The second year psychology undergraduate is into the semifinals of The Voice, a primetime ITV singing show that has launched dozens of careers.

Last Saturday, nervous friends and family watched as Kai faced off against two suitors for a semifinal spot in Anne-Marie’s team.

He had previously earnt the ‘four chair turn’, with Anne-Marie and fellow celebrity judges Sir Tom Jones, Olly Murs and will.i.am praising his unique brand of English-Japanese singing and rapping.

Anne-Marie described Kai’s music as “so exciting”, while Kai told viewers: “Having the four chair turn… I’ve never been actually speechless, but that was the moment.”

After getting through to the semis, he said: “It doesn’t feel real. Performing on a big stage in front of millions of people – what!?”

Kai grew up in Gunnislake, Cornwall, and made his first forays into music when he was given a guitar aged seven.

He wrote acoustic tunes and later began rapping, but his “hunger to be a musician” was really sparked when he moved to Bristol for university.

• K‌ai amidst a big crowd in Bristol. Photo by Archie Byron

“I love being in Bristol so much,” he said. “I'm from a little Cornish village that’s very sleepy. In Bristol there are so many opportunities, so many inspirational people. I love it.

“Being here, along with being on The Voice, I’ve been able to be like ‘this [being a musician] is something I could really do, it's not just some pipe dream’.”

Kai’s writes about relationships, mental health and a broad range of other topics. But his high energy performances thrive on catchy “flows”.

He said: “A lot of the time I will be out and about and someone will say a phrase or something and a flow will come to me. I'll just start humming it and then the words will start coming.”

His songs get positive reactions on social media but he hadn’t expected an ITV executive to see one of his videos and contact him about being on The Voice.

The results have been “super surreal”, Kai said, and have led to an outpouring of support since his first appearance.

He said: “My DMs were ridiculous – there was so much love. For the next week I was like trying to sort through my messages. People just wanted to show their love, some who I hadn’t seen in years, which was so nice.”

• ‌Kai performing in Bristol. Photo by Kristian Garside

Kai often performs multiple times a week at Bristol venues. He’s part of a house band at Mr Wolf’s (a venue in central Bristol), and played his first headline show there earlier this year.

Kai said: “It was amazing, just in terms of the energy that the crowd was giving off and how I felt as well. I just remember finishing that gig thinking: ‘That felt special.’”

He also presents a show on the University of Bristol’s student station BURST Radio every Sunday 5pm to 6pm. He wants to showcase more talent from the Bristol musical community – both student and non-student.