Lou Val

Toronto native Lou Val crafts atmospheric progressive R&B as an independent singer-songwriter deeply embedded in his city’s music community, yet set apart by candid personal lyricism and restrained vocal phrasing. Commercial singles first appeared in 2017, followed by compact EPs such as Lonely in Paradise (2018), Tayo and the Dreamer (2021), and Goûter (2022), before the more introspective full-length Pivot// arrived in 2024.

Born Tariq Ahmed in Kano State, Nigeria, he lives in Toronto and began posting material online in 2015 on SoundCloud under the names Louis Val and VAL. The ethereal slow jam “Mi Amor” became the first commercial Lou Val single in 2017, quickly followed by the Johnny Yukon collaboration “Use Me” and “Crisp.” His debut EP, Lonely in Paradise, surfaced in May 2018, promoted by the yearning, pattering ballad “The Earth Stood Still.” Several standalone tracks and the four-song Don’t Look Now appeared between late 2018 and 2020. Joining the Soulection roster was announced in May 2021 with the hazy yet stimulating singles “Cruel Silence” and “Eternal Sunshine,” the latter a Maneesh Bidaye production (credited with Drake, dvsn, Giveon) that stood as Val’s most popular track to date and anchored Tayo and the Dreamer.

He next moved to independence on the DRKLY label, releasing the seven-track Goûter in 2022 with the single “In Ur Motion”; the project expanded to 13 tracks in 2023. A wider sonic palette defined the full-length Pivot//, issued in September 2024 and featuring Samant, Johnny Yukon, Loukeman, and Noiir.