Zaki Ibrahim

What music are you listening to these days?

I've really been listening to a variety of stuff…I like listening to music styles nothing like mine, or at least what my style or genre may be considered to be..
Anyway, I love listening to songs in other languages from the quirky sounds of French electro, to mellow simple folk stuff to sort of Jazz influenced world sounds. 
There's a band called Neco Novellas originally from Mozambique that are going to be coming to Canada.  Incredible musicians (www.neconovellasmusic.com)   
I'm hoping/planning to get to work with them and produce some crazy stuff. Tour the country, experiment with some unexpected music blends....
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What music are you listening to these days?

I've really been listening to a variety of stuff…I like listening to music styles nothing like mine, or at least what my style or genre may be considered to be..
Anyway, I love listening to songs in other languages from the quirky sounds of French electro, to mellow simple folk stuff to sort of Jazz influenced world sounds. 
There's a band called Neco Novellas originally from Mozambique that are going to be coming to Canada.  Incredible musicians (www.neconovellasmusic.com)   
I'm hoping/planning to get to work with them and produce some crazy stuff. Tour the country, experiment with some unexpected music blends....
Show More

What music are you listening to these days?

I've really been listening to a variety of stuff…I like listening to music styles nothing like mine, or at least what my style or genre may be considered to be..
Anyway, I love listening to songs in other languages from the quirky sounds of French electro, to mellow simple folk stuff to sort of Jazz influenced world sounds. 
There's a band called Neco Novellas originally from Mozambique that are going to be coming to Canada.  Incredible musicians (www.neconovellasmusic.com)   
I'm hoping/planning to get to work with them and produce some crazy stuff. Tour the country, experiment with some unexpected music blends.
There's this woman named Sara Tavares, from Portugal and Cape Verde who sings the most beautiful songs in Portuguese.  She sings like how I like to sing.  Using her voice for percussion and her melodies nice and simple. 
Hhhmm then theres Lupe Fiasco.  He's just cute and says things that aren't dumb.  Oh my, so many… I'm in South Africa at the moment, hanging with my Dad.  We've been listening to Ricky Lee Jones.  I used to listen to her when I was a kid.  I think she was a Tom Waits' love. Anyways, real dope.
Fave song of hers: "learn to cry"…super super fly.
So I could write a lot more on stuff I'm listening to because, there's a lot.
I like honest music.  Beats that conjure feelings deep, light, bubbly, spacey.. . And stuff that sits in your guts and makes you feel better.

Why should people, especially youth, vote?

That's like asking why should we care about our quality of life…ok no, more like - Why should young people realize how important they are in changing things.
We complain, but we don't vote? Weird. Why's that?  If young people don't know that they have a voice or that their voice/choice can make a difference then there's obviously a problem.  The older generation seems to be afraid of youth being in control of the future and youth seemed to be removed from politics.  It's prevalent in the way we interact with our parents, teachers, bosses, politicians - for the most part, we don't have much patience with each other.  Things move too fast for us to all hold hands and exchange wisdoms.   So why, if there's such a gap and youth are treated like aliens and grown folks like dinosaurs, Why bother?.....hhhhhmmm……….. 
Maybe because things need to seriously change. That is unless we don't mind just being told what to do, who to be and complain about the rights we don't have.

For you, is there a connection between music and democracy? What is it?

Sometimes.  Music throughout history has been a tool to overcome struggles, helping to bring diverse groups of people together.  The same people in a room who may not vote for the same party but are jamming to the same tune, the same words, and are open to all kinds of expression. Often, as an industry, it's difficult to provide the same effect on a global scale, when so much of the popular music is made popular by way of major labels, corporate advertising,  and of course, a demand.  So young people listen to what's hot, but they may never be able to make that choice on their own.

Why do you care about community, when it is so easy not to?

I don't.  just kidding.  My community is what make's me who I am and vice versa.  What ever we put in will be what creates a quality of life around us.  If we were complacent about it, then we wouldn't be able to truly make change.  There's that thing about dropping a pebble into water and creating a wave, making change with simple movements.   Imagine your community to be the water.  

What do you look for in a politician? What do you expect from your MP?

Someone in touch with all communities equally. 
Someone who understands youth. 
One who will see the importance of youth expressing their concerns…through mediums they may think are not available to them. For example, youth programs run by youth, media outlets run by youth,   governments run by youth…artistic expression- art by youth and so on…key word "youth".  I've been hanging with an amazing group of young teens that run their own community radio shows, go out into their various communities to get their stories and talk about them, selecting music they choose to play and engineering their own programs.   It's been amazing to watch. 
So yes, I'm looking for someone who sees the importance of giving young people more of a voice. I think we'd all listen a little more.     
 
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