He is an independent artist, noted for his wide vocal range, work across multiple genres, and intense live performances.

[8] He has been well received, both nationally and internationally, with an extensive list of collaborations including Kendrick Lamar, Common, Erykah Badu, Solange Knowles, Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Guru, Kimbra, J Dilla, Robert Glasper, and The Roots.

In August 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown, Bilal wrote and recorded his first EP, Voyage-19, over the course of three days and in collaboration with various musicians in remote experimental sessions, which were streamed live on YouTube.

The resulting three-track EP was released digitally the following month, with revenues of its sale and accompanying donations given to the participating artists, many of whom had been struggling financially due to the pandemic.

They had a curtain they could put over me just in case the police came", he recalls to Beat magazine: I remember sitting back there watching all of these different bands who really intrigued me a lot.

[11] With Glasper, he frequented a number of jazz clubs in the city and eventually the Wetlands Preserve nightclub, where he connected with musicians of the Soulquarians collective: the Roots, Common, Erykah Badu, and Mos Def.

[12] Bilal began to familiarize himself with the music scene in New York City, meeting prominent recording artists such as Common, The Roots, and Erykah Badu from the Soulquarians collective.

[13] In 2001, Bilal released his debut album 1st Born Second, which featured contributions from the Soulquarians as well as high-profile producers such as Dr. Dre and J Dilla.

[16] The album earned rave reviews from publications including The Village Voice, Chicago Sun-Times, and USA Today,[17][18][19] and it also received comparisons to the music of Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Sly & the Family Stone, Prince, and Curtis Mayfield.

[23] Bilal managed to gain a sizable following and high attendance at his live shows,[3] as well as much acclaim and respect from his peers, many of whom noted his range and ability to sing in a freeform style, and his classically trained falsetto.

These plans proved to be changeable and the final result, Love for Sale, was an album that appeared to be built around Bilal's own musicianship.

An experimental album, Airtight's Revenge blends jazz, hip-hop, electronic, rock, soul, and blues into one raw, genuine collection of music.

That year, he also contributed as a guest performer to the Roots' Grammy-nominated album Undun (2011) and the Robert Glasper Experiment's Grammy-winning Black Radio (2012).

The song's music video was released on January 8, 2013, telling the story of a drug-addicted love doctor who ironically uses the advice he gives to his patients to help his own relationship.

[6] In an essay on the Soulquarians published that year, Michael A. Gonzales traces the collective's impact to Bilal's contemporary contributions: "Listening to Kendrick Lamar's newest album To Pimp a Butterfly, Bilal has transformed himself into an arty Nate Dogg for the post-Soulquarian generation that includes Robert Glasper, Esperanza Spalding and, now, Kendrick.

"[42] In August 2020, over the course of a three-day weekend, Bilal live streamed his creation of an experimental three-song EP for HighBreedMusic, a Brooklyn recording studio and digital music channel.

He wrote, recorded, and produced one song each day, totaling 54 hours, in collaboration with producer Tariq Khan and 30 other musicians, including Erykah Badu, Robert Glasper, Tone Whitfield, Khemist, Simon Mavin (of Hiatus Kaiyote), Keyon Harrold, Madison McFerrin, Marcus Strickland, Yahzarah St. James, Raymond Angry, Ben Williams, Brandee Younger, Big Yuki, Melanie Charles, Marcus Gilmore, and Louis Cato.

The stream simultaneously showed the EP's artwork being made, with a group of three visual artists enlisted for each song, including Angelbert Metoyer and Shanina Dionna.

[43][44] The EP was available to be pre-ordered during the weekend of the live stream, with sales and optional donations given to the participating artists, a number of whom were in financial difficulties because of the pandemic.

[47] The album has been described as “a retrospective of music from Bilal’s twenty-three years in music.”[48] The concert was livestreamed twice, once in December of 2023, and a second time in June of 2024.

[55] It features intimate performance footage accompanied by interview commentary from Bilal, Questlove, Common, and Robert Glasper.