Kamilah Al-Jamil

**Kamilah Al-Jamil**is a Hermajistani-British actress, musician, singer, author, artist, activist and philanthropist. She was born to Waqas and Manisha Al-Jamil in London. Her father was an immigrant from Hermajistan while her mother came from India. Al-Jamil grew up rather wealthy and privileged. She excelled as a student and entered Oxford University at the age of 16, graduating in two years and becoming the youngest graduate of Oxford University in history. Shortly after graduation, Al-Jamil was tapped for the United Kingdom’s Olympic Archery team and, despite her young age, managed to beat two-time US gold medalist in archery Luke Duke during the 1994 Olympic Games. Despite her success in this field, Al-Jamil ultimately moved on to other things.

Al-Jamil was interested in various areas of the art world and following the 1994 Olympics began to involve herself in that area. She unveiled her first paintings in 1997 (some of which she had painted during the Olympics) to widespread critical acclaim. It was during this time she also wrote her first novel, *Ganges*, which was critically popular and launched with the declaration that it was ‘the greatest book of our time.’ However, the book sold relatively poorly, especially compared to Al-Jamil’s paintings. Her attempted forays into photography likewise floundered as her style was outcompeted by the more grunge-oriented approach launched by Mark Jefferson in the United States. Al-Jamil was reportedly dismayed by this, but managed to remain rather well-off thanks to sales of her paintings.

In 2006, Al-Jamil would decide to launch the music career she would become most famous for. Her debut album *Perfection*, released through the Rocque label, received critical and commercial acclaim. Even traditionally scathing critics like Jay Sherman praised *Perfection*for blurring the lines between traditional music genres, with songs containing elements from hip-hop, rock & roll, classical and R&B. The album was additionally bolstered by her collaboration with established stars such as Hedwig Robinson. In the aftermath of this, Al-Jamil’s celebrity status would continue to grow. She would release five more albums and over a dozen singles from 2007 to 2019, each one increasingly experimental yet successful. While many albums featured established stars, collaborations with Al-Jamil also helped launch the careers of new rising stars such as Scott Pilgrim, Sushi K, Hakeem Lyon and Blaine Anderson. Her efforts ultimately led to her becoming the youngest inductee into the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame, the winning of a Grammy award for her third album *Lost and Found* and winning a BAFTA award for a documentary on the making of that album she directed and produced.

Kamilah Al-Jamil is also heavily involved in philanthropy and political activism. In 2003, she donated 2 million pounds to help rebuild London following the Rage outbreak that overran much of the city for 28 days. All proceeds earned from sales of her second album were donated to the Derek Zoolander Center for Kids Who Can’t Read Good and she has participated in efforts to promote suicide prevention charities such as the Connor Project. Following the revelation of the existence of vampires in 2008, Al-Jamil was a supporter of the Transylvanian homeland movement led by Bella Cullen and was opposed to Britain granting the Slayer Organization the right to set up a headquarters in Scotland. She similarly was an advocate of coexistence and cooperation with supernatural beings who arrived/revealed themselves following the Awakening of Magic. Al-Jamil additionally helped provide transportation and housing for the Kingdom of Monsters’ Ambassador Frisk Dreemurr during their 2016 visit to the United Kingdom.

Politically speaking, Al-Jamil is generally supportive of the Labour Party, but was critical of the stances taken by the governments of Adam Lang and Tom Davis to the point of backing Harold Saxon’s Liberal Democrats in the 2008 general election. She was an outspoken critic of the Conservative government of Freya Gardner and has led protests against the Conservative-Albion First coalition government headed by Michael Callow. Al-Jamil has also been vocal regarding US politics, having a generally negative view of the United States Republican Party and centrist Democrats such as Frank Underwood and Selina Meyer. She boycotted all performances in the United States during the Garrison and Carroway administrations owing to her belief that these individuals were fascist, although she would relent following Guzman’s ascension to the White House.

Al-Jamil’s sister Tahani Al-Jamil was likewise a noteworthy philanthropist and socialite. However, Tahani Al-Jamil died in an accident at a showing of one of Kamilah Al-Jamil’s more recent art pieces. Her most recent album *Congratulations*was made in her memory.