Syrian-Palestinian hip-hop artist Moh Flow talks about his evolving sound and his early start in a theme park in Saudi Arabia.
The first album I bought was Three Dollar Bill, Y'all by Limp Bizkit. I bought this album from a small shop in Damascus around 2002. I was 9. The rap verses and guitar work were my favourite aspects of this album. Two to three years later I got over the rock and dove a little deeper into hip-hop. Also, I stopped buying albums, illegally downloaded them off of Limewire so I can save money to buy those trainers with the spinners on the side.
My first gig was in 2009. One of my mentors Tim Granite had got a chance to perform at this theme park (in Saudi Arabia), which was probably the only show to include hip-hop or live music in quite a while. He called me and asked me if I wanted to do a song off of my first ever project. As any other 17-year-old would, I gathered up all my friends and had them sit front row and sing along with me. I'm proud to say I didn't miss or mess up one line.
My live show now is versatile and multifaceted. I've grown to appreciate live instrumentation and understand the difference between good music and well rounded records that can be translated for different situations. I now prefer performing with a band and translating my studio records whenever I get the chance to be on stage.
My favourite musician changes every other week. If I had 30 seconds to answer I would say right now my favourite rapper is Kendrick, R& B singer is Kehlani, overall musician is Miguel, producer is Play Picasso, after A.Y. offcourse.
A song I wish I wrote is Strawberry Swing by Frank Ocean. There's a balance of emotion, imagery, and storytelling in this record. The notes he chose for every part of the story couldn't have been any more fulfilling. There's a timeless factor there that will forever be a criterion for my next favourite song in the future.
• For more details on Mo Flow check out his webpage
sasaeed@thenational.ae
