We asked
Emsallam about his music, his creative process, and the words that carry the most weight in his scene.
1. What almost ended up being your artist name before you landed on ‘EMSALLAM’?
My name was going to be Msallamvdie, and the “V” was from the movie V for Vendetta.
2. If someone heard just one track from you, which should it be, and why?
This is one of the hardest questions, and it’s really hard to answer because since I started making music, I’ve tried as much as possible not to repeat myself. So I don’t have one song I can say represents me, but if I had to choose right now, it would be “Rah Tetla3 AlShams,” because it reminds me of a very difficult phase, and at the same time carries a strange kind of pride.
3. Weirdest place you’ve ever written a bar/lyric?
Maybe a shawarma restaurant.
4. What’s your toxic creative habit?
I don’t have toxic or healthy habits, I just write whenever the words come out of my head.
5. What’s something you had to unlearn to grow musically?
I taught myself to accept that I’m not the best at making music, and that every day I might hear someone or a project better than mine. That helped me love music more.
6. What word from your dialect hits hardest in your scene/crowd, and why?
اجرمن عنهن – A Palestinian rural word meaning “(That’s why!)” with emphasis. I love it because it’s not used much, and I was lucky enough to help spread it through a song of the same name.
7. Who’s an artist from your city that deserves more love?
I’ve stopped liking to answer these questions.
8. Dream collab: who’s on your wishlist & why?
I feel it could be amazing if I did a project with Elissa.
9. If your music were a place, where would it be?
I feel like my music would be stored in the same warehouse where Van Gogh kept his paintings.
10. How do you get re-inspired when you hit a ‘creative’ block?
There’s no such thing as a creative block. Art is like a muscle, the more you train it, the easier it gets.
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