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ZANIB RELEASES DOUBLE LIFE!
ZANIB RELEASES DOUBLE LIFE!
With her golden goddess vibes and the aromas coming from KUSH 1070 A local Sudanese/Arabic spot with all the love and vibes, I was excited to have been invited by Sophie of Music in Motion PR to interview the lovely Zanib who had just recently flown out to the UK for The Soul Revolution event where she got to share some of her most favourable expressions of art with some incredible London talent and other amazing creators with a beautiful vision of uniting and highlighting the Sudani culture from all over the world!
I had been briefed about Zanib’s newest single ‘Double Life’ and I was interested to find out more about the messages behind her music, what she stands for and how she manages to juggle her ‘Double Life’!
With a very warm welcome from Zanib, Sophie and LDNRBS we took a moment to get acquainted and got straight into it.
When I asked Zanib about her style of music she told me that she closely resonates with Neo – soul and likes to include the Violin, Ukulele, Drums and Keys in her music.
Speaking on her newest track ‘Double Life’ – She explained to me that her parents are both Sudanese but she was born in the US but she feels that there is a weird balance between her dual nationality and feels her roots are more Sudanese and more her. I could understand how she felt more of a connection to her Sudanese culture as I too, had struggled with balancing dual ethnicity and culture as sometimes I am drawn more to English culture (you alright m8) and other times I feel more connected to my Greek roots (ici gala?).
On new track ‘Double Life’ Zanib addresses having a double life and focuses on the balance of having a culture you feel connected with but living in a different culture that’s not yours, not like your roots.
Zanib had a strong presence that startled my spirit, I was even more intrigued as I started to believe that she had a strong connection with spirituality and an overriding passion to empower and educate. Throughout the first part of our interview Zanib told me that the messages she wants to put out with her music are;
“Mostly about freedom, I talk about freedom all the time, lots of people know me for that, freedom is huge to my mission, a lot of healing and conscious elevating sounds, I feel like we consume music so we shouldn’t lower the frequency of our sound. We should keep things at a higher vibration so we can actually grow from it, because music can be toxic, theres a lot of toxic music out there so I want my music to be healing and coming from a good place.”
“Most of my music I always talk about freedom and being the light, mostly positive things, I don’t talk about heartbreak, some people come from a place of hurt and sadness but I come from a place of empowerment and that’s how I want people to feel when they listen to my music.”
With a lot of positive talk about empowerment, I wanted to know who Zanib is passing her good vibes of empowerment on too, who she aims to empower with ‘Double Life’ and what change she really wants to bring about.
“I feel like, anyone that has been oppressed, from women to people from different cultures, races and religions, anyone that’s marginalised and is different and even the ones that are in the margin, I guess. We all need to be empowered so for me I really tap into the people that aren’t recognised, whether that be women , women of colour, women rappers, women in this industry, being in music. Elevating women and keeping them close, just people that have similar missions and similar music. I really just gravitate towards people that have similar visions and same type of music.
Music is magical and powerful because it brings people together, it really draws similar people to your path at the right time.”
With the current state that Sudan has been in, in the midst of a political crisis since long-serving ruler Omar al-Bashir’s overthrow in April. The military and pro-democracy movement have been locked in a tussle for power that has led to mass protests and killings. With artists such as Zanib & Mouraine portraying their messages through music at 2 benefit showcases for The Soul Revolution (1 in Denver, US and 1 in London, UK) with a view to unite the people of sudanese culture, to educate and empower and rebuild communities I was curious as to how important it is for Zanib to be able to connect with the youth.
Zanib explained that
“The youth are amazing, a lot of Sudanese creatives and artists, they are how I have managed to connect with people and the community over here. I’ve watched and seen them do all these different things for the revolution, whether its a song or artwork, the young people are finding so many different ways to get involved. I think it is very important for them to hear my messages and be empowered. Honestly, at the event I did back home it was mostly for the youth, majority of the performers and organisers were young people and they were helping us to bring it all together, they brought the energy and they could see the potential of bringing everyone together to talk about these real things that are happening and at the same time we can have fun and enjoy listening to artists, singers and rappers express themselves. Everyone that wanted to be a part of it were really quite helpful and got involved with being able to influence on social media by changing their profile photos and continuously talking about it and offering help.”
Whilst speaking with Zanib, I was surprised but actually thanking god in my head that I had been able to speak to someone so knowledgeable with a lot of heart. It can be hard when you internally struggle with how you identify yourself but to be able to create anything from it and express it, is where the real talent lies… (in my eye’s)
Get to know Zanib a little better through her music and have a listen to ‘Double Life‘ now!
SGX
