International recording artist and award-winning singer-songwriter Najjah Calibur says it's time to let loose and "Celebrate" in his latest party-perfect single and accompanying music video.
Bringing his charisma and people skills from sales into the music industry, Najjah Calibur naturally charms the listener with his engaging performances and honest lyrics. Not only have his talents landed him a performance at the upcoming 2022 FIFA World Cup, but he's hosting the entire event.
It's no wonder why Najjah Calibur has evolved into an award-winning international act, and with vast accomplishments under his belt, he's ready to live the good life and "Celebrate." This upbeat electronic dance track pumps through the speakers with contagious energy and the grooviest production to help listeners let go, let loose, and "Celebrate."
The song's music materializes these themes with a handful of picturesque scenes that give us some serious FOMO. From cruising down the street on the hood of a car to dancing away at a poolside bash with the Toronto skyline backdrop, this entire music video captures various memorable celebrations with no shortage of good vibes.
Both the song and music video for "Celebrate" showcase Najjah Calibur's zest for life and his ability to fuel the listener with that same desire to seize the day. His radiant vocals ride the beat effortlessly while commanding our attention with his natural charisma and the music video's irresistible scenes. This track is definitely the perfect party starter for any celebration in need of some solid tunes.
What are you waiting for? Hit play and "Celebrate" the good life with Najjah Calibur's latest single and accompanying music video. Find "Celebrate" on all digital streaming platforms and the music video on YouTube.
Welcome to BuzzMusic, Najjah Calibur. We're ready to hit the dancefloor and "Celebrate" after hearing about your new single. Could you describe how you felt inspired to create a song celebrating your accomplishments?
Oh yeah, for sure I can..we had just got word where I live in Toronto that the pandemic restrictions were coming to an end in two weeks..and that some sort of new normalcy was finally coming back! Within an hour of that, I just happened to hear.. just the shell of the beat being made, and that was it!! All I could picture after almost two years. Two years when the world as we knew it had stopped was the joy and relief and release people would have! I pictured people going out to restaurants, sporting events, concerts, weddings, you name it… and it gave me a feeling of celebration! Now that being said, at the very same time, I also knew I was selected to host the FIFA men's World Cup in November of 2022, and for a while, we didn't know if that was going to happen with Covid restrictions, so I also pictured stadiums of fans from all over the world and me as the in-stadium host all in jubilation celebrating the most popular sport on the planet and the biggest sporting event of the year! It felt AWESOME!! Wow, that moment just talking about it still feels fresh to me now! Pure Joy!
Who produced the upbeat and groovy electronic production for "Celebrate?" How did this particular sound help enhance the song's theme?
I am proud to say my darling fiancé Chandra "Chach" Raye and mother to my beautiful daughter, started this beat on her MPC beat machine. When I heard it, I was like, oh hell no. I have to convince her to give it to me!! the Reason being she had just started it for herself. The guitar was so mesmerizing to me!! But without further due, she obliged me, thank goodness! Once I got the files, I brought the stems to my beloved brother from another mother and producer who has since passed from cancer, the legendary Juno Award Winning Producer Sheldon "S LUV" Moore. This is where we together really defined the direction of where I wanted the production to go! Still, at this point, I knew I needed to flip the beat for dynamics with a sonic change, so I hollered at my boy in New Jersey, Elvin, aka "Mr.Traverso," to give me that EDM feels, and so said so done!! So we got three producers on this joint. Chandra "Chach" Raye, Sheldon "S LUV" Moore (rest in peace), and Elvin, aka "Mr.Traverso" Traverso, on production. Now because of the high bpm(beats per minute), it already had to lift off written all over it, but it's the clever and colorful guitar riff sample that painted a bright canvas for celebrating, I find, and with the drums rise and drop into that altered EDM sound it really gave the song's theme the legs to stand on. The beat delivers excitement and a joyous Caribbean feel fused with dance/ electric/ EDM and pop, and more importantly, it gave me the feeling I was looking for!
What was your experience shooting the lively music video for "Celebrate?" What did you enjoy most about creating such an upbeat party-fuelled video?
To be honest, this video was a true test of my faith and my commitment to seeing this project through. Keep in mind I am an independent, unsigned artist, and resources of all types were minimal. However, I had the support of my director Dan Barker who said, “Whatever you can pay me, pay me, and we will make it happen.” We shot my first single video, "I'm Good," guerilla-style, and really just had a game plan of performance spot locations as we were shooting, we developed a timeline and concept, and it just came together amazingly!! This time around, knowing my budget was really just $500, I sought the counsel of an award-winning director Marc Andre Debruyne for some advice. He said you can make the vid look really cool for a low budget with a 360° camera. I told Dan about the idea, and now we set out to shoot, not really knowing where we were going to go because I needed a crowd; I needed a party without having the financial ability to pay for one.
Anyways in the morning of the shoot, I prayed and said, “God, I still don't know where we are going to go, but thy will be done.” No sooner than that, I posted on IG about needing a place to shoot, and my home girl reached out and told me about this party called Crave. I googled who was throwing the party, and I happened to know one of the promoters very well..so I immediately called him at like 10 am on the morning of the party and asked if he could let my camera guy and me in film and he said, "this is really last minute but ok!" We shot there, but it wasn't really packed. We got some good footage. We tried to edit what we had, but it was still missing crowd scenes. More importantly, it was our first time trying to edit 360° cam footage, and we were lost..lol. The following weekend we went to another day club downtown, and I wore earbuds and just paid as a patron to go to a pool party. We had a 360° small Go Pro camera, and I played the song on my phone and just performed the song amongst the people there. They were like, “he’s obviously filming something, but he's dancing to a different beat”, lol. We got some great footage there, and then I went to the City fair called the "CNE" the weekend after and grabbed just a little more footage on my Samsung, and then we were done! What I liked the most about this shoot was the excitement of where and how we were going to film the hustle behind it! But the actual editing was extremely time-consuming, learning how to manipulate footage from a 360 camera.
Who helped you put together and create the music video for "Celebrate?" How did your team help bring your vision to life?
My brother Dan Barker, the vid director, I owe so much. I reached out to him, and he never hesitated in saying, “Naj! Let's just get the ball rolling. I am here for you!" Also, have to thank our boy Martin who had the yellow Hummer and the 360 Go Pro Cam! He was instrumental in getting this shoot done, from driving us all over the place to shooting on days when Dan was busy with another client and, of course, providing the special effect camera. Dan knew what I was going for and never let me settle and was always encouraging me and giving me numerous scenarios to shoot scenes. These two helped me by being so committed to learning how to edit the 360 footage that was a huge pain in, you know what, at first, so I'm so grateful for their dedication as the energy video and of my personality come through. I feel like we really did well, considering this was a $500 video shoot. I can't wait to have an investor or financial partners involved so we can do some larger-scale projects but all in due time!