Welcome to BuzzMusic, R.Y.M! We love the sound of your latest single, “Al Qiyama.” With a powerful message being sent out, what inspired the creation of this track?
Thank you BuzzMusic, for making us feel at home! The sound of “Al Qiyama” carries the enormous vibrations and energy of two Lebanese brothers who decided to speak up and give a voice to the voiceless. As individuals, communities, and nations, we have been living on a broken vinyl record looping around and around, repeating the same mistakes and reopening scars. This whirling control phenomenon is felt more intensely in fragile regions like the Middle East. This is why, after almost ten years of hiatus, we were determined to end this Truman Show and to address the mass public via Music, a language that knows no barriers.
What’s your origin story? How did you both decide to join forces and create such empowering and truthful Music?
Our rap debut is a beautiful and painful mix of war, confusion, and loneliness combined with Music, brotherhood, and love. At age 10, war pushed our family to seek refuge in the mountainside. However, our parents were still commuting to work daily and only returned home late at night. We spent countless hours by ourselves, both figuratively and literally. This summer spent in the mountains made us who we are today. We only had each other. Our bond is deeply rooted in this phase of our lives. We could not filter or talk about our negative emotions, given our age and context. Hence we unintentionally blocked them and got lost in daydreaming. We connected with nature, created games from nothing, and were glued to the TV whenever we had electricity, hypnotized by rap and R&B videos on MTV Music. At night, we were soaked in the frustration and fear that radiated from our parents as we watched the news and saw the destruction that wars generate. In the midst of all of this beautiful pain, we picked up our pens and started writing.
If your audience could take away the central message of “Al Qiyama,” what would you want it to be?
In two words, the main message is to “Be Yourself.” This can be understood on so many levels: Don’t be afraid to stand out of the group, to find your truth, to question everything, to speak up when things are wrong, to pursue what you love, and to rise above bigotry and fabricated concepts.
What’s your favorite part about making Music? What would it be if you could change one thing about your journey?
We owe our lives to Music. Our souls are forever connected to this magnificent harmony of instrumental and vocal sounds. This is where we feel safe and prosperous. Music agglomerates all that is beautiful, even when fueled by misfortune or anger. The best part of making Music is this connection with the serene, peaceful, and beautiful, which translates into heartfelt lyrics, melodies, rhymes, and flows. Unfortunately, life in Lebanon led us to put this euphoric feeling on a back burner as we found no prospect for incubating our dreams and passions. We shifted our focus to our academic and professional careers. It takes some humility and courage to say that, regardless of how essential this decision was in developing our personalities, we were not doing it for ourselves but to prove something to others. Hence, if we change one thing about our journey, it would be self-awareness, value, and love. If we could go back in time and talk to our younger selves, we would have encouraged two lost twin brothers to be confident, hopeful, resourceful, patient, and faithful.
With this single symbolizing your musical rebirth, what are you looking forward to accomplishing?
We are not taking this rebirth slightly. Now that we had a taste of death (from an artistic perspective), we are indulging in the pleasure of being alive! Despite the physical distance and workload, we will continue to create new Music (as we are both fully engaged in non-governmental humanitarian careers). Step by Step, release after release, feature after feature, we want to establish an international community of individuals who share the same view and values. We want to leave a mark on future generations and help build a more humane world. Due to our configuration, we rely entirely on digital platforms and supporters to spread our message and help take us to the next level. So we salute you for contributing to our universal project. We will release a new track with an entirely different vibe and style! And would love for you to accompany us on our journey.