Vancouver-based Sudanese/Canadian R&B-Soul artist, Hatim has recently released his EP, Summer Fling.
The EP is inspired by a real-life relationship of Hatim’s and is upbeat, bright, and funky as hell. The five-song EP is relatable, following the trials and tribulations one faces when beginning a relationship and accepting its ultimate demise.
As the saying goes, everything has an end, but instead of wallowing in his misery, Hatim used his painful memories to create a cathartic and soulful piece of art.
“My goal with the music was to serve the story, create a sound that played to my strengths, and contrast the generally unhappy story with a bright, summery vibe that turned that sadness into a beautiful musical celebration,” Hatim says.
Check out “Summer Fling” below, and find out more about Hatim via our Five Questions With segment.
Care to introduce yourself to our readers?
My name is Hatim and I am a singer and songwriter based in Vancouver, Canada. I come from a Sudanese background and was born and raised in Abu Dhabi. I am obsessed with singing and will always be the first person on any dancefloor. I’m also a middle child – this is an important fact.
Tell us a bit about your music and writing style.
My music is an attempt to represent the totality of all of my experiences – all of the cultural influences I’ve gathered from my Sudanese roots, my Middle Eastern upbringing, and my eternal love of Soul and R&B. I am a sucker for a solid groove and a funky bassline and will spend hours stacking background vocals. Above all else, I am a vocal nerd – singing is my ultimate joy and I sing with all my heart. All of that comes together to hopefully create a sound that is authentically mine and that people can connect with. I write from my experiences – music is therapy for me and I want to keep it that way. Every word is an expression of my emotional being and my writing process changes depending on the feeling I’m trying to get across.
What have you been doing to keep yourself creative during the pandemic?
In the beginning, I did a lot of writing. I would get on the keys every day and find a chord progression and work on it. I wrote and sang for weeks. More recently, I’ve started looking for other creative outlets that aren’t tied to my music career. I started painting, I just filmed my acting debut which was a blast, and I’ve recently done some more modeling. I find that keeping the creative juices flowing in any expression helps me to stay musical. I’ve also ironically found a new love of collaboration in isolation. I’ve done more zoom songwriting sessions in the last 2 years than I have done in person ones in all my life. There are definitely days that I can’t find the inspiration, but overall the love of music keeps calling me back
If you were asked to suggest only one of your songs for someone to hear, which would it be?
I’m obviously biased to the newest stuff but I would say “Fall” off of my latest EP “Summer Fling”. It’s the halfway point in the story when I realize something isn’t right with the relationship. It’s honest and it expressed what I felt but never said in that relationship. Sonically, it’s exactly my blend of funk, R&B, and pop, with the big vocals and harmonies to top it off – the producers Mr. Stee and Jub did such a great job capturing the sound I was going for. It’s currently my favourite song on the EP.
Canadian Beats is all about Canadian music, so who are your current favourite Canadian bands/ artists?
So many! Nationally, I am listening to a lot of Kaytranada right now. I also have a lot of respect for The Weeknd’s end to end artistic expression. In BC, there are so many cool artists always on my playlist – Missy D, Sade Awele, Francis Arevalo, Tissa Rahim, Nicky Mackenzie, and Teon Gibbs just to name a few. I also have to shout out Mr. Stee and Jub who produced my latest EP – I love all their work, not just the work we’ve done together. There is so much talent out in the West and I love listening to it all.