Tell us a few things about your new songs ‘Mind In A Maze’ and ‘Adrenaline Storm’. What is the main idea behind them?
I have a passion for psychology, and that’s what inspires me. At the end of the day, music is a psychological tool. It appeals to your brain, and it can make you laugh; it can make you cry; it can make you angry and motivate you. Both songs are quite meaningful and both come with the strong message. In a way, “Mind in a maze” is a tribute to Dan Brown’s novels – “The Da Vinci Code”, “Angels and Demons”, “Inferno”. Lots of dark history, pointing to the roots of religion and driven by psychology and current state of the mind. It is a thought-provoking cathartic art expressed as a song. A mix of pop-rock with rap, “Adrenaline Storm” is a reflection to what is happening to all of us since this pandemic started.
Which is your most personal and honest lyric?
We are soon to announce the new song, called “When will I learn”. So I would have to defer this question to when the song is released.
Artists and people who have influenced and inspired you?
I am a big fan of Pink Floyd, Klaus Meine and many more. I admire them not necessarily for the music but for their character and strength.
What would you change in the music industry?
I think the industry is acceptable as it is. It might be perceived as unfair to new artists. But imagine you just got hired to a new job. You have to demonstrate who you are, have colleagues to know you and like you, and after a fair bit of time, if you prove your talent, skills and professionalism, you can expect some recognition and possibly promotion.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Haha, I don’t know if I should because I would not listen to it anyways. “Don’t miss the opportunity offered to you. It may be your last one.”
What would be your dream performance venue?
The dream performance venue would be a big stadium. But an excellent performance venue is a small one where you can really connect with the audience.
Favorite music-related film?
I was quite impressed by “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
You’d give up making music for…
I cannot see what could be the cause of that… Unless, for some reason, I had to do it for my family.
Tell us a few things about your new album. What is the story behind it?
The album is titled Hood Politics as it reflects the experiences of those that have lived in the hood and the street politics that exist there. As someone that has grown up in unprivileged areas I wanted to tell a narrative based off 1st hand and 3rd person experiences.
Which song of the album reflects you the most?
“Loading” is the track that reflects me the most as it highlights how hard I work to achieve my goals and the experiences I’ll go through to reach them.
Favourite rapper, lyricist and producer?
Favourite rapper: Abra Cadabra Favourite Lyricist: Dave Favourite Producer: The Fanatix.
What does hip hop symbolize in your opinion?
Hip Hop symbolises a movement of freedom of expression and a energy that bonds people together through ever changing times.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
I would tell the younger me to pursue my passions wholeheartedly and not be afraid to take risks.
You’d give up making music for…
I’d give up music if it meant absolute happiness for me and those I care about or things like world peace and and end to poverty.
Tell us a few things about your new song ‘Break My Heart’. What is the main idea behind it?
My debut single ‘Break My Heart’ is a true story song inspired by my 10-year relationship ending abruptly one month before our wedding. Its the sonic representation of human fragility that touches on loss, self reflection, and healing from it. I used the pain from loss to fire a dream and hope that my story can inspire others to do the same. Life is too fucking short man, chase that shit and don’t look back!
Which is your most personal and honest lyric?
I really try to be vulnerable in everything I write. I feel the most personal and honest lyric in ‘Break My Heart’ specifically is “I know our shit got crazy baby, I barely got through, and thats the truth. I almost killed myself over you”. I hit an all-time low and the moment I decided the life was worth living I wrote this song and jumped in the studio. I genuinely was struggling with purpose when I was going through the experience and in the process of healing I found that spreading love is my purpose. I hope my art continues do that even when I can’t physically be present.
What do you enjoy most? Writing music or performing your music live?
That’s an interesting questions because they both have there perks. Writing really helps get my shit out, find balance and perspective but there is nothing like the energy of being on stage performing. If I’m being completely honest, performing scares the shit out of me every time I’m about to go on stage. But while I am up there nothing else exists in that moment and thats a special feeling that can’t be replicated.
What would you change in the music industry?
I love love so I think the only thing I would change about the industry is to see more unconditional love and support for each other. We’re all just chasing a dream and watching friends succeed is so inspiring.
In which state of mind do you imagine people might listen to your music?
‘Break My Heart’ is about heart break and I feel it’s a song that people would listen to when they really want to dig deep and feel into their feelings. I like to mix it up though. No one wants to be sad all the time! haha I dig writing upbeat vibes as well. My second single ‘Stumble’ which comes out March 4th is chill and fun.
What is the most useless talent you have?
Haha fuck I don’t know. Uhm…. I’m pretty good at beer pong!
Tell us a few things about your new Back To Life. What is the main idea behind it?
Back to life was recorded as a sequel to my earlier release, Your Home the main idea behind Back to life is that whenever you’re surrounded by negative ideas and aura. You feel those ideas are limiting and causing you to go deeper into despair. However, there is always this one person in our lives who’s ready to dive in headfirst no matter how dark our thoughts are, how depressed we feel, or how broken we may seem; he’s always willing to overcome those challenges holding the key that will free us from our chains of despair and sorrow this song is a direct call to that person. Hence, whenever you feel you’re in desperate need of help and can’t take it anymore, make sure to send this song to that person so that he knows that you need his help that you’re in need of him to bring you back to life. The idea becomes crystal clear once you take a look at the artwork for this song the orca chained represents once self unable to move and overcome the darkest times in his life. The chains represent whatever is holding us back. The orca being flipped on its Back means that it cannot resist and is being dragged even deeper into darkness. The red eyes represent all those emotions and thoughts blocking your path to freedom, making sure you’re drowning instead of going up. And finally, there is the other orca with the key in its mouth, which represents that person who’s always diving headfirst to free from the shackles that bind us, ready to bring us back to life.
What is the story behind your name?
The nickname Orca was given to me by my close friends and teammates earlier in life. Despite being a visually-impaired induvial, I used to play soccer and basketball with relying heavily on sight. However, with my other senses heightened, I was able to evade my opponents and score for my team with extreme accuracy, thus nicknamed Orca because, in a way that an orca attacks its prey with extreme precision relying on echolocation at first, the debate was on whether to be called a dolphin. However, thanks to my aggressive playstyle, I was given the nickname Orca instead of carrying it with me.
What first got you into music?
My passion for music cannot be expressed or measured. I used to play with keyboards and sing since I was a child growing up with English music. Even though my mother tongue is Arabic, I fell in love with English music. But thanks to some unique circumstances, I was only able to start releasing music at the age of 30 in January 202
Your dream collaboration?
When it comes to collabs, I never thoughts of it since I’m only focusing on improving my abilities behind the mic, but when I’m asked about the first person that comes to mind is T-pain, he’s the reason why I fell in love with hip-hop and pop music in the first place my second answer will be an artist who’s willing to accept me and also willing to recognize my talent as an artist. As artists, we need to stick together and try to spread the message as much as possible why am I saying this? Because it’s a part of my dream to spread my music across the globe and share it with as many people as possible, creating a movement of those who’ll support and help me release more music as well as those who’ll connect with my music and will consider my music their escape and the place they’ll always come to in order to face their daily challenges and ideals or can make their dreams a reality.
What is the biggest challenge you have faced as an artist so far?
The biggest challenge that I’m facing at the moment is divided into two parts. The first part is me being alone right now. I write records do some basic mixing manage my socials, and run my own website. For a visually-impaired individual, this is overwhelming and can burn you out quickly, so my biggest hope is to find those who’ll support me so that I can focus on releasing music. The second part is the fact that I’m struggling financially when it comes to music I’m always ready and always got ideas to share. However, unfortunately, I can only release one single a month due to a very tight budget which is very depressing and affects me heavily. I wish to share as much of my music with the world as possible with my being limited. The task is becoming more and more difficult that is why I’d like to share this message with the rest of the world: please help and show your support to me so that I can shine and share my talent with you because without this will be impossible to accomplish I recently started a donation page help me realize my dream and let us grow together my biggest wish is to spread the word because my philosophy is “Always To inspire and get inspired because music can fix what words alone cannot” with that said I’m looking forward to your help and support thank you.
In which state of mind do you imagine people might listen to your music?
I promote myself as a visually-impaired artist, and my music includes: 400% Love 400% Romance, and 200% of all that is between this promotion is no joke. I want my music to reach as many people who might need my music as possible, so you’ll be finding different topics in told uniquely within each of my releases, and depending on the listener’s state of mind, he’ll be able to choose the song that elevates his current emotion. But deep down in my core, I’m a Love/Romance artist who’s always in love and is ready to express his feelings spectacularly and mainly.
You’d give up making music for…
Financial crisis because if I don’t have money, there is no way I can create music because I’m always in need of help from those who’ll pick up where my disability left. For example, when it comes to mixing, mastering, or beat making, those tasks require a good ear and good sight. That is why there is no way I can create anything on my own currently; I pay a London producer by the name of FlipTunesMusic so that I can access his beat catalog, a producer/Audio engineer who goes by the name Larry Ohh! So that he can help fill in the blanks with tasks that require sight and come up with the final product. And finally, I pay an Australian designer who by the name Beartrix so that she can help bring my artwork ideas to life. All those require a huge amount of cash, and if I get to the point where I can’t pay any of them, this might be the end for me, so for anyone reading this, show your support for me and my music and let us keep on pushing
It honestly varies from project to project. Sometimes I start with the track, and melodies and lyrics just come to me; other times, I play around on the guitar or piano, and something will jump out. That was the case for “Christmas Eve”. I sat down in July with absolutely zero intentions of writing a Holiday song, but the words and melodies just flowed. It became very obvious very fast that this was a Holiday song – so I ran with it!
How would you describe your musical progress over the years?
I feel like I’ve been constantly evolving as a musician over the years, making pit stops in a variety of genres on the way to finding (and constantly finding) my sound. I started writing in the folk/singer-songwriter space with poetic lyrics and simple melodies, but as I continued to study and train in Jazz and Musical Theatre, I began incorporating more unique chord structures and melodies. I was then fortunate to perform a two-year tenure with a Grammy Award Winning Choir while I was at university, and that really helped to solidify my classical music knowledge and shape how I approach harmonies. All of this, coupled with my love of pop music, has lead to the sound listeners can expect now: genre-crossing pop with jazzy elements, story-rich lyrics, and unique harmonies.
Do you like the idea of collaborating? Is songwriting a lonely process?
I LOVE collaborating. Anytime there’s an opportunity to collaborate, I jump at it! I firmly believe that two heads are better than one. Of the songs I’ve released so far, all have been collaborations on either production, lyrics, or music. Sure, songwriting can be lonely sometimes, but writing alone can also be cathartic: it’s like a journal entry that only you understand. That said, I’ll take writing in a group over writing alone any day!
Main influences?
Anything from the 70’s and 80’s – pop, disco, rock…I take inspiration from it all! Specific influences within that time though are definitely anything Quincy Jones produced, Fleetwood Mac, ABBA, Stevie Wonder…the list is endless to be totally honest! My goal is always to combine the groove these artists embody with some modern production styles and cheeky lyrics.
Is Spotify the music industry’s new Gatekeepers?
I think with any industry, there are inevitably going to be big players that hold more of the power and influence than others. To me, “Gatekeeping” lives in the overlap of these big players’ spheres of influence. Thus, can we point the finger at Spotify only? No. Are they a big player in the industry, and do they hold a shared responsibility of Gatekeeping? Yes. We as artists and music lovers are always looking for ways to distribute that power and influence more equally, and I think we’ve made progress in comparison to where we were even 5 or 10 years ago. That said, there is certainly more work to be done.
What was the best film you have watched during the quarantine?
“King Richard”, hands down! The story of Venus and Serena Williams is beyond inspiring; the performances from Will Smith, Saniyya Sidney, Demi Singleton, and the rest of the cast were flawless. Everyone needs to watch it!
What is the most useless talent you have?
I can wiggle my nostrils. Currently working on wiggling my ears as well, but that’s not going too great so far!
Tell us a few things about your new song ‘Encore’. What is the main idea behind it?
Basically, Encore was a way different beat with a different title before that was not yet released. The first verse was recorded on a different beat,but something was missing and I decided to redo the whole beat. I used the Raw Accapella and tryed different ideas and melodys and not before long, I came up with something. The whole concept for the song was falling in line as soon as Akasha stepped into the booth, she freestyled the bridge vocals and from this moment on, we added the Hook and i wrote and recorded the second verse. We always wanted to try a club type song with a more “electric vibe” to it and with a faster rhytmn. Might sound crazy but i mostly see pictures and colors in my head when i work on a beat or write my lyrics, but also when I’m recording. Encore was a futuristic vision with a 90’s touch.
Which is your most personal and honest lyric?
All my lyrics are honest, i could never write something that i’ve not expirienced or that i don’t feel at all. Regarding Encore, a few lines have a deeper meaning, but I would say “Do you hataz really thought you could stop the Grind safe your effort I’m not playing you cannot take away my shine. Huntin like Artemis, I gotta cross the Ocean, Ghetto Jam like Domino I flow with devotion” Since this has a lot to do with my story and LA, also “This game is upside down, fans stopped to differ right from wrong. Fake, like politicians and laws, be yourself or leave me alone” ..speak for itself.
Artists and people who have influenced and inspired you?
This goes deep and wayback, friends, enemys, people that we’ve lost along the way. Life itself has created a very complex picture. Back then Artists like: Mo Thugs Family, Bone thugs, 2 Pac, but also Rock bands like Def Leppard and Composers like Hans Zimmer. Recently Artists like Yung lean and Bones.. but it’s to many to name since every artist with a song that you feel can be a inspiration or at least a part of it. I often give “workshops” in the hood, and even those youngstas are an inspiration, i always tell’em that.
What would be your dream performance venue?
Every stage or club is good as long as the crows is connected to your music, ain’t nothing worse then a crowd thats is not in the right mood.
In which state of mind do you imagine people might listen to your music?
My songs vary a lot in style and lyrics. I think it’s best to have a bit of both worlds, if you wanne dance and party, i got you covered. If you want something deep with a message.. i got you. If you want something to chill and relax.. i got you.
What is the most trouble you’ve ever gotten into?
I think it’s almost certain that you run into trouble sooner or later if you grew up in a poorly enviroment without a father figure and without a real family behind you. I never had a real guidance and lived the day by day life for quiet some time. A lot has happened and I’ve seen how people disappear from an early age on. Runnin’ into trouble with the law happened occasionally, but i think one of the worst moments was when a guy attacked me and one of my close homies with a hand saw.. allready knew what it means to have guns pointed to my head at this moment.
Tell us a few things about your new EP. What is the story behind it?
My EP is a story about love, finding joy and being an open person.
Which song (if any) of the EP is your favorite and why?
My favourite song on this EP is holding on because it resonates with me in the means of me holding on to everything that goes on in life.
What do you enjoy most? Writing music or performing your music live?
I enjoy songwriting the most because my listeners get to experience my emotions through how I see and feel my experiences
Is Spotify the music industry’s new Gatekeepers?
I think that Spotify definetly helps in getting your music out there and listened to by many
What advice would you give to your younger self?
Follow your passion regardless of what obstacles or challenges arise.
You’d give up making music for…
I would not give up making music for anything or anyone. It truly is how I express myself the best and I won’t let anyone take that feeling away from me.
Tell us a few things about your new song “Golden Chains”. What is the main idea behind it?
I wrote Golden Chains about my frustration about the climate crisis. It’s a song full of anger, but also the hope that I have that we can still do the work and fix this mess.
For which lyric you are most proud of?
Is it okay if it’s from another song? I really like the lyric: if confusion queried you’d say, “it’s the funniest thing.” from my previous release The Funniest Thing. I find personification within writing really interesting!
Your dream collaboration?
I’m really loving Joy Crookes music right now – I think it would be so fun to collaborate with her.
Is Spotify the music industry’s new Gatekeepers?
In some ways yes. The fact that a musician’s recorded works pay so poorly is definitely a big problem within the industry. In saying that, I feel there are so many ways to work as an artist within the music business and despite its undeniable influence, Spotify isn’t everything.
When not writing music, how do you spend your time?
ooooh good question. A lot of what I do outside of music involves my other love: food. I love cooking, baking and finding nice cafes/ restaurants to visit. I’ve also just invested in a sewing machine and am trying to mend and make clothes in an effort to be more sustainable and creative!
Tell us a few things about your new song “Holding On”. What is the main idea behind it?
‘Holding On’ is a track that goes through the multiple emotions involved when learning to let go of someone or something that you’re not yet ready to. It goes through the highs and lows of a relationship and accepting the uncomfortable reality of a situation, playing between optimism and hope, and cynicism and doubt. This was my sophomore release, prior to the release of my debut EP ‘Silhouette’, which is a 4-track body of work ?
What first got you into music?
When I was in high school and I auditioned to be in the school musical. My audition went terribly, I forgot all the words but my music teacher thought I had a good voice so set me up with a vocal coach. After a few sessions with her I caught the bug and then started performing in school shows and community events, and that was in my final two years of school, so around 201
What do you enjoy most? Writing music or performing your music live?
Hmmm I like both these aspects of music in different ways, and go in and out of enjoying one more than the other at different stages of the year. At the moment I have been focusing more on the live sound aspect of music, so tours, shows and performing. I’m in a real roll with this, and am loving building my confidence up on the stage, yet I haven’t written music in ages, so am starting to get really excited about the idea of writing and producing some new tracks. With new tracks comes a new vision and project. That’s probably the most exciting thing for me right now, all the prospects of the new year and new tunes.
What is the biggest challenge you have faced as an artist so far?
Covid-19. Its so hard to maintain the mental strength to keep going and continually back yourself when things are so unstable and unpredictable in the world. Its definaily a hard industry and career path to choose at the moment, as it feels like so much is pushing back against you, when things you love and things you want to do shoul just happen naturally and feel like they click. I know that all good things take work and time, so it the challenge has been learning to mitigate that time, and keep moving even through the doubt and unmotivated patches.
Which book should we read while listening to your music?
Ottolenghi’s new cook book please
What would you be doing right now, if it wasn’t for your music career?
oooo… I’d probably be hustling trying to earn some serious money so that I could go and explore the world, specifically Spain and South America. I’ve been longing to travel for years now, there’s so much I can’t wait to explore and experience
I create the beat and melodies at the same time, while I’m working on the beat I’m also thinking about what melodies would work best and build the song as I go along. Once the rough demo is created I’ll take it to the studio and record it professionally.
For which lyric you are most proud of?
“I was doing road with the Nomads, vision never been so clear”. This is my favourite line because its so real and brings back so many memories from my time in China. I saw things that you would have to see for yourself to believe, I left the country incredibly inspired and my outlook on my music and career had changed drastically.
Do you think there is a true underground hip hop sound today?
yh of course, if you look for it you will find it, theres so much more music out there aside from what mainstream media feeds us, and usually underground music is better.
What does hip hop symbolize in your opinion?
HipHop is self expression, its unique to each individual which is why the genre of Hiphop is so vast and it continues to grow and push boundaries.
HipHop Paranoia 