Last year Waleed announced his signing to City Slang with the release of his double a-side singles 'Se Rompen' and 'Sueños'. His sleeper hit 'Se Rompen' took hold after being played out by the likes of Four Tet, Floating Points, Daphni, DJ Boring, DJ Seinfeld, Tourist and more as well as appearing in Essential Mix's from Ben UFO and KH (Four Tet). The limited vinyl run of 300 of the singles sold out straight away and the tracks also led to Waleed's inclusion in this year's NME 100 as a fervour continued to build around this wildly exciting new producer.
Today, Waleed returns with his first new music of 2023, 'Diario'.
Speaking of 'Diario' Waleed says:
"I love when artists can bring the darkness and the reality into the music, and still have the place dancing.
When I was in Sevilla, I met up with a girl from there, Clyde, to record her. I showed her Dario to get her to sing on it, but she said, "I have this diary entry that really fits this". Once I heard it, I understood. She talks about really, really difficult emotions that she was going through at the time. Emotions that everyone has felt at some point. I think people that don’t understand Spanish will still feel the pain in her voice. And people that understand Spanish will have the experience of the words as well. My mom cried a lot listening to the diary entry."
Born in Washington DC to Iraqi/Puerto Rican parents, Waleed works in coding by day. With a strong focus on sound design, Waleed’s meshing of cultures and references gives him a unique perspective on dance music. At once ecstatic and melancholic.