Twenty-five years, four continents, and several generations in the making, Zaki Ibrahim’s music is captivating and vibrant. It’s thick with poetics, and steeped in a delicious mixture of earnest emotion and humor. " It (her music) comes from knowing a struggle, but it's never really about struggle." She was shaped by the diversity of her Apartheid-era hometown and household , where the lessons of Islam fed into discussions of Buddhism, Sufi philosophies courted drums, and Scottish folk songs intertwined with a rich, epic ancestral history. “ My mother was an English teacher, a poet and a writer. I write in my Umi’s language. Her words have allowed me to translate my experience the way I do. To me, few see the world as exquisitely as she portrays it.”
This very same, fine web of worlds is present in every note, every tone, every word, and it is what makes her music both timeless and so undeniably fresh. By the time Zaki began writing and performing songs as a child, she was already well familiar with the life of a traveler, switching up continents as often as some people switch up hairdos. She was first introduced to hip hop in South Africa, and then continued her journey with music as a teen in Canada’s west coast. Zaki began to build on her craft, swiftly garnering attention, industry and media praise, and emerging as a noteworthy talent on both sides of the Atlantic. Not satisfied with merely playing role of an entertainer, she was quick to embrace a dual role of singer and cultural connector, building on the ground level, lending her energy and talent to workshops and interactive performances in schools, prisons, and in communities around the world.
She has utilized her music talent to aid in community based initiatives as well as facilitating workshops and activities for youth at risk. Her involvement with District Six Music is based on her philosophy that cultures exchanged lend to greater understanding and tolerance. She has involved herself in many other projects working within the realm of music moving toward social change. This has recently culminated in her co-founding the Universal Magnetic, a project working to manifest her words: "I realise that the amount of ground possible to cover in a lifetime too often depends on money. I pray that the good guys get rich and stay on the ground...where true beauty lives…”. She has worked with a broad family of Canadian and South African musicians, composers, and producers, including Juno Award-winners Kemo (Rascalz) and DJ Serious (Quartertones), and notable up-and-comers Gigz, Darp Malone, DJ Nana and Nick Holder. She has shared the stage with Gift of Gab, Ladybug Mecca of the Digable Planets, Bahamadia, Tumi and the Volume, K'naan, Pocket Dwellers, Saukrates, King Reign, The Quartertones and Hero.
This year has been an explosive one for Zaki, as she gets set to drop her debut album on the world by early 2007. Two singles, “Grow” and “Daylight” (released under the Treehouse label in the UK) will be making their rounds internationally in May 2006. Of late, she has been chosen to headline Canada’s first official Beat Society and sang alongside Jane Bunnett, Muna Mingole, and The Spirits Of Havana among others as part of ‘Global Diva’s’ a gala event showcasing unique and captivating female vocalists from around the world. As well she was recently invited to take on the famed Apollo Theatre in Harlem NY. No matter what she decides to focus on in her musical career, Zaki's strongest certainty is that she will be holding true to her nomadic lifestyle, with plans to tour excessively, both solo and with her live band, throughout Canada, France, the UK, South Africa, and beyond. Her gift to connect with people will not only nourish souls that cross borders, cultures, genres, and generations- her music has the ability to inspire change. The world is watching. Ladies and Gentlemen: Zaki Ibrahim.
