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What’s ZAG listening to?
By: Edgar Vega
What song do you currently have on repeat and why do you like it?
I have this album that I'm listening to at the moment. It's Drogas Wave by Lupe Fiasco, which was released last September. The first half of the album tells a story of slaves during the transatlantic slave trade whom were on board of a sinking slave ship. Instead of drowning, they grew gills and are able to breathe and live underwater. They were called Longchains. Armed with long chains for arms, hence their name, they proceeded to drown other slave ships to free their people from slavery. Some decided to run back to Africa's shores, while others are supposedly present to this day in the middle of the Atlantic, guarding the waters. The second half of the album relates to current life of African Americans in this country, as a sequel 400 years later to the first part of the album.
The reason I'm in love with this album and consider it my favorite, is not only because of what I said earlier, but also because of the complexity of Lupe's lyrics and how he could tell a story so vivid only though words. I can proceed to visualize in my head what he's saying. Also, every time I listen to the album, I discover something totally new in what he's saying; and that's the beauty of Hip-Hop poetry.
How would you describe your music preference in general? What qualities make a song truly great?
My music preference in terms of Hip-Hop, I'd say I like Boom Bap and Lo-Fi, or anything that is sample based. Yeah, I listen to the occasional Young Thug when I'm tryna turn up, but for the most part my favorite artists are the J Coles, Kendrick Lamars, and the Black Thoughts. I've also been lately into R&B after listening to some of SiR's stuff and that new Anderson.Paak joint, Oxnard.
How does the music you listen to affect the music you make?
Lately, I've been drawing a lot of my inspiration from J Dilla and Lupe Fiasco. With Lupe, his lyricism motives me to up mine. I'm mesmerized by his worldplay, and I always aim to be more lyrical, while not reaching a point where people won't understand what I'm saying. Because what's the point of using complex worldplay if no one will be able to understand it, right? As for Dilla, his instrumentals don't need words for me to understand what he's saying. It's like his beats teach me how to vibe with the listener, and that I don't always need to be explicit with my message for people to understand what I'm saying.
What's Mehria Listening To?
by Mirabai Jyothi Kukathas
Mehria, what song do you currently have on repeat?
Two songs I have on repeat are Tayf (“Ghost”) and Maghawir (“Commandos”) by Mashrou’ Leila from their album Ibn El Leil (“Son of the Night”).
What is these songs about? How do they make you feel?
Maghawir (“Commandos”) is a response to two nightclub shootings in Beirut which took place within a week of each other, where two young victims were out celebrating their birthdays. The song confronts toxic masculinity and the lack of gun control in Lebanon. Tayf (Ghost) is about a brutal police raid on a popular gay club in Beirut, where its patrons were arrested and harassed. These songs confront trauma and hurt, corruption and violence, and at the same time play homage to the resistance within their communities will to persist and their fight for a world beyond pain. These songs are poems to those that dare to live and love despite oppression, and they humble me. They unsettle me and they incite a fire in me that connect my own identity and the struggles of queer, trans, intersex, and gender non-conforming folks in the west to transnational struggles against violence. Queer Muslims especially are incessantly and unceasingly expected to answer for the actions of strangers and systems that play equal part in oppressing them and then placing the blame on them as being their own oppressors. The band confronts realities that queer Muslims exist in a space that doesn’t allow for mourning, for when they are murdered and abused they are also named the murderers and abusers. Queer Muslims are also forced to be all-knowing and all-representing figures for their religion and country of origin. These multifaceted identities are oversimplified, treated as singular and stable while in reality the complexity and diversity of the Muslim world transcends singular representation. These traumas and struggles to heal from them within Mashrou’ Leila’s songs therefore resonate with many non-western and non-white queer, trans, gender nonconforming folks who exist at the intersections of oppression. Mashrou’ Leila’s music is representative of what it means to speak your truths, to advocate for your community and celebrate each other despite state violence.
How did you hear about this song?
I heard about the band Mashrou’ Leila and then this song through a playlist shared by one of my favorite poets, Alok Vaid-Menon. They are a trans-feminine and gender non-conforming Indian American performance artist who within an entire repertoire of publicly published pieces, which often assume the form of diary entries and visual selfie-poems, delve deeply into themes of diaspora, trauma, loneliness, race, gender, and street harassment; they also provide intimate renditions of their own non-linear healing processes and survival against violences enacted by white supremacy, gender binarism, and transmisogyny. I urge everyone to support their work through whatever means possible, they put so much love into this world!
What album or artist would you recommend everyone to try listening to?
Ruby Ibarra’s album Circa91. Ruby Ibarra is a brown Filipina poet and rapper, an absolute powerhouse that raps in both English, Tagalog, and the Tacloban dialect of Waray.
What Is Abel Listening To?
https://www.gofundme.com/AbelACLU
Take a quick glimpse into the current vibe, inspiration, and story of Totem Star artists.
Abel, what song do you currently have on repeat?
The song that I currently have on repeat is "Change" by J. Cole. In the broader sense, the song just talks about how change is to come: change in racial inequality, change in our habits, and change in the obstacles we face.
What do you really like about this song?
I really love the long because of the beat and the occasional vocal parts that intertwine with the rapping. The song really just gives me hope; there is better to come and there will be better days. I listen to this song whenever I am working on stuff, and especially when I need some motivation. I started listening to J. Cole since his Forest Hill Drive album, so I listened to his 4 Your Eyez Only album when it came out as well.
Do you have any other music recommendations?
I recommend people to listen to Frank Ocean, specifically the songs Biking, Pink + White, and Nights. Just really love the vibes those songs gives and it reminds me of summer.