Mehdi Bahmad shares via Flaunt Magazine the self-directed visual for his feel-good track ''Lay''.
Too sinful for Heaven, too utopian for Earth, the up-and-coming Moroccan-Canadian artist found peace hanging in tension between both worlds. With a simple game of "téléphone arabe", Bahmad invites to join him in this idyllic universe where nothing is forbidden, where the word Haram doesn't exist.
Bahmad wrote "Lay" when he was back in his father's village in the Moroccan desert. He addresses to everyone this heartfelt open invitation to dive head first into his warm and tender universe. Mehdi ironically uses the expression of the "téléphone arabe" that has a racist/prejudiced past to contrast with what he wishes : a future where multiculturalism and plurality belong to all. For the artist, our inner power and light will shine through and connect us all. He invites everyone to just lie down and connect with the earth beneath our feet, making the sky and its mysteries the only things our eyes see. In the intro, Mehdi emerges from clay. According to the legendary stories of the Koran, God created man from clay. Yet Mehdi had to create himself : giving birth to his persona.
"I was lying down in the sand at night and the only thing I had before my eyes was the most beautiful starry sky I had ever seen in my entire life. I felt so grounded, powerful and small at the same time. I wish I could have bottled this moment to share it. I wrote this song instead".
The song was written and composed by Bahmad and produced in collaboration with Wake Island, the queer Lebanese electro duo based between New York and Montreal who recently instigated one of Brooklyn's most talked-about parties "Laylit Bokra" (or the lit nights of tomorrow), including live performances as well as Arabic disco/funk/pop music from the 60s to today.
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Contact
Fançois Olivier-Gouriou
f@nowisrenaissance.com