#IMMusicMonday: IMAN

IMAN returns after the success of her last independent release which peaked at #3 on the official UK Urban music week club chart.

Her latest song ‘For You’ is an upbeat and gentle track in which she reflects on the decision she was forced to make as a teenager to leave her family in order to pursue her music career.

Having grown up in a household where music and creativity were feared rather than encouraged the track is about having the strength to follow your calling, take chances and risk everything to follow your own path despite potentially losing everything you know and love.

In her own words IMAN says:

 ‘The song is about when I ran away to pursue my ambition. It’s me talking back to my 16-year-old self. It’s intertwined with me talking about how I missed my family and is merged with the feelings I had when I revisited my family home and saw how it had all changed as I had pretty much returned as a different person’

My thoughts?

IMAN is a breath of fresh air. The topic of discussion is one that is very close to home for me, so it meant that much more that it was executed well.

I really enjoyed the attention to detail with the intricate melodies played by each instrument.

The song begins with what I assume to be a xylophone as the primary sound which gradually get lost as the instrumental texture thickens. Despite this the xylophone never completely disappears perhaps representing that while she has grown up the hope of family is not completely lost.

To me it sounds as though the instruments were played live which only added to the emotion of song and made it feel very genuine and raw.

Here’s what happened when I spoke to IMAN about her music and more.

Your music is very open and honest, do you ever find it hard to be that open and vulnerable?

No, I don’t find it hard being open with how I feel, anyone that knows me can likely vouch for this too! Haha.

I only ever want to write and record music that’s honest and raw. I think the listener can always sense when its not authentic and I think one of the main things as an artist is to really ‘share’ yourself and make that connection with people. Otherwise theres no point in doing it as far as I can see.

How do your family and friends react to your music?

My brother loves my music and always has it playing in his car. My parents don’t really get involved. My mum did come to see me perform live once though, she said she enjoyed my set. My friends love my music and are always so supportive of me.

Who is on your playlist at the moment?

Nas, Kendrick, Drake, Ray BLK, Jamie Woon and some house riddims.

What are your plans musically for the remainder of 2018?

2018 has already seen me drop 2 releases. One being a collab I did with NYC producer Yarley G called ‘FORGET YOU’ and I’ve dropped another called ‘FOR YOU’. The rest of this year will also see me release more music and perform more shows and festivals. I want to connect and share my music with everyone.

Where can people find your music?

People can check me out on www.imanmusic.co.uk My website has links to all my social media platforms, gig dates, videos, pics and even a FREE download to a secret song. Only people that sign up to my mailing list will ever get to hear and keep this top secret song of mine, mwhahahah! Xxx