• Home
• /
• Entertainment

THE EARLY BEGINNER

Tahir Rashid is a rapper, producer and a poet. He has worked with established artistes and production houses and has his own record label, Noor Media. He has recently teamed up with a local singer, the very popular Ahmed Bukhatir, in the later's new album Da'ani.

He's done all that and lot more before he has even hit the twenty mark. City Times caught up with the artist just before he left for the UK.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

My name is Tahir Rashid and I’m 19. I was born in the UK and brought up in the UAE and have roots in Pakistan. I’m currently studying at a university in Birmingham.

You started writing when you were 15. When did it occur to you that you could convey your feelings, your thoughts via singing?

I only really got into the vocal end about a year ago. I guess it was a natural build up going from writing poetry to singing as both are connected. I spent a whole summer teaching myself audio editing on my PC, and at that time I only had a PC microphone to work with.

I did a few recordings here and there and played them to some of my friends and most were quite appreciative, although I knew I had a lot to work on, this developed with time and experience.

You're still young. How does it feel to achieve this much at such a young age?

I believe that age should not hinder any achievement or goal in life. I think that at a young age, there is more capability of achievement as a person is more vibrant and full of energy. Of course, this should always be balanced out with everything else in life. Achieving while young helps a lot with personal development as you get to know more people, travel around the country as well as bring out new and innovative ideas.

You’ve, in a short period, collaborated with some of the established artistes and production houses. How was your experience working with them?

I always find collaborations to be a breath of fresh air, as two heads are better than one. To name a few, I’ve worked with the Muslim Youth Helpline in one of their music projects, Ozzy Osman, a rapper from Nottingham and Ahmed Bukhatir, who’s a local singer.

You write your own songs and have produced some of them, have you ever written and produced for others as well?

Yes, I’ve produced an album for an upcoming singer named Kamal Uddin who’s based in the UK. The CD will be released on the 13th of this month. I sometimes write poems on request as well and also for magazines and newspapers.

Would you shed some light on your collaboration with Ahmed Bukhatir, what do we expect from you’re teaming up with such a popular artiste?

I’ve written a song in English for Ahmed, titled ‘It’s Time’, which will be on his upcoming album titled ‘Da’ani’ (Let me go).

My lyrics and his voice seemed to have gone together very well and you will feel a great sense of uplifting and hope while listening to the song. We have plans to work on more songs in the near future as well.

Do you have other plans for your future or you’d want to continue growing as a multi-faceted artiste?

No doubt, I will continue pursuing and developing my artistic abilities and as of current, I am working on expanding my record label. So I’m always looking out for new talents. I am still studying, so completing studies is amongst my priorities as well.