Enigmatic,
intelligent and sexy, 27 year old Deeyah
is a truly international artist with
global star appeal. Born and raised
in Norway, of Asian descent, Deeyah
now divides her time between the UK
and the US where she
is in the process of adding the finishing
touches to her latest album titled ‘Plan
of my Own’.
Having been touted
as ‘the next big thing’,
there is plenty more to watch out with
Deeyah now making a dive into the UK
market. She has already impressed media
and fans alike and hopes to continue
impressing with her new single ‘What
Will It Be’, which is releasing
in January 2006.
DesiDesi.com
caught up with Deeyah in London and
is the only UK website to exclusively
interview her for her new single.
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How has it been so far career wise? From the start till now?
I started because my dad really wanted to and saw that I have it in me.
I think secretly he wanted to be a
musician himself. He heard me singing
outside and was surprised and has
always been supporting me. One day
he took away all my toys from my room
and boxed them up and brought me thing
keyboard and taught me what he knew.
I’ve grown up watching MTV and listening to R n B, Hip
Hop and Rock but what I would train
in would be Indian classical music.
That’s the only thing I would ever
do is sing. I started singing on stage
and get approached by radio channels
on kids shows which got me recognised
more When I was 12yrs old I was approached
to sing with a Norwegian after that
happened a lot of record labels were
just approaching me constantly do
a solo album. My first Album came
out when I was 15yrs old and it did
very well, the critics liked it, Musically
it was a little odd because it was
a mixture of folk music and well as
western music.
I took a bit of a break from the public eye for a bit and when I was
about 17yrs old I was approached again
my BMG. I started my work with all
the touring and in 1996 I packed my
bags and came here in the UK.
I‘v worked on 2 Albums so I was recognised as an artist because both
albums were mainstream. I t was like
I would get the same coverage like
any other white artist.
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From your point of view, what makes you different from other female artist?
Well I mean every person is different, every artist is different.
I’d say what makes me different from
other mainstream artist is my background
being Muslim, My father is Asian and
my mother is Afghani. My music is very
up bringing being trained in Indian
classical music. And then I’m all me
(All laugh)
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| Do you have a lot of input in your videos as well as looks, presentation
as a whole?
Yes completely. I understood what is important and how it all works .I
have learnt so much from everyone else
and feel confident and comfortable in
what I do and what I want in my videos
to express my music. I want to have
my 100% into the album whether is the
production of the album, writing of
the album, what I wear, what I want
to do and nothing happens with out me
knowing about it.
Do you write your own music as well?
Yes I do. |
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How do you take positive or negative views from your audiences? I mean
do you learn from it, make changes?
I wouldn’t actually change anything because if I make a change then I
wouldn’t be myself. I would be lying
to the public and myself. But in terms
of criticism whether its positive or
negative I do listen to it, some of
it I do keep that in mind and if I think
its constructive. If people say ‘she’s
shit’ then I would want to know why
and where I went wrong.
How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Loyal, Hardworking and ambitious I’d have to say.
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| How have the Muslim community reacted towards you and your work because
there have been problems in the past
if I’m right?
It’s happened in Norway and its happened here (UK) too. It’s always followed
me wherever I go. I mean even from very
young age. It started off with a lot
of talk that’s its not a career I should
be going for and people hassling my
dad that why is he letting me do all
this. It’s got worse where more people
started coming out and being negative
towards me and my work telling me to
stop. It’s just something that has been
there all the way.
It just makes me think why isn’t there any Asian artist out there especially
female being out there showing there
talent and this is one of the reasons
why because there is so much crap going
on between what girls have to put up
with and with that a lot of girls just
give up.
I actually get a lot of emails and letters from Asian girls in the UK
telling me that they want to be a dancer
or a rap singer and only reason they
can’t do this is because of there own
extended families or what the community
would say. Some people have said that
they’re more talented boys than girl,
which I think, is rubbish.
Girls get so many negative labels that they just let go of their dreams
of who and what they want to become.
I used to get really upset thinking
why me? What have I done to deserve
this from people? I’m just at a point
where it is what it is and keep doing
what I want to do which makes me happy
and comfortable. Things eventually have
to change, its taking time but it will.
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Your new video, what message are you bringing across?
The message is to re claim you voice. As long as you aren’t hurting anybody
and being true to yourself, you have
a right o speak up. It’s a video in
respect to those women who have been
treated violently and whom are not alive
because they committed a crime to say
there rights. In a few words its about
freedom, freedom of expression or any
sort of punishment culturally which
should be stopped. |
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| Are you doing anything for the community in the UK?
I pretty much keep in touch with anyone who writes to me or contacts
me via email. I have a section on my
website called ‘ Ask Deeyah’ and people
ask me questions there and I answer
all of them myself. Everybody thinks
its not me but when I get the time I
reply to all of them. Its 100% me, I
love getting emails from people and
what they think about my music. They
would tell me their problems and I love
to listen fully about them. That’s my
way of communicating with others.
I like that fact that people communicate to me regarding problems they
have and that I can be there for them
in some way and help them.
I don’t support any major charity’s because I would want to know whose
those people are who are having there
problems and to meet them instead of
giving a check to someone I don’t even
know and what use it will be. I believe
that time is valuable than money and
I give as much time as I can to hear
what people have to say. |
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You seem to be very busy; do you get time to meet your family or friends?
No I really don’t..
When was the last time you saw your family?
I spoke to my parents over the phone on Eid and that’s it. I don’t even
have a personal life because I’m so
busy.
Do you have any future plans made yet?
Album is nearly done, I’ve been asked to do an Indian album because its
easy and that’s what I have learnt my
whole life so that’s is something that
I would like to do. |
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| What mainstream artist would you want to work with?
Oh there are lots. I’d love to work with Dre, Snoop, George Michel, and
Elton John.
What about Asian Artist?
I was actually asked to work with Ustad Fateh Ali Khan but I was just
to scared. Probably Adnam Sami at some
point. I’m more into old school folk
music.
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What message do you have for your UK fans?
I’d like to thank them for being very supportive. I hope that what message
I am bringing in my work actually gets
there and that these women don’t suffer
and not be judgmental or hateful. We
have a lot of good kids, talented kids
and please don’t make their life miserable
and let them live out there dreams.
All they are doing is something positive.
I think as a community we have so many negative things against us in
the mainstream that we need to loosen
up a little bit and the positive things
we do have, let them come through and
shine instead of shitting on our own
because that’s not how its going to
work. I mean some don’t respect those
who are in mainstream or white people
yet we don’t respect our own. So until
that we are not in any position to judge
or look down on others. And I’m running
for president VOTE FOR ME!!! (All laugh) |
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