A Dr. Dre Run-In & N.W.A. Work – Nasim (Interview)

[Lunatic]

http://www.losangeleshiphop.net/los-angeles-djs/a-dr-dre-run-in-n-w-a-work-nasim/

LAHH speaks with the beautiful Nasim! Our conversation travels to many different topics and musical themes. We were quite intrigued by her story of a sit down dinner she was apart of with Dr. Dre where she got a chance to play him music.

Also working with original N.W.A. member Krazy D, Nasim is well on her way to stardom.

Look for Nasim’s single “Bubblegum” to hit airwaves and online soon.

Nasim on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/nasim

Enjoy.

Full Interview:
http://www.losangeleshiphop.net/los-angeles-djs/a-dr-dre-run-in-n-w-a-work-nasim/

[Lunatic]

Interview: We’re here with female artist Nasim – born in India, now that’s different than most artists I interview. Go ahead and tell us about that.

Nasim: I was born in India but I’m mixed. My father is from Iran in the Middle East and my mom is from India. My father left the Middle East due to all the political problems there. He’s not Muslim and didn’t like the dictatorship style of politics. Our family had a lot of problems there so he left Iran and moved to India. He met my mom and I was born there. We came to America later on. That’s pretty much it.

Interview: So you’re Iranian father moved to India, met your mother and the rest is history. How was it growing up?

Nasim: I remember a lot of India and it’s very different from here. It’s hard to explain. When I came here, I didn’t know English and had to learn a new language. I was raised in Washington State, being the race that I am, nobody knew what I was (laughs). I always stuck out like a sore thumb. It’s very different. Still, people don’t know what I am and think I’m Mexican or something very different. It helps with the music because I’m culturally influenced with Bollywood [Indian Hollywood] and Middle Eastern music and it helps make my music more eclectic.

Interview: How old were you when you moved to USA?

Nasim: I came when I was 6 years old. I was a kid; I was really young. I remember everything though (laughs). I remember there [India] and here [USA] and the transitioning of it.

Interview: I imagine it’s been quite the experience.

Nasim: Yeah it has. It was a little harsh. It was a culture shock when I came here and learned everything. Even being a kid growing up here, I remember a lot of the culture differences. I lived here and in my house, my family was a different religion and culture. And then I have to understand the America way and there cultures and religions. It was a lot to learn and adjust to so I can fit in everywhere.

Interview: No doubt. You mentioned Washington but I also read something on you about Portland, Oregon.

Nasim: I was raised in Washington; the big major city was Portland, Oregon right across the bridge – maybe 5 minutes away. We moved to Portland first and lived there for a while because my uncle who sponsored us to come to America was there. And then we moved to Vancouver, which is like a walk across the bridge.

It’s Vancouver-Washington. People get so confused and think its Canada (laughs). It’s the southern tip of Washington, so close to Portland, Oregon. It’s a bridge that goes through the next state. I say Portland, Oregon because a lot of people get confused and say Canada? So I just say Portland, Oregon (laughs).

Interview: We touched on it a little bit, but touch more on the adjustments you made after moving. It definitely is a culture shock.

Nasim: It was a culture shock. Where I was growing up, even my name was very different to people. Teachers couldn’t pronounce it. I was the only Indian or Middle Eastern kid in class. It was mostly mixed, black, Hispanic and Mostly Whites. I was very rare. I remember in school, a lot of racist stuff would go on and even teachers would tell me I had a funny name. A lot of underlying racism, I faced a lot of that because of my different culture. I guess a lot of people in that area didn’t know much about India or the Middle East.

Even when I was trying to do music, my father has that Middle Eastern mentality of becoming a doctor. My mother was a singer and into the arts.  She didn’t mind me getting into music because she did the same thing in India. She always supported me but my dad was always hesitant. The stereotype here in America that Middle Eastern people hear about is that girls run wild and in entertainment, they’re more loose (laughs).

That was hard because I had to grow up in this culture and I learned so much and the ways I wanted to dress and be, at home with my father, he didn’t accept it. It wasn’t his vision of a typical Middle Eastern girl or for his daughter (laughs).

Interview: I was going to ask about that. I know the Middle Eastern cultures tend to be a little strict.

Nasim: Yeah, it was really tough at first. But I broke him down. I convinced him I wouldn’t be like that (laughs). I had to prove it to him. Even to this day he’ll joke with me and say “I’m glad you’re music is doing great but I wanted you to be a doctor” (laughs). I guess I continued my mom’s legacy. My father didn’t want her to continue with music and she was singing the Bollywood, acting and dancing sort of career. My father asked her to top because he wanted to take care of her. His mentality was all about having kids and coming to America.

He thought it ended but it was funny that I continued it (laughs). My mother ended it and I continued it. He always says that I’m just like my mom.

Interview: I like that. I want to touch on your music. How did you get started in the first place?

Nasim: Wow. When I was younger, I was always into music. In Junior High, I was into dancing at first and joined dance teams. I really got into the whole hip-hop thing. I was into the old school, Rakim & Big Daddy Kane.  At first, I wanted to be a rapper, this dope female rapper (laughs). I got into Jean Grae and The Roots. I got into a very lyrical aspect. When I started evolving as an artist, I got into all kinds of different music. I got into electro and my culture’s music. It turned into me being a female who raps that does different music. I want to be something new and use my culture with it.

There really isn’t anyone out there like that besides M.I.A. that’s in USA. For me, growing up and to see someone that looks like me and have that image, I always thought it’d be cool. I was always did more hip hop but I did eventually branch out to more genre’s

Now I’m into anything that’s different. If I want to add some country to it, sure, why not. If I want to add some Russian sampling to it; I just want to be creative. To be different is my goal.

Interview: I’m glad you brought that up. How would you describe your sound?

Nasim: I would be more electro hip-hop. I do rap but it’s still pop and electro. I like fast beats and the way the tempo and the drums are. Also, some tribal stuff. My mom sings so I use her, I have a sister that sings in Farsi (language of Iran) so I use her on hooks. It’s still more electro but has elements of different cultures. It’s still hip-hop too because I do rap over it. I still sing too, well attempt to rap-sing actually (laughs).

Interview: You touched earlier on the family support you’ve received for doing music. Let’s strip that away and talk just about being a female hip-hop artist period.

Nasim: It’s very hard. This is why I think I started to get into other genres. When I did try to rap and I was really lyrical, people expected me to be in hoodies and stuff. I like to dress up and be girly. I remember one incident when Black Thought from The Roots heard my songs, he thought I was really dope. Dice Raw wanted to manage me but he saw me in hoodies and sneakers which is cool and some days I wear that, but that’s not my style. I got this stereotypical image of either being overly sexual and talking about that, or being conscious and lyrical and you have to dress like a guy. I found that hard. I’ve had artists or people say I’m not black so I shouldn’t rap and I guess they imply that hip-hop music isn’t to be made by Middle Eastern people or whatever.

I was just determined to do something that doesn’t make sense or something I was told I couldn’t do. That also made me become more cultural with it just because I want to be more universal. I figured why not let my race and being a female, let that shine. I always thought I’d make it work somehow. People never understood but I knew one day they would.

Interview: I like that confidence. You mentioned meeting Black Thought and playing him some music. I saw some photo’s on your MySpace with some major industry people – photos with Dr. Dre, Nas, and E-40 and so on. Now Dr. Dre is not just someone you can approach in public. How did that happen? I know you didn’t bump into these people randomly (laughs).

Nasim: No I didn’t (laughs). I was in shock too. I have a female friend who is a DJ and I met her through her best friend I was collaborating with. This female DJ loved my style and she loved the collaboration I was doing with her best friend. She mentioned that she knew Dr. Dre. She asked if we wanted to meet Dre. We were like yeah right. She invited us and Dre to a restaurant. The restaurant wasn’t even what I expected; it was a weekday and kind of empty. And sure enough, Dr. Dre shows up to the restaurant. I was shocked like that can’t be Dr. Dre – you just invite him and he comes? (Laughs). He shook our hands, sat down and ate with us. My dj friend started DJ’ing our music in the restaurant and we didn’t tell Dre who we were, because we wanted an honest opinion from him and not just being nice because we were in this face.

When he heard the music he was like wow, who’s this? This is pretty good. Who made the beat? Who’s rapping? Who’s singing? We told him it was us and he was like really?…and kept bobbing his head. After we just ate and hung out with him. We went to the club with him later that night and it was very cool. He was really friends with the DJ girl and she supported us and wanted him to listen to us. She wanted him to at least give us feedback and it was very positive. To this day, I can’t believe we hung out with Dr. Dre (laughs). How cool is that? We hung out with Dre! I still can’t believe myself.

Interview: That’s intense. It’s not just anyone who can invite Dr. Dre anywhere and he comes out

Nasim: He comes out and likes what we’re doing, that made our night, after that I was like I don’t care what anybody says, Dr. Dre approved of my music (laughs).

Interview: (Laughs) you don’t like me? Well Dr. Dre liked me.

Nasim: (laughs) F you, Dre liked me – you don’t like me? Oh well!

Interview: Speaking of Dr. Dre, we all know N.W.A. – I was reading on your MySpace that you’ve done some work with Krazy D, an original member of N.W.A.; how did that come about?

Nasim: Yes! It happened because I met him on MySpace. He was in Vegas and my brother who is an upcoming producer and also my producer lived in Vegas at the time too. I told Krazy D that he should work with my brother. I connected them and they started working together. Krazy D is super talented at making electro music. When I moved to L.A., me and my brother started working with Krazy D who moved to L.A. too. He would come over to the studio and start making beats with my brother. It was very cool and different to see Krazy D into that electro stuff. He would tell us his stories about the whole N.W.A. thing, showed us videos with Eazy-E and everything. It really started on MySpace. He and my brother have a cool relationship. We have a couple songs together. I have some verses with him and he made some beats for both me with my brother.

Interview: What’s the next move for Nasim?

Nasim: I just finished the single and we’re basically going to put it out and push the record. God willing it all goes well (laughs). I’m just promoting it. I’ll be doing shows and the whole thing.

Interview: And what’s the single?

Nasim: It’s called “Bubblegum” and everyone asks me what that means. It’s a love song but it’s about how you’re in a relationship and they don’t treat you right, it’s like they took your love, chewed it up and spit it out like bubblegum. The hook is something like that. It’s basically a song about getting treated like crap (laughs). It has a techno, pop beat to it. I think it’s pretty cool. It’s me and my song so of course I love it (laughs).

Interview: Dr. Dre likes you, you can say whatever the heck you want (laughs).

Nasim: (laughs) Dre likes me so it’s hot!

Interview: When do you plan on leaking “Bubblegum?”

Nasim: We plan to put it up on the websites and leak it out to all the DJ’s starting next week. That’s what I’ve heard. My team said we’re gonna’ start pushing it next week. I just got it mixed from our mixing and mastering guy so I’m happy about that. We’re gonna’ keep it in hiding until next week when it comes out.

Interview: Cool. We’re going to end it on that note Nasim. The fans can look forward to the single “Bubblegum” dropping very soon. I really appreciate it. Do you have any last words before I let you go?

Nasim: People can catch me on MySpace at www.myspace.com/nasim and twitter at www.twitter.com/QueenNasim …and I appreciate you taking the time to interview me and giving an up and coming artist a chance to be out there and promoted. Thank you for that.

[Sofa_King_Awesome]

Damn this broad is banging! I just checked out her myspace pics
Props J.Melo!

[U.N.T.O.U.C.H.A.B.L.E.]

http://www.losangeleshiphop.net/los-angeles-djs/a-dr-dre-run-in-n-w-a-work-nasim/

LAHH speaks with the beautiful Nasim! Our conversation travels to many different topics and musical themes. We were quite intrigued by her story of a sit down dinner she was apart of with Dr. Dre where she got a chance to play him music.

Also working with original N.W.A. member Krazy D, Nasim is well on her way to stardom.

Look for Nasim’s single “Bubblegum” to hit airwaves and online soon.

Nasim on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/nasim

Enjoy.

Full Interview:
http://www.losangeleshiphop.net/los-angeles-djs/a-dr-dre-run-in-n-w-a-work-nasim/

excellent read & she fine as fucc also....

[Lunatic]

Old Japanese Myth: She is good looking no doubt. Thank you sir.
Untouchable: Thank you and she sure is

Keep it coming!

Her single "Bubblegum" drops shortly 

[Sofa_King_Awesome]

I want to put my semen inside her