He began his career as an actor in the comedy-drama film Sing Street (2016), before making his professional solo musical debut with the EP Velvet Cake (2017).

[6] In 2015, Chamburuka began touring with Irish rap duo Hare Squead and performing under the stagename Jafaris,[7] which he had developed through a random name generator application.

[3] It was also during this time that he began working with and through Diffusion Labs,[7] which has been described as "a 'collaborative hub' which functions as a label and studio, and enlists writers, musicians and in-house producers.

[19] Jafaris independently released his debut studio album, Stride, on 8 March 2019, with support from the preceding singles "Found My Feet",[20] "Time"[21] and "Invisible".

[25] The single debut atop the UK's Asian Music Top 40 chart,[26] before the two artists subsequently performed it on Later... with Jools Holland in November 2019.