Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:05 Aisha. Hi. Hi, <laugh>. It's lovely to have you on. Woman of the Middle East Podcast. Thank
Speaker 1 00:00:11 You so much. Thank you for having
Speaker 0 00:00:12 Me. I'm so, so happy to have you today. Um, we've met around four to five years ago. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, and I remember, uh, Wow. This is a hidden gem and Qatar that no one yet knows about. But this was like five years ago. Yeah. Um, now your name is, um, on international stages. Yeah. Uh, and this is because you are, uh, featured in the official soundtrack for the fifa, uh, uh, World Cup, Qatar 2022. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, tell me how did this come, uh, uh, through first?
Speaker 1 00:00:45 Um, so for me, I would say some would say it's a really happy coincidence for me. I don't think so, because it's a lot of, uh, hard work behind the scenes. Um, so after I decided to start singing, maybe a year after I signed with Guitar Studios mm-hmm. <affirmative>, and, um, a couple of years later, Guitar Studios was assigned to, to, uh, to do the opening of, uh, the World Cup. And I so happened to be one, their first artist. So then, um, I had the opportunity to, to be part of this, uh, this track. A but it looks like a very happy accident, but it's, Yeah. That's
Speaker 0 00:01:22 Not, it's
Speaker 1 00:01:22 Not. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:01:23 No, no, no. We need to, uh, reclaim the power. We usually, uh, when someone asks us about, uh, our success, we always refer it to the support system, the people who, you know, uh, supported it, supported us, and, and whatever achievement, uh mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, but to say the truth, it is us, you know? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, first and foremost. Yeah. Um, and I know that you're a hard worker. You graduated recently mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, and you're working as a singer right now. Tell me how is it, um, embark on, on singing and, and, you know, which is an amazing artistic, uh, and creative expression, uh, where you can communicate many, many messages. Um, and I'm sure that you do, especially, um, to your generation, and you're very young and, and to the younger generation. And I told you, my daughter looks up to you and says, Oh, wow.
Speaker 0 00:02:18 You know, so it, it happens. Right. So you are paving the way for the younger generation. You're making it, uh, um, seem possible to them. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> something that seemed impossible to my generation. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So again, I embark on becoming a singer, um, a Qatar woman who sings in English mainly. Mm-hmm. Right? Yeah. Uh, which means that she's singing to the world mm-hmm. <affirmative> rather than her local community. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, what does this say about you? Why did you do that, first of all, and how did you do that? What are the challenges that you had to overcome?
Speaker 1 00:02:52 Um, so I can go, I can answer the why I sing in English in the first place. Uh, I've had interest in singing in English, uh, since I was a kid. And in general, I've had interest in singing. I used to just play karaoke, just, you know, just sing with my family. Um, I never really thought of it as a career. I was just, you know, just, uh, just something I do when I, when I actually feel emotional. It was a very emotional process for me. I just sit down and just sing for hours. Um, but then when it started becoming, uh, becoming a possibility, that's when there was actually progress. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:03:31 And so this shift, when it has become, well, it was becoming a possibility for you to really enter a public severe that was very male dominated, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I don't think that there are other women.
Speaker 1 00:03:45 Um, there has been in the past, uh, like, but it was a really, really long time ago. And then, uh, Donald Hardan was one of the women who started again, who started this again. And, uh, then actually she was the one who, who convinced me to start doing this. So, um,
Speaker 0 00:04:01 Woman helping
Speaker 1 00:04:02 Women. Exactly.
Speaker 0 00:04:04 <laugh>. That's amazing. Yeah. What are the challenges that you faced at the beginning?
Speaker 1 00:04:08 Um, at the beginning it was, there were several challenges. First of all, uh, me accepting the idea that it could be a possibility for me, because when it was proposed to me, I rejected it at first, just between myself. Uh, it felt impossible because I was thinking of all the challenges I had to go through if I chose this path. Um, and also the fact that also in, in the circle around me, even if, uh, there was so much love when it comes to my family, my sister and mom, everybody was just like frozen with the ideas. Like, Oh, that's really strange. Mm. So I wouldn't say they were against me. They, they were not against me. It was just really, um, difficult to kind of process in the beginning. Um, so I would say the first thing was for me to accept it to kind of look, um, in the future and, uh, tell myself like, these are the things you have to let go of.
Speaker 1 00:05:09 You're gonna have to let go. So many of, so many things. There's so many people you might lose. Uh, there's so many things you might need to let go of. Um, so many, so much comfort that you might need to let go of, but then the result is so rewarding. Yeah. And I remember speaking, um, to a lady who's, uh, she's like, um, a coach, a life coach that I had, that I was working with. I remember speaking to her, uh, she told me, If you don't accept this, you might regret it your entire life. Sure. And she said, Just go for it. You're gonna, this is gonna help you so much. Like, this is your dream. This is for you. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And then I did, I accepted the, the offer from it was Jennifer Dun who had offered, um, for us to work together.
Speaker 1 00:05:57 Together. Um, yeah. So the ch the most challenging thing was me accepting that. And then after that was, um, me sort of empowering myself because being in the spotlight, uh, requires a lot of confidence, a lot of self-love, because you're gonna get a lot of comments. You're gonna get a lot of hate. Not everybody's gonna like you. Exactly. Um, not everybody's gonna approve of what you're doing. Yeah. So, uh, I had to get stronger. I had to be more confident. I had to be more rooted in my decision, um, in order for me to not be shaken by, by any, anything that's thrown in my way that, that's true. So it was, uh, I know this seems like a sudden like, Oh, this song is my first song, but it's been a long, I would say like a five year process of me just doing a lot of inner work. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 0 00:06:47 Exactly. Yeah. Um, you know, I'm a feminist and I'm a big believer in sisterhood. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, Are you a feminist
Speaker 1 00:06:53 Too? <laugh>? Uh, I would say I am a feminist, but I also don't like, um, being like there's an extreme where you start hating on other people. And I don't ever wanna be that. I don't encourage hating. No. Um, but I would say, yes, I am a feminist if that means that I am empowering myself, empowering other women. Yeah. Um, helping them, um, like love themselves. Exactly. Helping them achieve
Speaker 0 00:07:22 Their potential.
Speaker 1 00:07:23 Exactly. If that's what it means to be feminist, then yes, I am a feminist.
Speaker 0 00:07:28 You should be defining your own identity, right? Yes. So even the world feminist could mean multiple things to multiple people when you were talking. So it is a process of self realization, definitely. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, but you're aware that what you do right now will, um, open, uh, the way for others to, the possibility for others to self, to realize there potential as well. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, whether creatively, whether in singing and or other forms of, um, of expression mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, does, is does this sound like a burden on you?
Speaker 1 00:08:03 Not at all, because it's, it's just, it's a side effect. I would say. I dunno, the word side effect seems negative, but what I mean is it comes with whatever I am doing, and it's not something I'm actively doing, it's something that is happening. All I'm doing is just empowering myself. And that's naturally empowering other people. True. Yeah. So it's not a burden. It's actually a joy for me, cuz I'm just being me. Yeah. And the more I am being me, the more it helps others like, be themselves, you know? So it's a natural process, I would say. It's not a burden. Not at all.
Speaker 0 00:08:39 You speak about yourself. Right. And, um, it shows that you are very at peace with who you are, which is amazing. Um, you understand, um, the complexity mm-hmm. <affirmative> of what you're doing, um, um, within, you know, um, a fairly conservative, uh, society. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, but, you know, identity is not static, right? Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, it's, it's fluid and it's multilayered
Speaker 1 00:09:05 Too.
Speaker 0 00:09:05 Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, definitely. So it's important for me also as a feminist mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, I believe in sisterhood, and I believe in supporting other women. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, and you just said it, and I say, you know, uh, my, I send the best regards to, uh, Donald Fredan, who's an, an amazing, amazing young woman as well. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, who help has helped you mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, and I'm sure that she continues helping other, um, uh, young artists. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, but my question to you is, I want my listeners to know more about you. So singing is one mm-hmm. <affirmative> layer of who you are, but you're, you're, you know, your other things than singer. So a feminist maybe. Yeah, Right. A singer. What else? What are you, you're well educated.
Speaker 1 00:09:50 Uh, yeah, that's, I would say that. Thank
Speaker 2 00:09:53 You. Yes.
Speaker 1 00:09:55 But that's, uh, that's also thanks to the university I went to, which is a year in Qatar. Exactly. Also, thanks to the efforts of, um, the, the ladies of the, the royal family as well.
Speaker 0 00:10:04 Exactly. Who made this possible for
Speaker 1 00:10:06 Exactly,
Speaker 0 00:10:07 For women here. But tell me about your degree. I wanna see, I want the listeners and, and, um, the audience to see how multilayered this is. It's not because also I, I refuse the reductionist approach of looking at, at woman. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> in general, and maybe Arab woman in specific mm-hmm. <affirmative>. It's not only a woman who stood on a stage and sang Mm. With a beautiful, beautiful voice. Thank you. <laugh>. There is much, much more about you. Mm-hmm.
Speaker 1 00:10:33 Um, well, I'm also, maybe I can start by saying, I'll just brainstorm <laugh>.
Speaker 0 00:10:39 Exactly.
Speaker 1 00:10:40 Um, I'm an artist as well, graduated from, uh, VCU guitar, which is an art university in painting. Um, I'm a Virgo if that's, that's considered as an
Speaker 2 00:10:52 Identity. Virgo,
Speaker 1 00:10:55 If that's an identity. Um, I'm not sure I, I could tell you that I, like you said, there's several layers. I'm flexible. Um, I'm, I've also been exposed to different cultures. Yeah. My mother, um, is, uh, Belgium of Moroccan origins. So I was born in Belgium, and I have family in Belgium as well. So I can, I can actually like flip, I can, when I go to Belgium, I become one of them. Then I come here, I become one of them. I grew up in UAE also for 12 years mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So if I go there, I become also one of them. Yeah. Um, so I would say that helped me become flexible a lot. So
Speaker 0 00:11:33 You're multicultural,
Speaker 1 00:11:34 Sort of? Yeah. Multilingual. Yeah. I speak three languages.
Speaker 0 00:11:37 Amazing.
Speaker 1 00:11:38 French. Yeah, French, Arabic and English. Amazing. Yeah. And, uh, Thank you
Speaker 2 00:11:42 <laugh>. Sorry. I was like, Yeah. I was jealous. <laugh>.
Speaker 1 00:11:47 Thank you so much. Um, yeah, I, uh, I'm not sure what aspects of my, my personality I could tell you. Yeah. I'm, I'm a spiritual person. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, I love, uh, working on spirituality. Um, yeah. I love working on, uh, personal development. Yeah. I love taking classes of, you know, personal development a lot of the time. Right. Um, I go through different phases of my life. Like, I like to explore different things.
Speaker 0 00:12:17 So you're mindful about, um, the phases you go through. Yes. At 25, you know, you're really young. Yeah. And, and now I, I foresee a very, um, successful, uh, you know, future for you thank mm-hmm. <affirmative>, but you have to be very grounded too. And I was talking to, Yeah. I asked you about identity because you need to do more of that. So you need to sit down and keep on talking about who you are and how you'll evolve. Definitely. And accept the changes, but with, with the solid grounding, definitely. Um, but, um, I'm, I have to, I know I'm a bit biased, but I know that, uh, people who belong to multiple cultures mm-hmm. <affirmative> are able to mediate. Yeah. Okay. And this mediation takes, um, uh, different forms. Yours is singing mm-hmm. <affirmative>. What do you think singing could play in your role, uh, in terms of helping the youth, empowering the youth? Do you think that singing could actually contribute to helping the
Speaker 1 00:13:15 Youth? Definitely. I think, um, on many levels, for me, first of all, on a, on the deeper level, I believe that, uh, sound frequencies and the words can play a lot on our subconscious mind can, um, do a lot to us. So the first thing I, I want to do when I make my music, I always wanted to be a positive message. I always to be an empowering one. Um, I always wanted to be an empowering one. Uh, always wanted to be something that does good. So moving forward, uh, from the day I release my own music, that's what I want. At least in this position of my life, I don't know if I'm gonna change mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Uh, but this is what I want. Yeah. Um, second, I think my, um, my position as a woman, definitely, uh, I can, I, I can give a voice to other women. True, uh, of the region, of the country, of the world. Uh, I can sing about the things we go through. I can sing about. Um, even it's like, if it's the small details, we can make it a piece of art. We can make a music video with women colors and, you know, we can make art out of whatever our experience is. So I think that's, that's the position I am in at the moment that can like, um, empower like, women around the world. That's it. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:14:35 Yeah. And I would say that you have a huge responsibility now. So yeah, as you were saying that, um, singing and artistic expressions are embodiment of what happens now in a society. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, but also could be, um, um, could be, uh, giving, uh, a better fu you know, messages for a better future. Or could be, how to say that could be, could lead to creating better future for multiple people. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Um, again, I would say you're a global citizen. Your message is not just local, it's global. And I think you could actually unify people on for, you know, through that message. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, and connect, uh, people from different backgrounds and cultures. I, I, I believe in that. I believe that this is the role of, of art. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> after all. Again, at 25, you're very mature. Thank you. <laugh>. I just don't wanna throw, you know, our expectations on you, but you know, you do hold a huge responsibility and, um, um, is there something you wanna say, especially to the younger generation of women in the Middle East? Okay. Um, who will know your name very, very soon. Hmm. If there is a message you wanna tell them, what would it
Speaker 1 00:15:55 Be? Um, I think the most important message would be generally, um, love yourself. Love, love, love, love yourself. Respect yourself. It's, it's a long journey. It's not easy because of all the conditioning that we went through growing up. Um, but the most important thing is to prioritize yourself and your joy, your happiness, your health. Um, cuz that's what's gonna, the more you work on that, the more you're gonna shine, the more then you're gonna like affect the people around you, You know? So, um, yeah. It starts with like, you put yourself first Yeah. Before anybody else,
Speaker 0 00:16:36 I would say. Definitely. It's a lovely message. Thank you. Um, can I ask that you sing for
Speaker 1 00:16:43 Us? Yeah,
Speaker 0 00:16:44 Sure. <laugh>. Um, how would you want to end this episode?
Speaker 1 00:16:50 Uh,
Speaker 0 00:16:50 With what song? You
Speaker 1 00:16:51 What song? Okay. What, Let me think a little bit. I was getting nervous. Would people <laugh> me just saying, I'm suffering <laugh>. I don't know why. I mean, I should be, you know, I should be like, Oh, I'm saying no, but I'm actually an introvert. So it's,
Speaker 0 00:17:07 Uh, you're an introvert who's living the life of an extrovert.
Speaker 1 00:17:09 Exactly. I can't be on that. It's, it feels like, um, it's, I wouldn't say a persona, but it's a side of me that comes out when I need it. But my nature is more introvert. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:17:21 Yeah. And I think this would be your comfort zone because, you know, you, you, you are becoming an international celebrity mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So you need to retrieve to a comfort zone. Definitely place where you feed that you're free and, uh, free of judgment. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, loving space. And I know that you have it. I do. Yeah. When she light will continue as it is. Um, so no, I don't wanna put you under pressure, but, you know, How about, um, every woman,
Speaker 1 00:17:47 Every, I don't know
Speaker 0 00:17:49 What, um, every woman, It's all in me. You don't remember it? I don't. Okay. Something that has to do with a woman,
Speaker 1 00:17:58 Women. Can
Speaker 0 00:17:59 You think of anything? Let's think,
Speaker 1 00:18:01 Uh,
Speaker 0 00:18:05 What was the last song you sang today?
Speaker 1 00:18:08 Today was, uh, it was the song we just released. No, no, no. You know, we brought it again <laugh>. I can sing that if you want.
Speaker 0 00:18:16 It sounds lovely, but No, I don't want it.
Speaker 1 00:18:18 Okay. No.
Speaker 0 00:18:20 Um, you're a songwriter.
Speaker 1 00:18:21 I am a songwriter, but I still didn't release my music. And I don't know if I, I should say this or not. My hopefully in She, my next song is gonna be, is actually called Sisters. So,
Speaker 0 00:18:34 Oh, I wanna hear it. Yeah, I wanna hear.
Speaker 1 00:18:36 But yeah. When is this gonna be released? I can't release it before. When
Speaker 0 00:18:41 Will you
Speaker 1 00:18:41 Release it? Um, I'm not sure yet. It's hopefully within the next couple months. Okay. I'll just give you a look up,
Speaker 0 00:18:47 Please. Yes, yes. Yay.
Speaker 1 00:18:50 <laugh>. I'll give you guys a little bit. Okay. Hopefully no one like
Speaker 0 00:18:54 Gets Mother. Exactly.
Speaker 1 00:18:56 <laugh>, Thank you for doing this. But it's my choice anyways. They're gonna be like, Ah, you boss, you're owned your, Okay, let me just look for
Speaker 0 00:19:04 It. It, it's gonna be a teaser.
Speaker 1 00:19:06 Just this tiny teaser. Maybe this puts pressure on them so they can release my song quickly. <laugh>, uh, Okay. Sessions. There you go. Let me see. Okay, let's, Huh. Think it, I'll just give you a little bit. Oh, you want me to sing it better? Yes. Okay. Okay. Uh, okay. Feeling the head of it or searching for a light aching so deep and muscle, hard night thinking that she's ordinary, but she doesn't know. Even if you are ordinary, you are powerful. That's it. <laugh>.
Speaker 0 00:20:01 Amazing. Amazing. What voice, Michelle?
Speaker 1 00:20:04 No, thank you.
Speaker 0 00:20:05 I thank you so much. Thank you. So it's lovely, lovely, lovely to have you. I'm,
Speaker 1 00:20:09 I'm
Speaker 0 00:20:10 Very proud of the field. Thank you so much. I'm really, really proud of you and I know that, um, um, the younger generation is gonna look up to you and I am sure that I'll have people, you know, one of the watches, my daughter who's gonna be chasing me <laugh>, uh, for a picture with you. Aww. Um, but thank you so much and, um, I wish you a, a lovely love future.
Speaker 1 00:20:33 Thank you so much. Same to you.
