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Saida Dahir

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Saida Dahir's Spoken-Word Debut Is A Powerful Love Letter To Black Muslim Women

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"I wanted to make sure that future generations of girls that put the hijab on aren't scared, aren't worried, aren't sad, aren't getting bullied, because they know they have people to look up to," the teen poet tells the Recording Academy
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
Aug 15, 2019 - 5:51 pm

Saida Dahir has never gone back to Somalia, her native country, which sits on the east side of Africa. But she knows exactly why it is endearingly called the "Nation of Poets."

"A lot of people in Somalia write poetry about the war and about trauma and everything," she enthusiastically says over the phone about the country's centuries-long tradition with the spoken-word format. "Poetry is this thing that has been in my family since as long as time." 

18-year-old Dahir originally emigrated from Somalia with her family when she was three and claimed refugee status in Salt Lake City, but her country's tradition lives on in her work: Dahir penned her first-ever poem at just seven years old.

As she grew older, Dahir found herself at a crossroads with her culture as a black Muslim. "I was out of the norm for every single person," Dahir says. Microaggressions and adversity due to her religion and race caused her to feel different."I went through so much self-hate and so much doubt and wanted to assimilate to the surroundings."

But things changed in the seventh grade when she decided to start wearing a hijab, a traditional head covering worn by Muslim women. "I could either hate the otherness that I had or embrace it," she says of her decision. "I wanted to make sure that the representation that I had, that the future generations of the girls that do put the hijab on aren't scared, aren't worried, aren't sad, aren't getting bullied, because they know they have people to look up to."

Dahir also began to reclaim the way she saw herself through pen and paper. Through spoken-word poetry, she examined her experiences growing up Muslim, female and black in a perdominantly white community in the U.S. "The stranger looks at me funny, like an alien, like some exotic creature that needed to be rescued from its dying habitat, but she didnt know was, I like the same bands as her," she says in her poem "The Thing On My Head."

One spoken-word performance even went viral, when, in 2018, Dahir spoke at the 2018 March Of Our Lives event in Salt Lake City. “How much longer do we have to deal with this sh*t?” she asked the crowd. “Blood pools as we watch innocent bodies get hit/ politicians claim it’s not guns but they need to just quit."

Those experiences make up her powerfully emotive spoken-word debut, The Walking Stereotype, out Saturday, Aug. 17. The album is a way to bring her message of self love to young women who look just like her. "When I started writing poetry, I realized that there is so much darkness that comes with all these identities, but there is also so much light and so much hope," she says. 

Dahir also utilizes her YouTube channel to connect with other young people like her, filming vlogs with tips and anecdotes around everything from fashion to college applications. 

The Recording Academy spoke to Dahir about her spoken-word debut, what her black-Muslim identity means to her, BTS and other music she listens to, and more.

Tell me about yourself. 

My name is Saida Dahir. I was born in a refugee camp in Kenya after the civil war in Somalia broke out. People were very disastrous to my family. We lost everything we knew and everything we had so we fled to Kenya. I was born in one of the little plastic tents in a refugee camp. By the time I was three we were finally granted a green card to seek refuge in the United States. So I moved to white town in Salt Lake City, Utah where I was out of the norm for every single person. That's really what made me who I am and made me do things that I do.

What was your first experience with poetry?

Poetry is this thing that has been in my family since ... as long as time. Somalia's known as the land of poets. A lot of people in Somalia write poetry about the war and about trauma and everything. I started writing poetry when I was seven years old after reading countless poems from my mom and my brothers and getting inspiration. The first poem I wrote was a very trivial ... I think it was just a sappy poem, but that really sparked me to continue and to write about things that I'm very passionate about. That's what brought me to where I am.

Did your family write poetry similar to yours?

Yes. I feel like all of my siblings' poetry has been about social activism and movements and things that they want to see change in the world. I think we use our poetry as a way to inspire people and to inspire ourselves to really want to create change and to keep the feel of power in ourselves.

Sounds like your family has really empowered you. 

They have. They've inspired me. They've motivated me. They've really pushed me to excel in every single thing that I've done.

Why name your album, The Walking Stereotype?

The background behind the album title is very funny. You probably can't know from the phone but I'm Muslim, I'm black, I'm a woman, I'm a refugee. I have so many different stereotypes and so many different marginalized groups that I'm a part of. One time I was mentioning this to one of my friends and he jokingly said, "Bro, you're like the walking stereotype." That has really resonated with me because I really am the embodiment of so much hatred and so much destruction put on the groups that I'm a part of. I ran with that phrase and I made a blog called "The Walking Stereotype." That was my Instagram name for awhile. I knew that if I would ever do anything like this that that would be the name that I would make it [with]. There's so much that I talk about in this album, and it's not just one group that I talk about. I talk about every single group, all of my stereotypes that I walk in every single day.

What you said just now, that you embody so many stereotypes, sounds heavy but you sound so light when you talk about it, like you don't let it get to you.

Mm-hmm. It was heavy for awhile. It was so hard for me to claim it and to really find myself. I went through so much self-hate and so much doubt and wanted to assimilate to the surroundings. When I started writing poetry, I realized that there is so much darkness that comes with all these identities, but there is also so much light and so much hope. And there's so much power that comes behind them and culture and history. So when I talk about who I am, I have to be so happy because I would not want to be anybody but who I am. That's why that phrase ["walking stereotype"] it doesn't bring me sadness. It brings me so much courage because ... a lot of people are a walking stereotype. We can all be walking stereos together and we can use that as our shield against the world. 

You've been through all these experiences. What made you decide to want to make an album?

Like I said, I've been writing poetry for so long and I would just read them to people and that was that. I would record them but I would never post them anywhere or would never have a YouTube dedicated to it. There is so much power that comes from writing things down and sharing things and having them in a manifested form, so I knew that my poetry was something I didn't want to keep to myself.

I didn't want it to be something people read because my poetry doesn't sit on the paper. You can't just read it because when I say it, there's certain phrases that I emphasize or there's certain parts that I slow down. It's like music basically but it's not music. It's words, but the melody and the rhythm of the words that I say, it's what makes the poem. It's what gives it that mood. That's why I decided that the best place would be not a book, it wouldn't be a post. It would be me, my voice, my genuine reactions, and an album was the greatest way to do that.

To reclaim something for oneself can be a huge process. It takes a lot of reflection and you have to deal with a lot of pain in order to first face it and then decide, "I'm going to change this narrative." Do you remember the moment, or maybe it was a series of moments, where you decided, "I want to do this for myself. I want to reclaim my story. I want to love myself"?

I think the first moment that I had that realization of changing my narrative is when I started wearing the hijab. The hijab is the cloth, the scarf that a Muslim woman wears. I started wearing that when I was in seventh grade. Up until that point I was very assimilated to the American culture. I was a very American child but as soon as I put the scarf on, I was different. I was other. I could either hate the otherness that I had or embrace it.

It took so many years and me learning and me moving and countless microaggressions and countless adversity that was thrown my way, but at the end of the day I wanted to make sure that the representation that I had, that the future generations of the girls that do put the hijab on aren't scared, aren't worried, aren't sad, aren't getting bullied, because they know they have people to look up to. Then things just started escalating on the news ... a couple of years ago with the Muslim ban and with the hatred towards a bunch of the stereotypes that I had. I knew that poetry was the way that I was going to use my voice and change the narrative. So I started writing poems about politics and about laws and about things that I needed to see change. I think that me expressing myself is what helped myself learn who I was.

Having listened to your album, I really felt like it was this love letter to yourself, but the more I hear you talk, I feel like this is almost a love letter to the Muslim black woman.

It really is. It's a love letter to every single person that looks like me because they need the love too. They don't get that love in the media. They don't get that love in the press. They don't get that love in the history books that are written. So we got to love ourselves.

Anything else did you want to achieve with the album?

I think what I want to achieve with the album is to show people that look like me that there's so much talent behind your words and so much power that your words hold. I don't know how to sing. I don't know how to rap. I don't know how to do all of these things that people use to express themselves. I don't even know how to draw. I know how to write and I know how to express myself in English and in so many other languages. I think that there is power behind people's words and every single person has that talent if they write things down, if they speak up, if they express themselves. That is where the true power comes from, your words and how you use them. 

You mentioned that you've been writing since you were seven. Has this album been the accumulation of all your writing throughout that time? 

The first poem that I wrote in that album is called "The Thing on My Head," which is a poem about how I started wearing the hijab. I wrote that poem when I was in seventh grade so this is an accumulation from poetry from when I was 14. How old are you when you're in seventh grade? I think 13, 14. So a good portion of my life is on that. A good portion of the life that I remember and the life that I lived and the experiences I have since I started writing.

It's basically your sonic debut. 

Yes, this is. I've never done anything like this before so when I heard the GRAMMYs wanted me to interview me I was like, "What?"

Did you reach out to someone to record the album or did someone reach out to you? 

The record company that I did this album with, they found one of my poems on YouTube that I did at the March for Our Lives. That poem went viral and so they asked me if I wanted to record that poem for another album and I said, "Sure." So I recorded that poem for an album about gun violence. Then a couple of months later they were like, "Why don't you just do a whole album by yourself because you have such powerful poetry?" I was like, "Okay, sure." And that's what I did.

One of your poems is about Parkland. What inspired you to write about the tragedy?

I wrote that poem the day of the Parkland shooting. I found out about it and I got home and I was so distraught ... It was a normal thing. It's a normal thing for us and I was a junior in high school, I had tests to worry about, I had my grades to worry about, but I was immobile because the only thing that was there was just the fear. The fear of going to school and of not coming back. So I did what I do when I'm in situations where I'm so heavily burdened by society, I wrote a poem that day. I've never written a poem in one day before. That was the first poem that I sat down and I wrote the entire thing and I still have not changed it at all because it was the true expression and the true feelings I was feeling that day. The anger and the fear and all of that just boiled down to, "What I can do to make sure that that never happens again?" Then I read at the March for Our Lives and the reaction that I got in the crowd was so many people that said they could relate. There's nothing better than when you can ... people can relate to your emotions.

How does it feel for a total stranger to connect with you?

It's what inspires me to do everything that I do. When I read a poem and after someone walks up to me and says, "No one has ever expressed that before in the way you did and I agreed with everything that you said. It's been something that's in the back of my head," it really just makes everything that I do worth it. If I'm putting people's feelings into words and I'm sharing them and they hear it and they just are like, "I get that," that just is the best feeling in the world.

You sound like a very confident person. Were you ever scared to share your stories with the world?

Yes, I was terrified. Like I said, seventh grade was the pivotal year in my life. The reason why I did the things that I did is one of my teachers, he knew that I wrote poetry and that I never read any of it. He told me that he was going to force me to read a poem at our talent show or he would fail me-

Oh no.

I was like, "Oh no." I was so terrified and I signed up to read a poem at the talent show. I didn't want to do it but I didn't want to fail the class. I knew he was joking, he was not going to fail me, but I decided that this would be an incentive. I went up there and I read a poem and I got a standing ovation. I was just a shy girl and to get that standing ovation was just like, "This is crazy, people like what I did. People like what I wrote."

Then I, of course I was terrified every single time I'd get up onto the stage. I've also walked off a stage and been yelled at and called "terrorist," but I don't think about that. I think about how when I'm on stage, what change I could make and how I can keep the ball rolling.

Is there anything telling your story has taught you?

I think something that telling my story has taught me is that there is so much power behind just being who you are. It's so easy to just think that you can be who you are but it's so hard when the world is so [full of] hate and the world is so exactly how it's supposed to be [with the] status quo. To just say, "No, I'm not going to do that," and just express yourself in every single way that you are and just to love yourself, I think that's incredibly powerful.

The term "refugee" has been all over the news these last few years. People are defining it in different ways. What does it mean to you?

I think it's hope. I think that word means hope. Being a refugee means leaving everything you know, everything you love, your culture, your religion, your background, your language, your food, your home, your family, in the hopes for something better. That's what my family did and that's what the people at the border are doing right now. That's what the people in Syria are doing right now. They know that they're leaving everything they have and their whole universe because they know that something's better and something is waiting for them. When they do arrive to those situations, they're either loved and welcomed or they're pushed out. 

My family was not loved and welcomed but we were not pushed out. We were indifferent, but now people are being pushed out. There's never been love. Once we can figure out how we can solve this problem and greet people, because no one is going to ... No one understands that no one's going to leave everything that they have if they're not pushed out, if they're not killed, if they have no other options. I think once we realize that, we can figure out how we can solve this refugee problem in the world. No one just wakes up one day and is like, "I'm going to cross the river. I'm going to walk barefoot. I'm going to not eat for a couple of weeks for fun." It doesn't work that way.

Is there any poem in your album that means the most to you in any kind of way? If so, why?

I think the poem that has the most meaning towards me is, "Oh, Somalia." I've never been to Somalia after the war. When we fled to Kenya I came immediately here. I wrote that poem because I really have never gotten the opportunity to love my homeland. One day I will, I will go back and I will visit. I have that poem for now and whenever I feel homesick of a home that I've never been to, I read that poem and I think about it. One day I'll be in Somalia, hopefully, and I'll be able to read that poem while I'm there. That's my goal.

Has not knowing your homeland affected you?

I think it's affected me because growing up I was too white for the Somalia kids and then I was too black for the white kids. I never really knew myself. I didn't speak Somalia fluently when I was growing up and a lot of the Somalia kids I knew would make fun of me. Then I would get made fun of by the white kids that I was with. It was very disheartening because I never had that safe haven and that safe space. When you're too black for the white kids and you're too white for the black kids, where do you go? You have to make spaces for yourself.

That's why I try to learn so much about my culture. I study more about my culture than people that live there probably do because I don't have it accessible to me. It's not at the touch of my fingertips so I have to try tenfold just to get that experience of my ... calling my place home.

There's this thing Billie Eilish said in an interview. She said something along the lines of, "People underestimate the power of a young mind." Do you agree?

I 100% agree. I'm at this this conference right now with so many young people. They're geniuses. They are so revolutionary and so innovated. They have so many goals and things they want to change about the world. So much optimism. If we were just heard out, if we were just listened to, if we weren't just called, "Oh, they're just kids. Oh, they don't know what they're talking about," we could bring so much to the table. If we don't have a voice, we're just going to talk. We're just going to be disruptive.

Jeremy Jemmott, who worked with Gil Scott-Heron, worked with you on this album. How does it feel to have someone of that caliber work with you on this project?

I love the Black Panther Party and I love "The Revolution Will Not be Televised." When they told me that he was going to be on the album, I literally was in shock. He's an amazing, an amazing, musician. Just knowing that the power and the history behind his art and his talent with my words, it just proves that it's inter-generational. We've been fighting for causes, we've been fighting for the things that I've ... I'm talking about in these poems, for years and years and years. And it shows because when he was drumming back then we were going through the same sh*t. 

What other music are you into?

I really love soul music. I'm a big K-pop fan. A lot of people don't know that.

Who's your favorite band?

I love BTS. I love good rap music. It's funny because rap music is literally poetry. When I tell people that, they're really confused and I'm like, "No, you're favorite rapper is in fact a poet. They're just putting the beat behind it." Some of the songs on my album have a beat behind it and so I'm basically a rapper.

You're attending UC Berkeley in the fall, which is really famous for its student activism. What are you most looking forward to there?

I'm really looking forward to be able to be in a college setting. I'm a first generation college student so I know that that is a very heavy burden, but I'm really excited to continue this for the generations after me. Having one person in your family be a college graduate just keeps the ball rolling and rolling and rolling. I'm really just excited to learn more and to grow and to find out what my purpose in life is through the academia aspect and just learn.

What kind of career you want to pursue? Do you want to continue being a poet?

For all my life I wanted to be a journalist, and then I wanted to be a lawyer for a couple of months and so that's what I applied to all my colleges through. Now I think I'm going to go back to journalism.

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Los Angeles' First Permanent Latin Music Gallery Launches At GRAMMY Museum

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"This is a momentous occasion for the GRAMMY Museum and for Los Angeles," said ribbon-cutting ceremony host Giselle Fernandez
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
Nov 19, 2019 - 1:15 pm

A new voice representing Latin culture's impact on music history opened its doors Tues., Nov. 18, at the GRAMMY Museum right in the heart of Los Angeles. 

The city's first permanent Latin music gallery brought together Latin music's biggest stars, industry professionals, political figures and community members for a ribbon-cutting ceremony and celebration of the historic event.

In collaboration with the GRAMMY Museum, the Latin Recording Academy unveiled the Latin GRAMMY: 20 Years Of Excellence exhibit, showcasing pieces from Latin GRAMMY show performances and moments, on the museum's third floor. These include an outfit the late iconic Mexican singer/songwriter Juan Gabriel wore during a performance at the 10th Latin GRAMMYs and an outfit worn by "Despacito" singer Luis Fonsi during his performance at the 18th Latin GRAMMYs. 

The Latin Academy is donating more than half a million dollars to expand the museum's Latin-inspired exhibits, including the permanent gallery and the Latin GRAMMY show exhibit. "This is a momentous occasion for the GRAMMY Museum and for Los Angeles," said ribbon-cutting ceremony host, journalist Giselle Fernandez, a former Latin Recording Academy board member. 

GRAMMY Museum President Michael Sticka said the museum was proud to be the home of the first permanent Latin music gallery in the city. "We're very excited to play host to that," he said in his remarks.

In a statement prior to the opening, Sticka touched on how the exhibit would expand the ethos of the GRAMMY Museum. "Latin GRAMMY, 20 Years Of Excellence and our newly renovated third floor will greatly amplify the Museum's mission to educate, inspire, and share the significance of all forms of music," he said.  

It was not forgotten that the gallery opened in one of the country's cities most-inspired by Latin culture and populated by Latinos. According to 2011 Pew Research Center statistics, Hispanics made up 4.9 million of the Los Angeles County population or 9 percent of the country's Hispanic population.

Hilda Solis, First District Los Angeles County Supervisor and former President Barack Obama cabinet member, reminded the crowd of the significance of the gallery's location. "[This is a] long-time coming for us," she said. "We know the musica is our life, it's our culture, it's our livelihood and it brings us so many good things when things are sour and bad."

The expansion is something Latin Recording Academy President Gabriel Abaroa had been dreaming of for years. "This is a day of thank yous," he said. "I want to thank Michael, the board of trustees of the GRAMMY Museum and all the employees and staffers of the GRAMMY Museum because they have opened their hearts and their doors to us since the beginning."

The grand event came just a few days after the Latin Recording Academy celebrated its 20th Latin GRAMMY celebration at the MGM in Las Vegas and was a celebration continuing its 20th anniversary celebrations.



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Recent Latin GRAMMY Best Ranchero/Mariachi Album winner Christian Nodal and GRAMMY-nominated singer Angela Aguilar, were two stars invited to represent the next generation of Latin music and help cut the ribbon. 

The Office of L.A. City Council President Herb Abaroa also presented a certificate declaring Nov. 18 as the official Latin GRAMMY day. The night included performances from GRAMMY- and Latin GRAMMY-nominated Puerto Rican singer/songwriter Raquel Sofia and Latin GRAMMY winners Flor de Toloache and gave the public their first look at the exciting new exhibit and gallery. 

The Latin GRAMMY: 20 Years Of Excellence exhibit will be open Nov. 20 until spring 2020; visit the GRAMMY Museum's website to get tickets.

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Ozomatli 

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Ozomatli To Host Family-Friendly 'OzoKids' Event At GRAMMY Museum Latin Gallery Opening

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The band's program, inspired by their 2012 album of the same name, comes to the GRAMMY Museum on Nov. 18
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
Nov 15, 2019 - 3:53 pm

In 2012, Los Angeles' own Ozomatli recorded their very first kid's album, Ozomatli Presents OzoKidz.

Previously, the two-time GRAMMY-winning band had been known for meshing cumbia, salsa, hip-hop, funk and more in an upbeat, danceable fusion unique to growing up Latinx in L.A. Songs like "Cumbia del Muerto," or "Cumbia Of The Dead," off their 1998 self-titled album, was easily the soundtrack of Latin bi-cultural America during that time. Now, the song is a cumbia-American classic, continuing to bring Ozomatli's legacy to the next generation of Latinx in the U.S. 

OzoKidz - Plans For Children's Album

But as time went by and the band began to notice that their fans were starting to have kids, they saw an opportunity to connect with an even tinier generation.

"I think one of the great things about it for us is that we were able to really look at songwriting as a way to really get into characters," vocalist and guitarist Raul Pacheco tells the Recording Academy. "We just sat around and talked about things we went through as a kid or things you were into and just kind of associated certain styles of music with those subjects."

The 2010s album, which would become a GRAMMY-winning album, kept the band's sonic essence but also contained songs meant to teach kids how not be afraid of water, skateboarding and germs. Ultimately, the album taught the band something, too.  

"It actually helped our songwriting, [to] kind of not have to be stuck to what it meant to be an adult," Pacheco said. 

Now, Ozomatli are bringing their program—inspired by the OzoKidz album experience—to the Recording Academy's GRAMMY Museum on Nov. 18, the same day the Latin Music Gallery at the museum in Los Angeles is set to launch. Pacheco says the program will only continue to build the relationship Ozomatli has with the museum, the GRAMMYs and the Recording Academy. 

The Recording Academy spoke with Pacheco more about how the album helped the band evolve, their workshop at the Latin Gallery unveiling, being a part of the GRAMMY Museum history, music education and more. 

You are going to be a part of a kids workshop during the GRAMMY Museum Latin gallery opening. But this isn't your first rodeo with kids. Why connect with kids via an album?

We all grew up in public school systems where we learned and were introduced to music. I think that experience for us as young people is super impressionable, something we all talk about a lot, the importance of that experience for us. It really kind of makes playing music not some unattainable thing that you only see someone do in pictures or on TV or whatever. It's always been something very important to us.

I think we've always had a connection. As we've gotten older and have our own children, we got to a point where a lot of our fans were having kids ... So the idea came up to make a kid's record and we went for it. I think one of the great things about it for us is that we were able to really look at songwriting as a way to really get into characters. It actually helped our songwriting, [to] kind of not have to be stuck to what it meant to be an adult. We could just... create these different kinds of impressions that we were trying to focus on what it meant to be a kid. It was really cool to all these different kinds of subjects you go to just in a natural way as a child. I think we tried to make a record and songs that the parents wouldn't get sick of listening to a thousand times.

Was it only the themes you felt changed?

Yeah, because on that record there's a song about going to the movies, there's a song about germs that's just kind of funny. It's a little scary and funny. There's a song about being afraid to go into the water, and don't be afraid of it, just jump in. There's a song about skateboarding. So there's all these different subjects. We just sat around and talked about things we went through as a kid or things you were into and just kind of associated certain styles of music with those subjects. 

What kind of experience with music did you have at school?

My first real experience with music was in the school choir and I had a very, very important teacher, Mrs. Hubbard. She was one of those teachers that was so influential in terms of really introducing children to music and she was so good at it. You don't really realize that until you're old and you can kind of go like, "Wow, this lady used to wrangle all of these kids and get them to do something some of them didn't even think they could do." There's a kind of a profound thing in that, that a lot of teachers probably experience in terms of just introducing kids to concepts or to the experiences to help them do the work that it takes to have an outcome. I think for me it was also understanding, without knowing it at the time, it takes work to do what you want to do.

You have to show up, you have to practice, you have to rehearse, you got to prep and then you got to perform. And the better you get at all that it really allows you to have better presentation. Those concepts, which you're not really sure that you're not even really aware that you're learning that, it's kind of really important ... I went on to be in a boys' choir because of her. Then I just got into rock guitar as a teenager and that kind of led to other stuff. But that first experience from her was super important.

Why work with the museum on this workshop now?

We've had a long relationship with the GRAMMY Museum. [We] performed there many times. We did a kids' presentation there ourselves. We got to perform with Booker T. there. I've seen numerous presentations there. So we have a relationship with the GRAMMYs. Doing MusiCares, which we performed at, to Harold Owens who runs MusiCares, to people who work at the GRAMMY Museum. We've won GRAMMYs. I think that all kind of makes us part of that family so we know that there's certain things that they can ask us that we're always willing to do, if possible. This is one of those things.

What can you tell us about the event on Monday?

I know that it's an important presentation. There's going to be important items there with the idea of Latino music and we're going to grab the family. We're a part of that history. We have some stuff there that they asked us to bring. I have a Tres guitar, which is a Cuban guitar, that's going to be there. That was one I played at one of the Latin GRAMMYs. They asked for a bunch of stuff from some performances that we had. For us, it's just important to be a part of that whole moment and that presentation and we're honored that they asked us. Doing what we do is just, [it's] not really work. We're going to have to show up and do what we do.

For people not aware of what Latin music is today, and specifically in Los Angeles, what is the significance of the Latin gallery opening up at the museum and specifically in L.A.?

I think that there's always been a correct criticism in terms of the separation of those worlds, [between L.A. and Latinos]. To me, to this day, it's a little hard to understand the strict separation that we have in our daily lives even though that there's all kinds of people that live in Los Angeles. When it comes to Latino L.A. and non-Latino L.A., I know there's plenty of integration in our game, but somehow in our hearts and our heads, it still seems different. I'm hoping that this is a continuation of a progress into recognizing some very obvious things about the city of Los Angeles, its own history, its own adversity, and continue to create that kind of awareness in all institutions, not just music.

I get that this is important to kind of continue that evolution of thinking, of how we look at the city. This particular showcase is going to be about music, popular music. And because it's in Los Angeles, directly is how it affects L.A. There's a lot more integration that ... [brings into] recognition of basic things that we all share and ultimately don't need to be kind of segregated in that way. I'm really very happy to be a part of the progress of that.

GRAMMY Museum Reveals Flor de Toloache, Angela Aguilar & More As Special Guests For Opening Of Latin Music Gallery

GRAMMYs

Anna Meredith 

Photo: Gem Harris 

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Scottish Singer/Composer Anna Meredith Talks Songwriting, 'FIBS' & The Power Of Simplicity

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"I think it's having the balls to put things up against each other that I might have felt worried about before," she tells the Recording Academy about her musical evolution
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
Nov 14, 2019 - 12:28 pm

Scottish singer/songwriter, producer and composer Anna Meredith has a way of making music that may seem very calculated.

"I draw the shapes that represent the kind of graphic, also the energy of the track. And I'll do that for anything. Whether it's an orchestral piece or a piece for kids or a piece for anything," she says on the phone from Europe. "It's something that I do that helps me plan out the music because the pacing of musical ideas is really important to me."

Fusing classical music with electronic beats and genres like pop, Anna Meredith's music is an emotive journey into the experimental—some of it sounds like it could be the soundtrack of a videogame while other pieces can feel like the music you'd dance to at a club or fall asleep to. In addition to releasing three LPs and two EPs, Meredith has also composed the scores 2018 indie comedy-drama Eighth Grade and this year's Paul Rudd Netflix vehicle, Living With Yourself. 

As thoughtful as she can be about music creation, FIBS, her sophomore album out now, has her standing her ground with what feels right to her. "I know more about what I think works. I think there's more risks. Which doesn't necessarily mean more complexity," she says. "It actually sometimes means being braver with simplicity ... I set out to write something that I thought would feel open and inclusive and joyful."

The Recording Academy recently chatted with the singer/songwriter to talk FIBS, being under the spotlight in her video for "Inhale Exhale," the importance of positivity and more. 

Your latest album came out three and a half years after your debut. Did you spend that time working on it?
 
Not nonstop. I had little bursts where I was working on it really intensely for a few weeks or even a month. Then I stopped to do other things like the Eighth Grade soundtrack, or a big orchestral piece I did for the [BBC] Proms last year. So I did quite a lot of other projects in between. But I [was] full-time, working on it from about October last year, right through to about July.
 
Nowadays artists are pushing out music all the time. Did you throughout that time feel pressure to hurry your album at all?
 
Not especially, I mean, one because there was actually all this other stuff that was happening, I released an album of a piece I did that was half full Vivaldi's "Four Seasons," half my music. So that came out last year. And there was this big orchestral thing and then the whole Eighth Grade thing. So I felt like there was still lots of content from me. In terms of my band stuff, well I wouldn't want to put it out without finding really potential. I suppose I wouldn't want to put it out unless it felt perfect. Unless I felt like this is my project that I am so proud of, and this takes me so much belief and love goes into it, that if I rushed it in any way I wouldn't be happy.
 
So no, I think I would have felt bad if there was nothing else out there for people to see, but there's actually been lots going on. So if people wanted to hear new stuff, there's been quite a lot of things.
 
What was the headspace you were in when creating your sophomore album?
 
I was feeling pretty good. I have been writing for a really, really long time. I work as a classical composer and increasingly for TV stuff so writing isn't unusual. It's my job and it's what I do all the time is I write music. And it wasn't like I had to get into that headspace from a completely different job. It was more carving out the time, turning down other projects to just focus on it. And yeah, pretty excited. I think, really, I did, I spend a lot of the last few years just writing. And I knew what's nice about this project is it will then also have a live life. It will have performances and I'll go on through with it. And that's kind of amazing.
 
So, it's nice to be thinking that next year I'll be touring and doing all this stuff that's not about just composing the whole time. So yeah, I was feeling excited. I had a very clear idea of the types of music that I wanted to be on the album. The kind of mix of stuff, that I wanted fast stuff and slow stuff and upbeat stuff and quieter things and longer tracks. I had to use just very general things that I felt would balance each other up really well. So I sort of had all those kind of parameters in my head before I began.
 
You compose a lot, but is there something in specific you enjoy about the songwriting process?
 
I don't really see it as that different to any of my other stuff. I mean if you look and listen to my orchestral music or stuff like installations or anything I've done, there's a lot of the same musical ingredients, building blocks across anything I do. So it's not like I'm trying, if I actively don't think about genre at all, I'm not thinking, here's a pop song. Here's an instrumental track, here's an orchestral track. I'm just exploring the things I like to write. The types of chords or types of rhythms, the types of cross-rhythms, things that I find exciting. I mean obviously, with the vocal tracks there's the extra thing of lyrics. That was, having in the past written operas and stuff like that where you set someone else's words, it's definitely an extra challenge when you're making the words your own.
 
But I was really proud of the vocal stuff in this album. I think it's a lot stronger than the previous one. And yeah, I sort of just enjoyed the challenge of as in appreciating myself but more than I did before.
 
What are the challenges for you?
 
Well, one challenge is that I'm not the best singer. But I really love singing and it feels authentic to me and part of the expression of this whole project, that it is me. As you know, I'm not the only singer. I didn't want to just get some amazing singer into this. So, the vocal stuff is sung by me and members of my band as well. One of the tracks, "Killjoy," is sung by Sam the drummer. It's really nice to me. It's not about just getting in session players. These are people, all the members of the band and myself are all being all this and just being ourselves. That's one thing, making the music work for me vocally. I have to get it in the right range. I've got a very high squeaky voice so I have to push everything up quite high. And I guess the challenge is really trying to find stuff that doesn't feel either pretentious or clumsy. Trying to get the tone of that sort of stuff right. Feels like it feels honest. But not teenage or something, not emote, not, I guess, comfy. I think juggling all that sort of stuff and then ultimately forgetting your own, just getting on with it.
 
How do you decide when a song of yours incorporates lyrics and when it doesn't?
 
So that's all kind of decided before. Before I started the whole album, I have this way that I plan any music that I write where I draw the shapes that represent the kind of graphic, also the energy of the track. And I'll do that for anything. Whether it's an orchestral piece or a piece for kids or a piece for anything. It's something that I do that helps me plan out the music because the pacing of musical ideas is really important to me. Making the positioning of where new elements come in and where certain things are revealed or that sort of stuff. So this kind of planning stage with the shapes, these kinds of graphic shapes, lots of triangles and that sort of thing, is a big part of the kind of composing process. So right from the beginning of this album, I knew that I was going to write 11 tracks and I knew the kind of mix of stuff I was going to do. So it was almost then like writing to my own brief. It wasn't like I wrote 50 tracks and picked the best 11. I knew I was going to do longer instrumental tracks, shorter instrumental tracks, more upbeat vocal stuff, quieter vocal stuff, a song for Sam to sing, the drummer. So I had a little sort of shopping list of stuff that I really wanted to do. Then I'm just fleshing each thing out.
 
"Inhale Exhale," that's the first time you appear in a video alone. How was that experience?
 
I was a bit worried about it before. I sort of have maybe taken a bit of comfort from previous videos feeling quite equal with the rest of the band and feeling like it sort of wasn't so centered around me and singing and stuff. I mean, you get into it when you've done about 9,000 takes and we'd done it right through the night. And into carwash where we filmed putting the car through the car wash countless times. And yeah, you know what, they had an amazing team who are sort of filming it, and writing it who are so, yeah. Eventually, you get over yourself. And also it's so unbelievably cold and wet. You've got to just stop freaking out about it and just get on with it eventually.
 
 
Earlier you mentioned when you released your album, you wanted to be proud of it. Do you feel like you're proud of the album? 
 
Yeah, I'm hugely proud of it. I mean the amount of time and money and efforts being [put into it], I don't think I could live with myself if it felt like I'd done something that I didn't feel represented me. I've been part of it because it's a huge thing for me to do. I have to clear a ton of time and sacrifice a lot and write areas all across my life to make this thing that nobody's asking for and nobody needs. And that it seems very different from my classical commissions where there is a lot of infrastructure and payment and production schedules. There's good commissions fees. This is something that I have to sort of a lot of self-belief to push these things forward.
 
I feel really proud of how good each track sounds. I've listened to it thousands of times and I still love it. Which I think is a good test. Not sick of any of it. I still feel excited when I hear the tracks and energized and I'm up in my seat, dancing about. I love it. Which sounds maybe really indulgent, but I don't know what the alternative would be, would be really sad.
 
How do you feel your sound has evolved since your debut?
 
I write how I write. It's kind of how I feel. And that within itself has a lot of variety. So I think I've got better at a lot of things. I think I've got better at my production stuff, the electronics I think are better. I know more ... [I] have more confidence as I get even older as a composer. And I know more about what I think works. I think there's more risks. Which doesn't necessarily mean more complexity. It actually sometimes means being braver with simplicity. I think it's having the balls to put things up against each other that I might have felt worried about before. Start flowing from something really intense to something simple. I really didn't want this record to be alienating or in any way academic or to seem like some kind of exercise. I want people to love and enjoy and sing along to. I set out to write something that I thought would feel open and inclusive and joyful.
 
That in itself means that's quite a hard thing to try and do to. Why I find composition really hard to do? Because you want to be transparent about what the music's doing whilst also keeping sort of things that are unexpected and exciting. So I think that's slightly more accessibility.
 
What do you attribute all this growth to? I hear you say that you feel braver...
 
Oh, I don't know. I mean I think just one, I suppose the validation and confidence from the last record. Which really I did sort of on my own with just being much more of a team effort with the band ... I feel so humbled and excited when we do a gig and people are there and saying the words. I mean that's amazing. What an amazing feeling and that people are there for that. I feel excited that people are up for coming on the journey of this stuff. And have come to other things. What's been amazing for me is people who've come to our band gigs have then come to my orchestral pieces and vice versa. I think it's really lovely that I think this whole idea of genre just matters so much less now. And people are looking at music because they like how somebody writes, no matter what the context is.
 
How much do you pay attention to the other pop sounds going on around you?
 
Not very much. I mean, I basically, I work and compose in a bit of a hermit depressing, weird tunnel where I deliberately don't listen to any music or I don't seek out any music. I don't think, "Oh, how can it be a star track?"Or "What sound?"  Because just I, in the past used to sort of listen about a bit more and found that it then watered down or affected what I was writing. Instead I listen to a lot of audiobooks and I just find that I find it more creatively stronger if I'm not too influenced by anything. I'm not living in a bubble, so of course I hear lots of stuff from telly and films and things. So, I know what kind of stuff is out there, but I'm definitely not trying to write my music in the context of anyone else's.
 
When you travel with so many instruments, does that present any kind of challenge when you're playing music live?
 
I mean there's tedious, practical challenges that are almost too boring to mention. Getting a cello on a plane and getting a tuba on a plane. And that every single f***kng airline has the same policy and you walk up and each one goes, "Oh no, you need to do this. And you have to pay it anyway." So baffling. That's unbelievably infuriating.
 
We're still really getting started so we don't have a big team. It's us who pack it. We set everything up, we pack everything down, we sell the merch. And then we parole 22 suitcases of stuff on to the next place. Pack them like Tetris into the boot of a car and off we go. It's a challenge but it's also really exciting. I think because the band and I get on really well and we try and make it all fun as it can be. The last time we were in the States, we all went skiing and we went to Six Flags [theme park] ... We just did all this like fun stuff around the tour that kind of balances out all the lugging and packing and stuff that's the other side of it.
 
What have you learned from yourself as an artist throughout these years?
 
That's a good question. Let me see. What I learned? I mean, there's stuff that would be useful for, worry less over general life gubbins about trying to just do stuff under your own terms. And not just tune in to your usual stuff where you could have a lovely review with one bad light or it haunts you forever. So that's just, I guess, confidence.
 
And I think also just trying to stay positive. I think the previous album ends quite sadly. It's got quite a sort of heartbreaking little final track. And I wanted this album, even though a lot of the vocal stuff has quite a lot of self-criticism and inward-looking and hesitation and quite negative. But the final track is made to be open and up in the sense of looking outward. So I think there's optimism, that even though it seems ... everything [in the world] seems like it's just going to shit. We all just wake up and we're like, "Oh my God, we're being managed by idiots" and we think what is that. So, it's so depressing and it can also really bleak and hopeless. So I think trying to stay positive and not just lean into that negativity. Try and do something with energy and positivity is something I can kind of think about.
 
With Brexit and everything going on, how do you feel like you as an artist will be affected by that?
 
Oh my God, I feel most of us are just too scared. Well, one, we don't have a clue. The whole country feels like everything's changing every day. That there's just the news. You wake up and see what fresh hell have they got in store for us today or what? It's like a terrible, terrible box set you're watching that just never ends and it's awful. And the implications for smaller bands like us touring are awful. Going to Europe, or getting to the States is already a huge deal financially for us, getting the visas and things. Where it's a really big investment and the idea of footing doing that again for Europe is really daunting. And I think even just on a broader level, this idea of there's then a phobia of this idea of some jingoistic old-fashioned rural, this sort of really almost well, racist, to be honest, idea of what Britain is, just feels hideous.
 
So yeah, I don't know. It's fairly easy as I'm sure it's for you guys to feel like a lot of people, us and all our friends have no idea who the rest of your country is. You feel very alienated. To be honest, it's kind of reached a point where, when you meet up, when I meet a pal, the first thing we all sort of assess is that we can't talk about it. We can't talk about Brexit or we're just going to end up in silence. Going to cry. So yeah, so it's awful. And we really hope that something might get sorted. But even if it did you sense that the country is just divided in two at the moment, which is a scary thing.
 
What are you up to next?
 
 Next we'll be touring, which is really exciting. And I just finished Living with Yourself, the music for the Netflix show that came out a [few] of weeks ago, the Paul Rudd one. So that's been really nice. Lots of people have got in touch about that. Then next year composing-wise, I'm trying to do a little less because I've just written back-to-back for years. But I think the next thing maybe writing something for a VR project, which I'm quite excited about. That's underway, but I'm hoping mostly to be doing some more practical stuff and focus on just getting the band and our 92 suitcases out on the road.

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GRAMMYs

Sebastian Yatra 

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Exclusive: Sebastian Yatra Teases 2019 Latin GRAMMY Performances & Reveals His Life's Purpose: "To Share Love With People"

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The Colombian singer/songwriter, nominated for Album Of The Year and Song Of The Year, is set to perform at the 20th Annual Latin GRAMMYs on Nov. 14 and at the Person Of The Year ceremony
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
Nov 12, 2019 - 10:35 am

Rising in the international music world over the last few years, with the release of his 2018 debut MANTRA and 2019's FANTASIA, Sebastian Yatra has shown his vocal versatility, genre rule-breaking mentality and love for collaborations.

In his joint efforts with heavy hitters like Wisin, Carlos Vives and Maná, with whom he sings "No Ha Parado De LLover" (a remake of the iconic Mexican rock group's 1995 song), Yatra has embraced reggaeton, pop and rock ballads, and those are only a few of the genres that make up the Colombian-born, Miami-raised singer/songwriter's song collection. It's clear that Yatra isn't subscribing to one genre or sound on his way to the top—he already boasts Latin GRAMMY nominations (he was up for Best New Artist in 2018) and top spots on the Billboard 200 and Top Latin Albums charts. 

"I think genres are becoming less existent," he recently told the Recording Academy, just days ahead of the 2019 Latin GRAMMYs. "You see artists that are making all kinds of music. What we are making is good music, good songs."

It may be Yatra's gut feeling about good music that has earned him nominations in the major categories at the upcoming Latin GRAMMYs, airing on Univision Nov.14. The "Un Año" singer, who is also set to perform at the show and again at the Person Of The Year ceremony (honoring fellow Colombian singer Juanes), is up for Album Of The Year and Song Of The Year. He's also up for Best Pop Album.

The nomimations are something he still can't believe: "You tell me [I'm nominated], and it seems like a lie," he says humbly. 

Although still early in his career, ultimately Yatra wants to follow in the footsteps of some of Latin America's most romantic balladeers, including Sin Bandera and Camila, and chose his Latin GRAMMY-nominated album FANTASIA, filled with ballads about love, to showcase that.

The Recording Academy caught up with Yatra before the Latin GRAMMYs to talk more about his nominated album, his latest single with Maná, his nominations and performances, his sustainability docuseries El Poder De Los Centennials and more.

You covered "No Ha Parado De Llover" at Person of the Year a year ago. How was it for you to give new life to this song now with Maná?

It is the greatest honor for me to be next to my favorite band, which I think is the greatest Latin band in history. It is also a great learning experience for me because beyond being great musicians, they are even greater humans. For me, there are two iconic bands who are legends for Latinos: Maná and Soda Stereo.

Being able to live this experience with Maná is something that if you told me [would happen] five years ago, a year ago, I wouldn't believe it. Last year I had the opportunity to sing "No Ha Parado De Llover" in front of them at Person of the Year [and] you can't imagine how nervous and excited I was. We decided to put our touch on the song so that they would listen to something different from what they had already heard and what they had sung all their lives. Keeping the essence of the song, but putting a very personal touch of mine. I would never have imagined that they would like it so much, they would want to record it together. That is just what we did. The song is great, many people like it. I'm going to start playing it during my shows, of course. I love [the band] a lot and [they] are an example for me to follow in every way. I always keep in touch with Fher [Olvera] about life, we talk about God, talk about spirituality, talk about the way he sees things, which is very special.

As a singer-songwriter, what do you like about this song in particular?

There are many phrases in the song that are special. I like that it is a song that allows any performer to enjoy it because it has very singable melodies. It is one of those songs that is also objectively very good, but you also listen to it with all your heart. Because I grew up listening to this song, you put it on and I'm filled with beautiful nostalgia, it also reminds me of moments, it reminds me of people.

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You have several great musical collaborations. What do you like about singing with other artists?

I like that you have the opportunity to get out of your comfort zone, perhaps. When you sing alone, no matter how much you are inventing new things or experimenting, it's just your mind and the people with whom you're writing with, but when there is another voice, there is another way of interpreting, other sounds, and you mix that, something different always comes out, something that people have not heard before. [Something] innovative.

You're an artist who moves fluidly through genre and singing style. In your opinion, does genre still exist?

I think genres are becoming less existent. You see artists that are making all kinds of music. What we are making is good music, good songs. Be a ballad, be salsa, be reggaeton, be an opera, whatever it is. It is about understanding where one is doing well and where one can transmit and where one's essence is and where one feels comfortable and where perhaps not. I have explored many genres. There are some that have been better than others, but I always try to put my essence on the track, on the arrangement we are making.

This year, you're nominated for Latin GRAMMY Album Of The Year, Song Of The Year, Pop Album Of The Year. How are you feeling?

You tell me [I'm nominated], and it seems like a lie. Especially those two main categories, Album Of The Year and Song Of The Year. I made FANTASIA with the great hope that it would be an album that could remain in people's hearts for the rest of their lives. I think it's an album that people have listened to and have made songs their own. These songs can stay with them forever. It is an album made only of ballads, a big risk because we live in an era where what leads mainly is the urbano [genre].
 
These songs, thank God, are the ones that have really changed my life. Not only because they have helped my professional growth, but they have really helped me fulfill the purpose that I have in life, which is to share love with people, to generate something beautiful, to leave them something that unites them. Songs like"Un Año," songs like "Cristina," songs like "En Guerra," which is the official song of the foundation of Pope Francis and speaks to people with insecurities, who look in the mirror and only see imperfections, when none of that is imperfection, we are all perfect because God made us that way and we are all a piece of God.
 
Why take a risk with ballads?
 
It seems like a risk, but for me it was the opposite. It was not only being true to my essence and who I am, but the songs that I think have been the most successful in my career. For example, you listen to a song like "No Hay Nadie Mas," which I put out last year, and is a ballad with guitar and vocals, it has 750 million views on YouTube, a ballad. Those are numbers that one would never expect for a ballad. For example, the composer [Omar Alfanno] asked me, "Who wrote that song? 'No Hay Nadie Mas'?" And I said, "I wrote it." He said, "It can't be."
Seriously? I congratulate you."
 
For me, that song is like an infinite journey flying over the clouds. That those songs be the theme for people's marriages, be the songs they dedicate in their most important moments of life, be the songs that help them overcome a difficult situation, be songs that heal them. For example, "Un Año" with the whole theme of people who have had to leave their home. "En Guerra," "Cristina," for people with relationships that are impossible. Right now I just released "Oye" with my girlfriend TINI, and it is a song that is going spectacular, thank God.
 
It is also that kind of song that stays with people and follows them. It's like when you listen to Sin Bandera or Camila songs or Reik songs, Maná songs, Juanes songs, who this year is Person of the Year, and so many artists with those ballads, with those lyrics that in 20 years, 30 years we will continue listening and will continue to make us feel the same.

With everything happening in politics and with the environment, do you think that your songs can help people feel a little better?

I think so, and I think we are doing it. We are in a complicated moment for the whole world. In fact, I have just made a docuseries called El Poder De Los Centennials. I believe that as an artist one also has the responsibility and opportunity to reach people, not only through songs, but also through our words, day-to-day actions and the other things that one can do. This docuseries creates awareness for young people, for adults, and for all of us so we can work as a team to make this world more sustainable. That [we] can't only be aware that the world is going through a bad time, but that every day we do something as individuals to improve or not continue to be detrimental. It talks a lot about sustainability, I invite you to see it. It's something very nice that I did with [Colombian financial institution] Bancolombia.

Going back to the Latin GRAMMYs, what can you tell us about your performance?

I can tell you that I will be at Person Of The Year honoring Juanes. I will be singing, not once, but a couple of times at the awards show, so that has me stuck on the ceiling of happiness. [I'm] grateful to the Latin GRAMMYs who have supported us so much this year. Also with the Latin GRAMMYs foundation, which we have partnered with this year in several very special events. We gifted instruments to talented children in a school in Miami. The idea is to be able to continue growing with the Latin GRAMMYs over the years and to continue learning, and always [fostering] youth with respect towards music, towards the lyrics and trying to give them the best always.
 
Do you think you'll be nervous this year?
 
There are always nerves, always.
 
What are you up to after the Latin GRAMMYs?
 
I am finishing my tour this year, which is the Yatra Yatra Tour. It's been going spectacular, thank God. We did two sold-out dates at the National Auditorium in Mexico, a giant tour throughout Mexico. We have just finished four dates at Luna Park this year in Argentina, sold-out too, and many shows in South America. We did the sold-out Movistar Arena in Chile, the Antel Arena in Uruguay also sold out. It is very crazy that so many people make the effort to go to our shows and buy a ticket. I appreciate that from my soul and I also grateful to these ballads and these songs that are from the heart.
 
I was just in Colombia, in my country. I sang in La Macarena, my show also in Medellín, which was full. We did two full nights in Bogotá, at the Movistar Arena. We have also been to Ecuador, we have been with Nissan on the Road to Innovation Tour in the United States last week. I just arrived from Spain from some awards we had there with Los 40. The plan for the rest of the year is to go to Brazil for the first time to promote my music and a concert that I have there. I will be with several releases preparing the show next year, because I want to prepare a completely new show for next year.

This interview has been translated to English

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