Yasamin Puts Politics In A Pop Song
Iraqi-New Zealand Artist Yasamin releases politically charged new single October with accompanying music video.
October was written about the ongoing anti-government protests in Iraq which started on 01 October 2019. The song is the first single from her upcoming second album Songs Over Baghdad.
“In October, unarmed peaceful protestors were on the streets of Iraq demanding an end to government corruption. These guys and girls looked just like you and me but they were being targeted by live ammunition for asking for their basic human rights. They were being murdered in the streets and the world media were hardly reporting it”. “ I couldn’t believe that the protests in Hong Kong and South America were getting so much coverage but somehow young people in Iraq were deemed less newsworthy”.
“The song was written as an outlet and as a way for me to try and bring more attention to the ongoing brutality being used against peaceful protestors in Iraq”. “Songs were the only way I knew how to do this”.
The song also touches on the 15 March 2019 Christchurch Mosque shootings.
“When the Christchurch events happened, I was horizontal for a week. It was difficult to get out of bed and when I did I just cried in private, and it didn’t even happen to me!! I found it so hard to comprehend that something like that could happen in New Zealand. I felt that if I didn’t speak about it through music, then I am partaking in sweeping something so monumental under the rug”.
The album was written in solitude and recorded at the end of 2019 at several home studios across the country. It is a love letter to Baghdad and sheds light on the experience of growing up as an Arab immigrant.
Yasamin left a full time career as a scientist in 2018 to focus on music.
The single and music video for October is out on all streaming services on 28 February 2020.
Photo credit: harperandwillow.com
