into the creative process. 

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‍What's your songwriting process?

My songwriting process is very straightforward, I have to authentically live and breathe what I'm singing and I found that I struggle to sing lyrics others have written if I don't connect with them, I tend to find flows and melodies in music before I write the lyrics and become comfortable with the beat before expressing the words, the feeling emotion and current stage at the time in my life all influence the direction of the record.

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‍Tell us about your latest single. 

My latest single is called Haji. The record explores emotions around grief and loss, major setbacks in life and the pain that many of us feel but don't share. Haji displays elements of classic music, northern r&b sounds and vocal influence from legends such as Nusrat Fathli Khan. The record is about unlearning past behaviors and questioning cultural boundaries. As well as removing myself from my direct musical influences and authentically living my sound and the music I like to create. I wanted to create a record that stood on its own as a personally memorable piece of art, one for my collection. Haji is out on all major platforms this is out in late January.

What's the biggest dream? 

My biggest dream is to make music every day for the rest of my life, to provide and continue to support my family, share my stories, reach people across the world and connect.  Another dream of mine is to put my city, Leeds, on a major scale for more people to see the amazing artistry. I also want to inspire a younger generation of British Asians and be a role model to them; to say they can also do as they desire.

Who do you want to collaborate with both locally and internationally? 

I would love to collaborate with a handful of artists such as Chip, Dj Khaled, Drake, J.Cole and Ye but local collaborations I would love to collaborate with an incredible female vocalist from the UK called Josie Mann.‍

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Tupac or Kanye?

Tupac as a human and what he stood for is something that I massively respect; his poetry and delivery was executed and his legacy lives on. Personally Ye's production value and music quality is something that resonates with me more and I appreciate his attention to detail in music, how his genre crosses and composes, his fashion influence is also something I appreciate and working alongside him or featuring with him would be a humbling surreal experience. 

He leaves us with these words:

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"For any artist who faces constant rejection I would say preserve and really question your morals and intentions." 

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