On the Rise
Jaz Karis

It is the week of her birthday, and it has been two weeks since she touched down on British asphalt following a sojourn in Los Angeles, where she was shooting the music video for her next single; prior to that she was playing a gig during a pitstop in her favourite city, New York, which she describes as “London’s twin”, albeit, on an “extreme” level.

Positive storms are brewing for Karis, ones well earned following a decade of hard graft in the music industry. She is currently cocooning before the release of first long-player SAFE FLIGHT, set to drop next month. Even though the album is set for launch, she can’t help but question whether she’s ready to put out her long-awaited debut. “Other times I’m like, it’s been seven years – of course [I am]. I’ve been dying to do it and I think I deserve to do it.”

Growing up singing in a gospel choir where she was the only child vying for a solo in a room full of adults, Karis went on to study at London’s prestigious BRIT School whose alumni include Adele, Amy Winehouse, FKA Twigs, Raye, and many more. As a “lovely bubble”, BRITs set her up for the “real world” as an artist and introduced her to her band, half of whom she still performs with to this day.

Four EPs and seven years since the release of her debut collection Into The Wilderness, it’s fair to say that she has paid her dues. “I definitely feel like I’ve taken the stairs instead of the lift or the elevator; I’m very proud of myself for sticking to my guns and I’m very glad I didn’t just sign a deal straight after [Into The Wilderness],” she says.

“Now, when I listen to it, it’s like listening to my younger self – the way I wrote was very raw. As artists, we’re always trying to get back to that point because you wasn’t thinking so calculated. It made waves and it was my most honest self.”

While her hometown of South London inspired Karis' tales in her earliest work – including the reflective R&B of 2018’s viral track, “Petty Lover” – the itch for adventure became impossible to ignore, and jetting around the globe becam a process of self-discovery. “The people you meet, the different experiences you have, really grow you as a person,” Karis says. “I think I needed that in order to make better music.”

It was during this time that Karis realised she was missing a trick by not discussing her new, travel-widened perspective in her music, and while the title SAFE FLIGHT makes perfect sense in the present, settling on the concept for her long-dreamt for debut album proved tricky. “Why am I not talking about the fact that I’m a girl from South London potentially moving her life across the world, to America? That’s really what the album is,” she says. “As cliché as it sounds, I’ve had to make myself home.”

The love from her community of family, friends, and peers was never too far away – so much so that their well-wishes encapsulated all the feelings Karis was struggling to surmise. “I realised that the one thing my mum and my friends [would say] every time was just wishing me a ‘safe flight’. As soon as we said ‘SAFE FLIGHT’, I was like ‘that’s it’. It embodies the whole message of the album.”

While considering herself a homebody, Karis challenges herself to take bigger leaps. A move to Ghana – a culture where “you party until the sun comes up” – revealed an “outside” part of her she didn’t know she loved. To Karis, SAFE FLIGHT doesn’t just mean landing securely; it symbolises the ascent of her career and the broadening reach of her music, as well as seeking the unfamiliar – all while having faith that what is meant for her will not miss her.

The music in question has seen Karis traverse sub-genres as diverse as afrobeats and gospel, amapiano and hip hop, pop and R&B. Recent single, “Tequila”, imbued with sludgy bass and smatterings of saxophone, captures the heated intimacy of an island romance. The accompanying video, all sunsets, glistening skin, and exotic fruit, was shot on film across Barbados beaches. For Karis, who has Saint Lucian heritage, shooting in the Caribbean felt like coming home. “There’s nowhere like it on Earth,” she says. “The air smells different, the water, the ocean, the vibes, the music – it’s just different.”

This penchant for sentimentality is woven throughout SAFE FLIGHT, with each song serving as a snapshot of a bigger picture, a lesson in love, or – in the case of “Tequila” itself, the revelation of a new romance.

“Usually, I’m in my feels in a bad way, and this time was actually a really nice feeling of butterflies, when you feel like you’re falling for someone but it’s exciting,” Karis explains of the track. “It’s that great little buzz you have when you realise you’re actually catching feelings for somebody.”

Featuring Nigerian sensation Reekado Banks, “Tequila” is but one of a clutch of collaborations that appear on SAFE FLIGHT and document the connections Karis has made around the world. In this instance and as a big fan of his work, Banks featuring on “Tequila” was an act of near manifestation for Karis.

“Funnily enough, he was my alarm clock for about a year before!” she laughs. “I had his song on repeat – my friends were sick of me – but I didn’t know him.” Her executive producer, Etienne, contacted her to say Banks was keen to get involved. “He said ‘Reekado’ and I genuinely screamed, I couldn’t believe it – it was such a full circle moment.”

At the opposite end of sentimentality, the slinky seduction of “Met You At The Bar” captures the frivolity of an intense, opportunistic fling – something Karis had a lot of fun embellishing with her lyrics. “I’m very dramatic with it. This [track] in particular was actually about the same person I ended up writing ‘Tequila’ about, and it was just how we met.” Featuring the smooth vocal of Tone Stith, perhaps best known for the murky R&B of “FWM”, Karis was surprised when he turned out an energy opposite to that she expected – one which captures the suspicion and lack of attachment in modern, app-led dating.

“[People would] rather hurt you before they get hurt – which was really raw and honest.” It was a sentiment Karis could relate to at a time when she was only tentatively stepping back into the dating world herself. “Being a lover girl out here is a bit scary – no one is actually trying to commit. So it was actually fun and insightful to hear his perspective as a man.”

Fittingly, a woman’s perspective on dating gets plenty of airtime on the Mahalia-featuring “Nice Girls”. Echoing the dreamy, whimsical acoustics of SZA, the track was written in a moment where Karis “really wanted to vent. I wanted a song the same way ‘Petty Love’ was for the girls where they feel heard, and they can relate.”

Having the chance to reflect has given Karis space to consider her own role within her relationships. Following on from aptly-titled album-opener, “Nostalgia”, the gospel-R&B fusion of “LYTM” – or "Love You That Much" – contemplates the conflicting emotions that came with the ending of a long-term relationship.

“It was putting the listener’s head in the mindspace I was in, making them feel vulnerable, a bit unsure, reminiscent. Because I didn’t want to lie – I was not in a healthy or secure place when I started making all of these songs,” Karis says. “‘Nostalgia’ was the last one made, so it was very reflective on where I ended. I think our minds embellish the nostalgia, because sometimes it was actually not that good – we just make it feel like that.”

And while romance hashas a stronghold on SAFE FLIGHT, the album takes opportunity to celebrate multitudes of love – especially that of friendship, which is easy to take for granted. Perhaps the most sensitive track on the album, “Water (Interlude)” plays with cyclical strings and harmonies before giving way to a vulnerable voice note left by Karis’ friend – one that brought her to tears.

“I had just decided to call the album ‘SAFE FLIGHT’ and he had no idea. I was packing my bags [to fly from L.A] and I got a message,” says Karis. In it, her friend celebrates her talent and willingness to show up for others, sharing his gratitude that they met. “I ended up taking it onto the balcony, looking at L.A., and just started crying. The fact that he even says ‘safe flight’ at the end was just insane.” Poignantly serendipitous, she begged him to let her use it on the album. “It was perfectly fitting.”

I ask Karis if she finds it difficult to write about love and, without hesitation, she says it’s the opposite. “It’s like free therapy. It’s actually a very freeing experience, the more vulnerable I get, the more relatable it seems to be – like the more passionate or the more heightened the feeling is.

“‘Petty Lover’, ‘Soweto Blues’, ‘Side Of You’ – all of them have been written in a place of pure, raw honesty of what I was feeling,” she continues. “I don't even think about it – I just loved the songs because it was like I was talking to myself. It’s nice for me, I just feel bad for the people I’ve written about!