Before writing these songs, I asked myself what can I bring to the world of music.
My only goal was to make music I hadn’t already heard.
I think I managed that.
Alibi
The percussive hook was born out of tinkering on my mini souvenir dhol drum I acquired on my trip to India. I recorded the percussion and built everything else up from there. This is a song about imperialism, about overturning systems of oppression, and political retribution.
The protagonist is so sure of the inevitable turning of the tides she casually repeats the mantra; ‘La la la la la la’ sweetly, hypnotically, and patiently waits for for Karma’s arrival. I’m pretty pleased that it’s the only song I know of that fuses dhol riddims with a dirty blues riff. There’s some rapso in the groove of the drum kit for good measure.
You can take the girl out of Trinidad…
Pandora
The Future is Femme. This is my attempt to celebrate the divine feminine. We are sold limiting ideas of what it means to be female. The feminine is still derided in all cultures, still frowned upon, still synonymous with weakness. Truly celebrating the feminine would bring about the revolution that is so desperately needed.
Never Again
I started writing the lyrics during the Israel/Gaza conflict of 2014. Then Ferguson hit international headlines, and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement followed, and I finally completed the song at the beginning of the refugee crisis in Syria. This track is about how humanity constantly finds itself in situations we swear should never happen again, except we clearly only feel that way in hindsight.
Never is a place and time.
Written In Time
This might be an actual love song! Sweet island pop: straight up soca beat, and a ‘jab jab riddim’ middle 8 that tries to recreate the noisy chaos of jouvert morning at Trinidad Carnival. The Lyrics in the Mid 8 are broken French and broken English, a typical chant that accompanies “Devil Mas.” This is the most vulnerable I’ve ever been in my songwriting.
I had to dirty it up somehow.
I hope you dig the fusion vibes…
Peace, Love & Solidarity, Revolution style!
Ms. Mo
Ms. Mohammed has been featured on the BBC Asian Network, on BBC 6 Radio Music, in the Guardian, and elsewhere. She is a founding member of CLIT ROCK, and lives in London. Visit her online, here.
