FEATURE:
Spotlight
an extensive online portfolio, it is still hard to miss the wonderful SALIMATA. The alias of Brooklyn rapper and songwriter Salma Calhoun, I want to get to some interviews with this amazing artist. SALIMATA put out her latest album, The Happening, last year. She is being tipped for greatness. And it is fully warranted! Last year, Nina chatted with SALIMATA about her new music and the Brooklyn scene:
“Growing up in Brooklyn, do you have any formative memories of listening to rap music?
SALIMATA: Very few, I remember a lot of 50 in my house growing up. We loved his videos, me, my brother, and my mom. I remember my mom was listening to a lot of Lil Wayne when most moms were bumping R&B ‘cause she was going through a break up and didnt wanna hear any love songs. I was maybe like 9 or 10. I was like wtf Lil Wayne is FIREEE, but I never really listened to what he was saying at the time. Then another time in middle school, my friend's step dad was dropping me home and “They Reminisce Over You” came on and it was the first time a rap song made me really feel something.
Let’s talk beat selection: What kind of things do you tend to gravitate towards? It seems like you can appreciate a good jazz flip.
I guess I do, I didn't know for a while the different genres in music but as people made comments on my beat selection I found out I'm really into jazz, and drumless shit. I like funky shit too, I love grime and house as well. I really just write to what forces me to write. But I really appreciate weird shit, something challenging to approach, the jazz and drumless is a little too predictable. But some chaos, some distortion makes my brain so happy. I love when a beat got me drunk or high ‘cause I'm trying so hard to figure it out. Or it just controls me. And that can be any genre, just depends on the beat.
If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be? What kind of song would you make?
It’s really hard to say ‘cause it depends on chemistry more than anything when it comes to collabing, but I'd love to do a song with The Internet. If I could scream with Show Me The Body that would be sick. If I could be Dolly and sing with Yves Tumor or Triathlon I’d shit myself.
What NYC artists are you excited about right now?
I’m excited for myself, nah lemme stop. Hmmm Duendita is phenomenal, the world must know, so for that I am excited. Also for Brooklyn’s princess Laila!, baby genius fr. Then my good sis Kelly Moonstone, all around talent, beauty, and brains. She impresses me so much and I know she can reach so many people. Lmao he already big but I’m just happy for Cash Cobain, my son really got motion. Nkiru, my sis, is on her own shit an I fuck with her heavy”.
A couple of other interesting interviews to come to before rounding things up. An advocate for health and movement, and someone who is unapologetically vulnerable and open in her lyrics, SALIMATA spoke with GROWN about being back in Brooklyn after spending some time overseas. It is evident that she is a rare talent that is going to ascend to incredible heights very soon:
“What does it feel like to perform back in Brooklyn after spending time away overseas?
SALIMATA: Oh, my gosh. I mean, it’s so weird because the best thing about New York is that it never changes. But you change. So you get to observe the same thing from a different perspective. And of course, there’s something different going on—the atmosphere changes, the people change. I know there’s definitely not a lot of New Yorkers here no more.
Somehow the music led me there (overseas). I’ve been working a lot with Fada Records—they helped me with my last album. I’m like f*cking European now at this point. It’s crazy.
But being back. It’s just been like a breath of fresh air for me. And just to be surrounded by people who get me you know? And I don’t mean that in like any specific way, but it’s been so nice just to have very simple interactions. People just get you.
I’m happy that this is my first show back. I’m mad excited. It’s a lot of new music. I’ve been rehearsing since the second I found out about the show.
I noticed a lot of people in the TikTok comments saying that ‘conscious rap is making a comeback.’ Do you feel that’s an accurate description of your work?”
SALIMATA: Oh, yeah…off rip. And I have no, there’s no insult in that whenever anyone feels like they should say, I feel like it’s such a sketchy thing for people to label someone as. Like, a lot of people don’t like that or the sound of it, because it’s very easy to be corny when you’re conscious. But, I definitely consider myself a conscious rapper. But It’s more than that too, you know? That’s one dimension. Yeah, that’s definitely one spot, but I have different pockets for sure.
In rap, especially for Black women, people try to box you. How do you sidestep that?
SALIMATA: I really don’t care. Everything I do is honest to who I am, so no matter what form it takes, it’s still me.
When people get introduced to you, you can either let them put you in a box or intentionally present yourself in a way that shapes how they see you. People are multi-dimensional. Whatever I do is going to feel like me, so that’s all that matters.
What do you want Black women to feel when they press play on your music?
SALIMATA: I want them to not give any f*cks—about anybody or anything. To feel comfortable in themselves, powerful. Almost like…a nice bully, if that’s possible. Nice and strong. I just want people to celebrate being themselves, how they are. Whatever that is.
At GROWN, we’re for women who are grown but still growing. How are you grown & how are you still growing?
SALIMATA: For me, it’s about emotions—how you handle life. Being grown is being able to handle things..because you don’t even know you’ re growing until you look back. Like some sh*t will just hit you and you’ll just be like wow. the way I would have handled that six months ago, a year ago.. Different. Crazy. And I’m really proud of myself ’cause I grew so much. When you grow, you attract better things”.
I was under the impression that SALIMATA was still based out of Brooklyn. However, as we learn from CABBAGES from their interview published at the end of last year, she was based in Marseille. I wonder whether that is still the case. If you have not heard this stunning artist, then you really do need to check her out. I wonder if SALIMATA will be coming to the U.K. anytime soon:
“You're Brooklyn through-and-through, but sometimes artists go to a new place, they get so caught up in that place that they close their sense of self on record. Do you feel that being in Marseille of had its own impact on the way The Happening came together?
My first project, OUCH, in my mind it's super hardcore, super rough–and not just technically, but the energy I'm bringing to the tape. For my project after that, Wooden Floors, I'm still in New York, but I'm trying to make a more sunny side version of what I did with OUCH. Now that I'm in Marseille and I made a lot of the music here, I can see how it thawed me out a little bit, even in terms of beat selection and fluidity. I'm from a city; I'm from a very hard place and our buildings are very tall, so everything's going to be very rough. I feel like, on this project, there's a lot more melody. It's just softer to me. My song "9-5" just has more of beachy vibe. I didn't realize it until everything was coming together like, alright, we're actually moving on to some softness. I'm still going to be aggressive and surprising, but there's definitely an element that comes naturally with your environment.
One of my favorite songs on The Happening is "Foil." It's just under two minutes, with this intentional fadeout, but it feels like you could rap over that beat forever. Why aren't you giving the us whole thing?
I don't be asking producers, can you extend the beat? I just take it as what it is and if it's a long beat, I be like, are you cool with me using less of it? I don't know what the rules are, but whatever I deliver is what it is. I was writing to the beat and it ended and I was like, that's kind of cool. I've always loved short songs and I know now people like short things more, for replay. You want to play it back. I think I said everything I had to say. I don't need to say nothing more. Nobody wants to feel like they're being lectured. It's hard to be conscious and not corny, so you got to be cute about it”.
I am going to wrap up now. SALIMATA put out Supastar Livin earlier this year and I can sense that more new music is coming along. I am not sure what her gig plans are, but I can’t see anything announced on her Instagram at the moment. It would be nice to get more out there about her in terms of new interviews. What her gig schedule is. I wonder if she will set up her own TikTok and get a Facebook page, as there are many out there who have not discovered her work yet. One of the names to watch this year, when it comes to SALIMATA, it is exciting to think…
WHAT comes next.
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