Make way for ABIR – she's back and she's serving real music

Cosmopolitan ME

2 days ago

Let's face it, music is a universal language. It crosses borders, timelines, and even identity. For Moroccan-American singer ABIR, it's the one place where she grooves two of her worlds: her roots and her love for creating dope music.
Through music, she's found a space where both parts of herself don't just coexist, they amplify each other. Her voice blends that Arab soul with Western influence, the result? A sound that hits differently.
From her breakout project, MINT, to her latest releases, First Quarter and The Tip Off, ABIR is officially back, and let's just say she's been cooking. A lot. Whether she's exploring love (major feels), identity, or the process of creative rebirth, her storytelling is just the right dose of vibe and boldness.
Cosmo ME caught up with ABIR to talk about what she's been up to. From the four-year creative pause that made her stronger, the butterflies that come with falling in love, and even the mundane moments of her life that make her, well, ABIR.
Cosmo ME: ABIR is back! During that four-year pause, were you able to find your groove again? Maybe find a new identity musically? Can you tell us more about that?
ABIR: The pause wasn't so much intentional. It was just coming off the heat and the creative process that was the most intense. I was very passionate about that project and trying to make it come to life and find the right producers to work with. Even the process before I made it just to get to Mick Schultz, who I worked with on Heat, was super taxing. It paid off in the end, but it wasn't really working at first. So when I met Mick and we created Heat, we were on a time crunch. We wanted to get music out, we were so excited about it, and we didn't want to just drop one song and disappear again. We made that project over a year and a half. And then afterwards, we were so relieved. We were like, 'Oh my God, now we can just like take our time.' We put out music, we can take our time and create. And it was peak pandemic. So we were burned out, and so we started working on so many different ideas and in the end I just felt like–sometimes, some labels push you, you know? To create something that you might not want to create at that moment. Like, you know, the, the age old, 'We need a hit. We need a hit. We need a hit'. It was in our brains, and we were so over it.
So I think we were just trying to create something. That could just fuel us again and give us that same passion that we had for making heat. And we ran into some, you know, issues, as you do in the creative process. Just trying to create something really magical and not just putting out anything. And then after that, I kind of went into a little bit of Country. I was trying to do like this Arab country thing for a little bit. And I was really excited about it. Super, super fun ideas. And we had like a whole project, but sometimes it's really just the business. Some clashes and trying to figure out how to keep everyone kind of like excited and, and all that good stuff. But in the end, I think it really paid off because now, where I'm at, I feel the most confident in what I'm releasing. And, I also feel that like–okay, we got, we got some major bangers coming!
We've got some really exciting songs that I did not overthink, did not need the approval of so many different heads. And so, you know, it is just like music that you just create from your soul and your heart. And it reminds me of like why I do this. So I think that four-year stint or break was kind of like necessary to just kind of recalibrate and realign with like why I do what I do.
Cosmo ME: I love that. Oh my God. Honestly, a mental health break? Absolutely necessary to refresh yourself, like we genuinely do need that.
ABIR: Oh, I do wish it was a mental health break, but the entire four years were just spent making nonstop music that the world is probably never going to see, which is just, I think that's just what happens. But, all for good reasons, right? Because, like I said, I'm really excited about what I'm making. Just allowing the world to hear it.
Cosmo ME: Now I'm kind of curious to like hear what music you created like during that four-year stint.
ABIR: Like so many different things. Oh my God.
Cosmo ME: That means your creative process is more fine-tuned. Can you tell us more about your creative process?
ABIR: All the songs that are coming out now, I've written myself. Well, most of the songs in my career, I've actually written myself. And, usually, before the pandemic, you'd go into the studio and you'd be like working, you know, nonstop, like 14-hour days. But I think during the pandemic, I learned how to just work at home. And that paid off because now, the producer that I work with, an amazing producer named NES, and we're just able to create without any opinions. We're not in a time crunch like when we're in a studio where you only have it for a certain time. Like we can work nonstop, you know? So he'll send me some ideas, some starting ideas. We'll go back and forth, and then I'll just spend like the rest of my days thinking of the most epic melodies and stories that I feel like telling.
And I also feel like with this round of music, there was way less overthinking. Like I was just kind of sharing what came to mind and what I was feeling in the exact moment, as opposed to like trying to make it all perfect, cookie-cutter needs to fit this or needs to fit that. I just wanted to express where I'm at this time, and how much I've grown, and I think it was so much easier to do that. I've become equipped with how to record myself, how to do everything from home, like and then go to a studio to professionally record it. But yeah, that's pretty, that's pretty much how the creative process is in comparison to like before.
Cosmo ME: As a Moroccan, I'm sure your roots has also inspired your music. Is there any specific upbringing, storyline, memories, traditions, or sounds that you've embedded into your art?
ABIR: That's a great question. I think my culture is just so vast and so beautiful, and there are so many different things that you can take from it. But from a sound wise, like Arabic music is Chef's Kiss. And also, you know, it's funny because I don't think I realised it then, but I am religious, and when I listen to the Quran, I don't think I put two and two together, but the way that the Quran is recited is so beautiful. I think I've like picked up on that a lot. And when I think of other senses, I feel like maybe the fashion. Like, I just love all the patterns, all the different textures that are in Moroccan culture. And I think over the years I've tried to utilise them in the best way I possibly can.
I feel like it's really hard to explain outside of music because it just played the biggest role in kind of merging the cultures for me. Because my dad would always drive me to school and he'd play jazz music 'cause he was running a limousine company at the time. And he would have to play classical and jazz music. But then, when his shift was over, he was just jamming Arabic music. So, I was listening to Algerian music, Moroccan music, I was listening to Egyptian music. Just so many different music. I had access to so many different sounds that I feel like helped curate my palette.
Cosmo ME: So music kind of runs in your family, then, in some sense?
ABIR: As I was growing up, he was like, 'No, like focus on school. You could do this on the side.' And I'm like, you are the reason half of these things exist in my brain because of the music you used to play. So, he was like a music connoisseur. He had probably no idea, 'cause I was just always in the backseat, just mimicking whatever he was playing. Then the next day, I would be like, oh my God, I think I got it 'cause he would always replay the sonfs. You know how you have your favourite songs, you'd replay them. So, I'd be like, okay, now I know this one. I'll sing along, you know?
Cosmo ME: So, when you were a child, what was your favourite song to listen to?
ABIR: It's a song called Desert Rose by Sting featuring Cheb Mami. That was one of my favourites. Then there's this one by Cheb Mami, he's an Algerian Rai singer. My dad had this cassette that he would play, and it was just everything. You'd hear the way he creates the melodies, and even just the way he moves in between notes was so special to me. So I'd say that song, and then on the jazz front, Etta James was like one of my favourite artists growing up. Like when I say favourite, favourite! There's this song called I'd Rather Go Blind that my dad would play, and I would just be singing it. And also A Sunday Kind Of Love. Those were like the top three that were just in rotation.
Cosmo ME: Now I wanted to ask what exactly is First Quarter?
ABIR:. First Quarter is the first project of this year. It is a project that kind of embodies that first initial feeling when you fall in love and all the kinds of feelings that come with that. I feel like all of the songs that are on First Quarter really embody different feelings. So like, the first one that I dropped is Butterflies. Like I was saying from my creative process, I wrote that song in probably four hours, and I was just like going, going, going. I wasn't even thinking about anything. And then I sent it to my manager, and he like freaked out and he was like, 'This could be the best song you've ever written.'
At that time, I had like only written three or four songs for the project, so that was like the beginning of something very exciting, and I was excited to release it first. Butterflies is about the feeling that you feel when you first fall in love. Those butterflies that come in your stomach and how you're not going to ignore them, and then Made 4 You is almost realising like, 'Oh no, I was definitely created for you and you were created for me.'
I feel like you go through these phases first, which First Quarter talks about. Where you're kind of scared, you're vulnerable, which is the next track. I'm not going to spoil it, but you're like, for me specifically, I do have a little bit of pride that I've like worked through over the last few years and just like being super vulnerable 'cause iit's such a sacred thing and not everyone deserves it. So sometimes, you could run into the era of just meeting someone who does not deserve that. And then on the other front, you can meet someone who is absolutely like the perfect person for it. And I feel like the First Quarter kind of goes through all those ups and downs of like, 'Shoot, I like this person,' 'Wait, hold up. I can't be vulnerable yet.' And it's like, 'Wait. I'm made for you.' It's a weird thing that we go through, right?
Cosmo ME: With the song, Butterflies, what's one lyric that you really, really took time to ponder over? The line that had the most impact on you?
ABIR: Oh, this is a hard one. You know, there are two lines, but I'm going to say just one for now. I think it's 'You're supplying me with what I need to push the clouds away. Even the night feels like a sunny day.' When I was writing that, I was thinking of the first few lyrics of the second verse, and I just kept imagining like, 'Oh my God, I've landed on my pot of gold.' And I was kind of trying to create what a trance feels like. 'Cause you know, I'm like tripping over this person, and people talk about love being this drug, right? How do I create that image for people when they listen to the second verse, so that they literally feel that. And so I feel like those lyrics kind of helped me shape that image that I wanted to create.
CosmoME: What about for Made 4 You? What's a line you're obsessed with?
ABIR: Oh my God. I love every lyric I made for Made 4 You because it's just so divine. It feels so connected to something so, so bigger than me. And I kind of cough it up to this word in that we say in Arabic called maktub (مكتوب), which means 'It is written', and that everything that we experience in life is already written. And I think that goes the same for who you meet and who you end up with. It's like your souls are already created to be together before you're even alive. And, again, that's the spiritual, religious side of things. When you meet the right person, I just feel like that is divine timing. I do believe that.
I already know which lyric it is. The first lyric of the song is my favourite because I feel like it's so confident. It's so loud about saying like 'Oh, no, no, no, no, I'm definitely a gift that heaven sent to you'. The line is, 'You must be God's favourite 'cause I'm not anything to play with.' Like, hello? He gifted you, me? He gave you my love? That kind of set the tone for the rest of the song and how I was going to speak about it.
Cosmo ME: From Butterflies to your old songs, it's a complete 360 in my opinion. What inspired this new change in your music?
ABIR: Yeah, I mean that four-year break put me through the ringer. I was just very determined to find something that made me passionate again. And it's funny how they always say, like you just said, it's a 360. It really goes back to like how I started music and where I started. Before I had even met my manager or started recording in his studio or any of that, I was doing R&B. Before I even moved to New York, a lot of where I started was doing R&B showcases in the city and trying to just get my music out there. And then eventually I kind of found this niche vibe, which was what we call Pop Soul.
At the time, that was like the first two songs I had released Girls and Playground. And then you go down this like creative path where you sign with a label and you want to do justice to yourself as an artist and you want to create things that genuinely feel like you. But you also want to make sure that you're being a good partner and that you're growing in all the right ways. So, eventually, from Pop Soul, it became Pop and then it became Arab Pop. And now I feel like it had to come home. So now I've kind of done everything that I can to fuse it into where I started and what I feel like comes naturally to me.
Cosmo ME: I wanted to ask, all this talk about love, all this talk about romance, with Butterflies, and with Made 4 You, in a few simple words, what is love for you right now?
ABIR: Love to me is a safe place. I feel that to really feel and be in love, you have to feel safe. And I think that, over everything else, like over the butterflies in your stomach feeling, over all that other stuff. If someone can make you feel safe to be who you are and to express yourself and communicate, and just really just be, I feel like that is love and it doesn't even have to be just relationships. It could be within friendships. It could be within than just like your family. If you have a safe place with someone, that's love.
Cosmo ME: Okay. Considering your songs and your experiences, what are your green flags and red flags?
ABIR: Hmm, I'll start with the red flags because they're easier. Like I said, I used to have a little bit of pride when it came to expressing my feelings and communicating. I'd be like, okay, let me just keep that to myself. I'd bring it down and hide it. That could be a red flag because I wouldn't always express what I was really feeling in the moment. Then there's the opposite side of that. Once I do express myself, you probably won't hear the end of it. If you cross me or make me feel some type of way, I will let you know. Most of the time, I offer grace when things happen. But there are moments, days even, where if you catch me at the wrong time, I don't think about the situation as a whole. I just focus on what I'm feeling. That's probably not the best. When I was younger, my most toxic trait was putting work above everything. I was extremely committed. Now, I think I have way more balance. This one's a bit intense… but I love to eat. Like, really love to eat. If I cook something, I'm going into the fridge later to eat the leftovers. Without a doubt. Leftovers are genuinely that good. Another red flag is that I really don't like texting. I need a call or FaceTime, and I know not everyone has time for that.
Now for green flags. I think they kind of overlap. I express myself clearly now, so you'll always know what I'm feeling. That helps when things come up and you need to talk them through. I'm not avoidant. Another green flag is that I'm a great cook. I love cooking for the people I love. I'll make all the meals, but I'm also definitely eating the leftovers. I won't be sending you home with a plate. Just kidding. Another green flag is that I'll write songs about you. I'm family-oriented. I love my family and staying connected. And I take accountability. That's a big one. If you call me out, I will take accountability,