Nemah Hasan, known as Nemahsis, shared with us the creative process behind her highly anticipated EP ‘eleven achers’. The EP includes six songs and was released with a music video for the lead single ‘i’m not gonna kill you’.
Nemah is a Palestinian-Canadian singer-songerwriter that begun her career online as a fashion influencer. She’s best known for being one of the pioneering muslim fashion influencers with her alternative, avant-garde style. She begun her musical career in 2021 with her debut single ‘what if i took it off for you?’. The song defines much of what she does as an artist; standing up for her beliefs and defending her community. The new EP encapsulates Nemah’s vulnerability and innermost thoughts towards her complex cultural upbringing. The songs focus on pivotal moments in her life with thought-provoking lyrics and music production that puts Nemah’s voice front and centre.
For the music video of the song ‘i’m not gonna kill you’ what approach did you take when choosing the look and outfit?
I had seen this Balenciaga ad at the beginning of the pandemic where they were all walking outside masked up and everything. I had written the song a couple months after I had seen that. When I was writing it I kept envisioning that ad, it was very special for me because I felt like this is how the world perceives me – like is she going to a funeral? Is she not? Avant-garde, but also threatening in a way. Like, I would switch sides if I saw someone dressed like that on the street. As I was writing the lyrics in that session I kept channelling that specific video, and I wanted to dress how I feel the world perceives me. So yeah it’s like all black, all leather, you don’t know what’s under there. The chain mail was one of the last additions, it was this epiphany of the missing piece because it was as though I was off to war. Anyone in armour or chain mail is ready to fight and I feel like that’s what my hijab kind of looks like to the rest of the world.
How does the fashion in your music videos relate to your own personal style?
I was always the person that stood out because I grew up in a predominantly white neighbourhood. So even before I dove into fashion and the degree that I have now, I’ve always, no matter what I wore, stood out not by choice. Once the hijab and people that look like me started to become a little more normalised, I couldn’t help but to start dressing crazy because I didn’t know how else the world would perceive me. As hijab got more normalised in society I think my style progressed for that shock factor. It’s kind of like a trauma response in a way. I’m used to people being like “Ahh!” about my hijab growing up, now my fashion and everything has to give that same reaction or else I don’t know what my purpose is in this world. I really carry that through all my music videos.
Where do you see yourself in the fashion influencer scene? Particularly the hijabi fashion influencer scene?
There were a few hijabi fashion influencers when I had first started that had bigger platforms like Dina Tokio or Maria Alia and those are definitely people that I grew with. But the difference is that they were doing fashion that was very wearable. They were trying to find a place as a hijabi in the fashion industry. For me I was kind of like them, but the weirdo. And people would always say that, even in the muslim fashion world. Even eight years ago when people were following me they’d be like, “Oh I would never wear what you wear but I get this relief when I watch you wear what you wear, kind of like it’s scratching an itch in my brain that I didn’t even know needed to be scratched.”
I was like that artsy, weird, avant-garde version of all of the hijabi influencers that were doing fashion at the time. Which was very weird at the time but now people can kind of stomach it. But at the time it was definitely difficult.
With this new EP release, do you see yourself carving a space for artists with similar backgrounds to you?
Definitely. I think the funniest thing is after I wrote my very first single ‘what if I took it off for you?’ I had told Chass, “I can’t wait.” and he was asked,
“For what?”, and I said,
“For someone that looks like me to come and do everything better.”
I can’t wait until there’s a hijabi that can sing better than me, that could probably dance, that could probably dress even better, that might have longer legs, and be able to wear the fashion that I wear even more fashion-forward. I’m literally here just so that people feel like it’s a safe space. I think the people that are rightful for this spot will come forward. The spot, I know I’m just holding it until other people come. I think there’s gonna be different perspectives, different writers, different singers that I can’t wait to learn from as well.
Where do you see yourself in the music industry?
Honestly I’m in a super weird place. Cause people always ask me, “What’s your genre? How do you feel?”
I think that love has been written about in many songs, in many different ways; thousands, hundreds of thousands of different ways. I think that, for the most part, there are some things I’m writing about that have never been written about. Like the insecurities of taking off your hijab in a pop song. I think my place is long overdue, I think it’s definitely needed. It doesn’t have a set place because we’re creating it. Not just for people that look like me but even my sound. People always tell me, “I think there should be more of a beat. Why’s it just your voice?”
I feel like there’s not a proper place for it because even when you listen to mellow music like Phoebe Bridgers or Sufian Steven, there’s even more production. Their voice isn’t fully front-and-centre in it, there’s so many other elements. Everything about me just doesn’t feel right yet until we make it right. So I think my place is still not fully nailed in yet.
Who are your artistic influences?
It kind of depends. I personally love to enjoy listening to rock music because sometimes I don’t like to sing. So rock is where I’ll go if I want to listen as a listener and not as an artist or singer. And then there’s people that influence my style of writing and type of music I listen to, or who I aspire to be. It’s a very hard question, but I really enjoy Sufian Stevens, Adelle is a big one, Amy Winehouse, I love Lorde, and Rihanna. You know, the classics.
What was the process for writing, curating, and recording the songs in the EP?
It seemed chaotic for the first two years cause it felt so messy, like everything was scrambled, and then I blinked. Near the very end, I would say the last 3 months, suddenly it felt so aligned, so in order. I was looking at all the songs in front of me and I was like, okay these are for the EP. It fell right into place. It was like day and night, everything else I knew was going to be on the next album, I had a body of work in front of me. It’s just so funny to keep working and feel like it’s not working towards something and then for it all to just fall right into place at the right time.
Do you have a favourite song?
That one is hard, they all hold a different place for me. They’re all so important. I think ‘paper thin’ was the one I was most sure of, it was the song where I said that if this was the last song I ever release, I will be okay with it. ‘immigrant’s tale’ is also so beautiful.
Where do you see your music career going from here?
I think I’ve said what I’ve needed to say in terms of things that have been weighing on my chest over the last two decades of my life. I think we’re gonna channel some more recent feelings and emotions. And I think we’re gonna have some more upbeat stuff. A little bit more pop, a little bit more movement and action. And soul. It’ll be sonically more intense. We ended the project with ‘hold onto me’ which just took its first step into what it’s going to become. And we did that very strategically.
Bonus: Did you have anything you’d like to share with us?
One thing I would love to say is I can’t wait to either be a part of a soundtrack for a movie or TV show. Or to have one of my songs featured. TV, and movies and all that is such a big part of where I gather my inspiration and sort my own feelings. If I have the opportunity of doing that, I won’t let anyone down. It’s gonna be so magical.
Nemahsis’ EP ‘eleven achers’ is now available to stream on select music platforms.
Follow Nemahsis on Instagram and TikTok
