In this context of coronaviral confinement, which is very conducive to attentive listening to the music, it goes without saying that the rapper is launching a new recording. The eight tracks on Godspeed: Baptism (Prelude)<\/em> are the first part of a diptych, the second of which is scheduled for next fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Born in Ethiopia,\nSarah \u201cNaya\u201d Ali immigrated with her family to Quebec when she\nwas a child. She still lives here and can draw on a rich, diverse,\ncomposite culture. In accordance with the rules of Bill 101, she\nattended elementary and high school in French, then continued her\ncollege and university studies in English. She now speaks four\nlanguages (French, English, Amharic and Spanish), and is a graduate\nof Concordia and McGill universities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBefore I switched\nmy life back to music,\u201d she says, \u201cI worked in marketing for\nsmall businesses. Music was always a passion, but I wasn’t sure if I\nwould make it my priority. For me, music is also a medium that goes\nbeyond just creating, it’s a way to create movement that is useful to\ncommunities. Music is both an artistic foundation and a means of\nexpression.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Naya Ali discovered her artistic sensibilities as a teenager, from poetry to hip hop.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI started writing\npoetry first,\u201d she says, \u201cI started rapping when I was about 18.\nI was active until I was 23, then I stopped. Why did I stop? I didn’t\nknow myself 100 per cent, as an artist. I\u2019d had a lot of\ninfluences, but I felt like the music I was creating wasn\u2019t me. So\nI chose a safer path professionally, I concentrated on my studies in\npublic relations and a career in marketing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n One can only deny\ntheir true nature for so long. Still… diving into hip hop culture\nat the turn of one\u2019s thirties can\u2019t be easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “It’s never too\nlate,\u201d says Ali. \u201cThings have to be done at the right time. If\nI’d got into rap in my early twenties, I probably wouldn’t have got\nthe result I’m getting now. When, a few years later, I made that\nimportant decision, things changed very quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It seems that\nexperience serves the rapper well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy studies, my\nlife experiences, my business side, all that also plays a crucial\nrole in my development as an artist. I’ve got a team, I’ve got a\nmanager, I’ve got a recording contract with Coyote, I’m very involved\nin all aspects of my project. For me, this career\u2019s a small\nbusiness, it’s a startup where I’m the CEO. I have to make sure that\nmy brand is respected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n And what exactly is Naya Ali’s brand?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI’m inspired by\nKanye West in that respect \u2013 I want my music to instill confidence\nin people and change their minds at the same time. My music is about\nopening up dialogue, initiating conversations, promoting\nintrospection and reflection, and inspiring people to become the\n‘manager of their world’. I do this with both humility and\nconfidence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the studio, she\nworks with Kevin Figs, Chase.wav, Tim Buron, Banx & Ranx…<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey are very\nstrong producers, all from Montreal but also working abroad. I sit\ndown with each of them, we come up with ideas, we come up with\nmelodies, hooks, we create each song together. I’m accompanied live\non stage by DJ John Brown, who’s also very talented. He makes sure\nthat the vibe is always strong. We have a great dynamic, he and I.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Our interviewee is\noutspoken, self-confident, and following firmly in the footsteps of\nher strongest influences. More precisely, she was educated by\nlistening to Kanye West, Jay-Z, Kid Cudi, Eve and Lauryn Hill, to\nname only the American stars. It’s important for her to put her own\ntouch on the grand scheme of hip hop, which is a huge task in itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n African influences? Ethiopian? Naya Ali’s programme does \u2019t include samples or quotes from Mulatu Astatke, G\u00e9tatch\u00e8w M\u00e8kurya and Mahmoud Ahmed. What’s the deal?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n “Ethiopia is\nbecoming a very important market,\u201d she agrees.\u201c I’m from the\ndiaspora, I’m interested in it, that’s for sure. I’ll work on it, but\nnot in the short term. When I give my first shows in Africa, in any\ncase, it will be a great moment for me! Right now I’m making the\nmusic I love and I’m not at all opposed to integrating African music\ninto my own. It’s not an obligation, but in the future I could take\naction. The album cover, however, does have Ethiopian influences; you\ncan see this cross on a golden background that you can see there in\nceremonies and places of worship. It’s a tribute to my roots.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The title of the\nrecording evokes Naya Ali’s new departure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn Godspeed:\nBaptism<\/em>,\u201d she concludes, \u201cit’s me who’s on stage, searching\nfor myself, finding my strength. I think I’ve drawn these resources\nfrom deep within me and I begin this new chapter of my life by\nrecalling what it took me to get to this point. It’s the light, the\nhope, the acquired mental strength, the positive vibes. But it is\nalso the pressure, the anxiety, the negative emotions induced by this\nprofession. It’s no longer a question of whether or not I\u2019ll break\nthrough, it’s done. I now have to deal with the daily pressure and\nuse the best strategies to ensure my growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd stay strong.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In 2019, Naya Ali broke what was left of the ice around her, put herself in front of an audience, and reaped a genuine esteem within the hip hop family. From the Osheaga festival to M for Montreal, she was unanimously acclaimed. What’s next? In this context of coronaviral confinement, which is very conducive to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":14693,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":""},"categories":[4628],"tags":[],"genre":[3191],"class_list":["post-14706","interviews","type-interviews","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interviews-en","genre-hip-hop-2"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/panm360.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/NAYA-ALI-Neil-Mota-horizontal_2893-1024x682.jpg\")
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