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‘As long as people keep liking my music, I will continue making it’
By Haya Najdawi, Jordan News
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AMMAN – 28-year-old Jordanian singer and
rapper Mohammad Abudabaseh, who goes by his last name, preferred to focus more
on making music than on managing his own marketing agency.اضافة اعلان
He first got into singing as a child back in school.
“I started with the school’s choral singing only as a member of the group. I was quite shy, and I never sang in front of my family or my cousins because they usually laughed and made fun of me, and I sort of stopped singing after I finished school,” he told Jordan News in a recent interview.
The singer graduated university in 2011 with a degree in accounting, and focused on working and building his career until 2019, when he opened his marketing company.
“It was my biggest accomplishment, but then the pandemic hit, and we had to quarantine,” he said.
It was then that he and his friend, fellow Jordanian singer Mohammad Al-Akhras, known as A5rass, met Jordanian rappers AbuAli and Ayoub; “we started ‘the hard team’, mainly for fun. We used to make diss-tracks on other rappers, in addition to addressing the topics that the public opinion cared about using rap,” he said.
However, the transition from rap to alternative and R&B music was not something that the artist necessarily planned.
“Unlike my friend A5rass who quit rapping and switched to alternative music, I would not say that I necessarily stick to one color: I can produce a pop song today then come up with a rap song tomorrow, my style is literally a mix of all colors,” he said.
(Photo: Handout from Mohammad Abudabaseh)
When he started releasing his songs, the reactions from other people around him were not that supportive, he said.
“They could not understand why I would be this interested in music instead of focusing on growing my business. But the way I see it, it is not only about the money and profit someone can gain from their business, people tend to look for happiness. I am looking for my happiness and making music brings me that,” he said.
His songs usually draw on his personal experience.
“I have romantic songs, for example, that are about past relationships. I write the lyrics when I feel like I am ready to talk about that experience and kind of re-live it. I think that is my inspiration,” Abudabaseh said.
His song “Lagalbi (For my heart), has a little over 110 views on YouTube; it has a special place in his heart, “it is my favourite song because I was talking to myself, I had to confront myself and ask myself questions that I needed to answer to truthfully, I am the two parties involved,” he said.
To create his songs, he buys the beat, whether online or customized, from a local producer, records the vocals with his own equipment at home, then sends it back to the producer to get it mixed and mastered.
“I never waste time on looking for sponsors to shoot my music videos. I plan them and have my friends who are professional videographers, editors and directors help me shoot the music videos. Thankfully, I am usually very happy with the results,” he said.
What is it like to be a part of the Jordanian hip-hop and alternative music scene?
“I think every artist is struggling to be the top best, everyone wants to be number one, and I do not think that is fair or realistic. No one creates perfect music all the time and no one is always bad as well; every artist has his/her good and not-so-good songs and even when I have personal problems with other rappers, I still acknowledge when they make beautiful music,” he said.
The singer hopes that his music will affect the listeners positively, and “as long as people keep listening and liking my music, I will continue making it. I hope that if anyone will take me as a role model, they take the positive parts,” he said.
Read more Music
He first got into singing as a child back in school.
“I started with the school’s choral singing only as a member of the group. I was quite shy, and I never sang in front of my family or my cousins because they usually laughed and made fun of me, and I sort of stopped singing after I finished school,” he told Jordan News in a recent interview.
The singer graduated university in 2011 with a degree in accounting, and focused on working and building his career until 2019, when he opened his marketing company.
“It was my biggest accomplishment, but then the pandemic hit, and we had to quarantine,” he said.
It was then that he and his friend, fellow Jordanian singer Mohammad Al-Akhras, known as A5rass, met Jordanian rappers AbuAli and Ayoub; “we started ‘the hard team’, mainly for fun. We used to make diss-tracks on other rappers, in addition to addressing the topics that the public opinion cared about using rap,” he said.
However, the transition from rap to alternative and R&B music was not something that the artist necessarily planned.
“Unlike my friend A5rass who quit rapping and switched to alternative music, I would not say that I necessarily stick to one color: I can produce a pop song today then come up with a rap song tomorrow, my style is literally a mix of all colors,” he said.
(Photo: Handout from Mohammad Abudabaseh)
When he started releasing his songs, the reactions from other people around him were not that supportive, he said.
“They could not understand why I would be this interested in music instead of focusing on growing my business. But the way I see it, it is not only about the money and profit someone can gain from their business, people tend to look for happiness. I am looking for my happiness and making music brings me that,” he said.
His songs usually draw on his personal experience.
“I have romantic songs, for example, that are about past relationships. I write the lyrics when I feel like I am ready to talk about that experience and kind of re-live it. I think that is my inspiration,” Abudabaseh said.
His song “Lagalbi (For my heart), has a little over 110 views on YouTube; it has a special place in his heart, “it is my favourite song because I was talking to myself, I had to confront myself and ask myself questions that I needed to answer to truthfully, I am the two parties involved,” he said.
To create his songs, he buys the beat, whether online or customized, from a local producer, records the vocals with his own equipment at home, then sends it back to the producer to get it mixed and mastered.
“I never waste time on looking for sponsors to shoot my music videos. I plan them and have my friends who are professional videographers, editors and directors help me shoot the music videos. Thankfully, I am usually very happy with the results,” he said.
What is it like to be a part of the Jordanian hip-hop and alternative music scene?
“I think every artist is struggling to be the top best, everyone wants to be number one, and I do not think that is fair or realistic. No one creates perfect music all the time and no one is always bad as well; every artist has his/her good and not-so-good songs and even when I have personal problems with other rappers, I still acknowledge when they make beautiful music,” he said.
The singer hopes that his music will affect the listeners positively, and “as long as people keep listening and liking my music, I will continue making it. I hope that if anyone will take me as a role model, they take the positive parts,” he said.
Read more Music
