Somali-Canadian R&B singer/songwriter Amaal makes music that is both socially conscious and sexually liberated. Blending atmospheric production with emotionally vulnerable lyrics, she earned a Juno nomination for her 2019 debut EP, Black Dove, and returned with the 2021 follow-up Milly.

Amaal Knux was born in Mogadishu, Somalia, and her family fled the country during its civil war when she was a baby, settling in Toronto. Growing up in a conservative Muslim household, she was rarely allowed to listen to music, but she gradually became exposed to pop, hip-hop, and R&B through friends at school, and decided to start making her own music as a teenager. Following a trip back to her home country at the end of her high school years, Nuux focused on politically conscious material, and began releasing songs in the early 2010s, initially going by her full name. Her 2012 single "Mufasa" eventually racked up millions of online streams, and subsequent songs like "Last Ones" and "Who Are We?" did nearly as well. She then devoted time to her activist work as a Goodwill Ambassador for Somali women and children.

Known by just her first name, Amaal released Black Dove in 2019. Mixing vintage influences and contemporary production, the EP earned critical attention and was nominated for Soul/R&B Recording of the Year at the Juno Awards. Amaal began writing more sexually themed material, and working with producer Nicky Davey, she released the EP Milly in 2021. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi