COLORSxSTUDIOS

You were raised in Rinkeby, an extremely diverse suburb in Sweden. How did growing up there influence your development as an artist? 

I’ve been influenced in many ways, but mostly through growing up with a single mother, and growing up in Rinkeby. What I put weight on communicating, what I prioritize communicating, and what is important for me to communicate comes from the humble circumstances I grew up in.

You are the youngest of your 5 siblings. Do you have a different perspective of Sweden than your family, especially as the only boy?

Growing up as a boy of color, and in a socially challenging neighborhood, I saw a side of Sweden that was rough and exposed me to criminality and violence. It’s a side of the country that my siblings haven’t experienced.

Has your music informed your siblings about your experiences?

My music has started conversations at home that we didn’t have when we were younger. Before, my siblings were confused, and tried to stop me from going in the wrong direction. They would try to communicate with me, but I wouldn’t communicate back. Now, because of my music, we’re at a place where we can speak more openly.

Your lyrics are known for being raw and honest, often speaking to the experience of being of an ethnic-minority in a Scandinavian country. What do you want your lyrics to communicate to your audience?

I feel like some people need to touch fire to feel that it hurts, while others just need to see somebody else touch the fire to know not to touch it themselves. I hope that the latter can hear my message through my music. I tell my story honestly in the hope that something positive can be taken from it. I want people to use me as a reference.

Your track ‘Sista spåret’ (2022) talks a lot about acknowledging and overcoming personal obstacles.  What is the story behind this track, and why did you want to tell it? 

‘Sista spåret’ means ‘the last track’. It’s not the last track of my career, but it’s the last track of an era. During COVID I was waiting to move onto the next phase of my life. I released ‘98.01.11’, started to get nominated for prizes, then went to jail again. I felt like my past had caught up with me, even though I was trying to change. My wife was pregnant at the time, and my daughter was born two weeks after I was incarcerated. She gave me the motivation to change everything. When I got out, I was determined for ‘Sista spåret’ to close one chapter so that I could move onto another.

Tell us about the medley you performed for COLORS.

The first track I performed is ‘Salam’. In Somali, when you come to a realization, one that was previously obvious to others around you, people will say “salam alaykum,” as a way of saying: ‘oh, you woke up now,’ or ‘you’ve realized now’. The lyrics go: “Nobody wants to see you succeed, I know. As-salamu alaykum, my bro.”

The second song, ‘twogunkid’, is an explanation of why I used to be known as “two gun kid”. With my first case, I went to prison for being caught with two guns on two separate occasions. In the song I explain the day I got caught with the second gun.

If you could send one message to your fans right now what would it be?

In Sweden, I have a lot of young fans who come from the same type of neighborhood as me, where there’s a lot of gun violence and where young people are used for criminal activity. To them, I want to say: “stay strong and stay on the right path. Today is today. You’re young now, but you will not have the same state of mind in 5 years. Things change. Don’t put yourself in a situation today that will follow you into your future.”