Joshua Karpeh, born January 30, 1993, records as Cautious Clay. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, and of Kru descent from Liberia, he graduated from George Washington University with a degree in international affairs and worked in real estate and advertising in New York before moving into music full time. He plays saxophone, flute, guitar, bass, keyboards and drums, and learned production by remixing beats for friends at university. The 2017 single "Cold War" led to his debut EP Blood Type, and the EPs Resonance and Table of Context followed. He wrote and produced for other artists as his own catalog grew, released the albums Deadpan Love and Karpeh, and recorded the latter for Blue Note as a jazz-leaning project under his surname. His work sits between R&B, indie and electronic writing.