Mashawi is an artist who values independence and authenticity. Mashawi separates his music from the rest through his ability to curate sounds and exceptional lyricism based off of raw and personal experience. This artist isn’t trying to fall into a general category—he’s creating his own category. Before putting his passion and drive into creating his music, Mashawi first took time for himself to truly find the real him. He travelled, studied, and surrounded himself with various influences that would take his production to the next level. Mashawi put all of his experience and growth into the make of his lyricism and sound, and it’s safe to say that he is creating a sound that is changing the hip hop category.
“Confusion, Pt. 2” is Mashawi’s most recent release. It’s an interesting mix of hip-hop with some pop elements added to it. The song initially captures the listeners attention with the small excerpt of him talking — “I’m in my feelings deep, trying to rock myself to sleep, thinking my life keeps playing me over and over” “I’m bad for me—all this uncertainty”; at this point as a listener, I am deeply intrigued in terms of what I’m about to hear next. Beginning the song with such an excerpt was a unique musical strategy to engage the listener. Mashawi continues the track then by incorporating catchy beats with his alluring integration of singing and rap with an underlying melody that takes over the song. “Confusion, Pt, 2” really gets your head racing with all of the varying melodies, sounds and synths throughout. It makes me feel dizzy, but in a experiential way, which makes me realize the extent of Mashawi’s musical capabilities.
Listen to “Confusion, Pt. 2” here and get to know more about Mashawi below!
Hello Mashawi! Tell our readers a bit about yourself as an artist.
As an Artist, you have to have disciple and know that it takes some hard work to be successful, especially in the music industry. So, I’m always trying to work on myself to be the best I can be in life. I’m always practicing, writing songs, singing, or working on my performance skills. As a true Artist your work and journey never stops. So, keep pushing.
With all of your experiences underhand, do you believe your music is heavily inspired by all that you have gone through?
Yes, my music is my story. And I like to tell my interesting life’s story through my music. Everything that I have learned and went through can serve as wisdom and inspiration for others. We all have a story to tell and sometimes it should be told to others, so they can learn from another one’s success, trials and errors.
What is one piece of advice you would give to other fellow independent artists if given the chance?
Stay focused, believe in yourself, stay away from the negative stuff, especially negative crowds. As a Independent Artist, you have to work twice as hard.
What is one piece of advice you would personally give yourself when you first started out as an artist?
Find positive inspiring people who know more than you and who can give you some guidance in this industry. Find a mentor if possible and keep practicing because practice does make perfect. Believe in your talents and skills.
Are you releasing anymore singles in the upcoming future?
Yes, most definitely! Expect more than that, I’m just getting started. Expect a full album, music videos, a tour and more soon.
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