South London jazz artist Kamaal Williams has been accused of sexual assault by multiple women.
A Resident Advisor investigation led by journalists Anu Shukla and Annabel Ross details experiences from alleged victims spanning over a decade.
A preliminary report, published in late May, disclosed the stories of three women alleging incidents took place in 2010, 2021 and August 2023.
The women, who don't know one another, described similar experiences with the producer and multi-instrumentalist — among them, nonconsensual physical advances and using his own purported diagnosis of autism as an excuse for his behaviour.
A secondary report published by Resident Advisor this week (July 2) notes that following the first report, "at least 18 others have come forward to RA with allegations against Williams ranging from inappropriate behaviour to sexual assault."
"Many women didn't wish to speak on the record. Some of the alleged victims who did speak to RA expressed feelings of concern for their safety, requesting that identifying details such as exact locations and dates were withheld. Many of the women were fans of Williams' music when they met him, and allege that he exploited their fandom in order to take advantage of them."
A representative for Williams responded to the preliminary report, writing that the "very serious allegations are untrue and emphatically denied by [Williams] and that he will be able to demonstrate the same." Resident Advisor received no response to the allegations of the second report.
Born Henry Williams, the artist released music as Henry Wu in the mid-'10s through labels including Rhythm Section International and Eglo Records. In 2016, he formed the duo Yussef Kamaal with drummer Yussef Dayes, delivering debut album Black Focus to critical acclaim that year. Following the duo's split shortly after, Williams continued releasing music as Kamaal Williams, his most recent LP being 2023's Stings.
