Fidah is the one who makes the choice to sacrifice if the cause is worthy. Like Socrates during his trial or Mohandas when he faced hunger; Hassan-e-Sabbah on Alamut Mountain. The gift of oneself for the common good.
Originally from Afghanistan, born in Moscow, Russia, Ahmad Salim aka Fidah arrived in Montreal at the age of 1 when his parents and his five brothers and sisters fled the war in Kabul during the early Cold War in the 90s, to come to Canada. The family spent a few years in Pakistan and then in Russia, arrived in Montreal in 1997 to live in a small neighborhood district that is commonly called The Ghet, Place-Saint-Martin for google, Saint-Martin de Tours for historians , Charles-Edouard Jeanneret Le Corbusier for the geniuses of the street. The family was among many as a refugee from wars in this area of the 450.Salim grew up watching her family challenge the challenges of life, cultural shock, getting to know each other as Afghan, Muslims and Quebecers, Canadians at the same time. Fidah spent 20 years of his life there: “I know his in, those behind and all his ways.” as he says. Moreover, the first scene of his clip “Sama” (directed by his brother @zahirxbatin and @MaxVisons) was shot there!
Concerning the inspirations of his name
Fidah it is in relation to his relation with the Islamic spirituality and his
Muslim confession which pushes him to engage in the fight against the violence
and the ignorance by engaging in an intellectual, poetic and musical fight. The
inspiration of the title Sama is from an Arabic word that refers to the notion
of spiritual hearing. A particular modality to the divine invocation within the
Sufi / Mystical brotherhoods of Islam. Fidah uses this notion in the Hiphop.
Fidah’s love of writing and music started at the age of 13. From a very young
age he used to play drum on everything that goes by his hands and fingers. His
brother Shuhib said that he felt the music in these noises made by tapping on
everything similar to Synesthesia.
Although he had an average level in French, Fidah continued to learn the
language and enrich his lexicon. On his very first notebook he wrote his first
beat, “Relique du ghetto”. Since that day, he wrote prose, rap,
wisdom, insults, stories and discoveries every day. Shuhib, his older brother,
offered him books to read; Beaudlaire, Rumi, Nasir-e Khusraw, Avicenna, Plato,
Aristotle and of course the Holy Qur’an.When he was young, he wrote songs all
by himself in his room and imagined himself on stage, but now he can finally go
on stage, but he imagines himself alone in his room. He would be 23 years old
soon.
Fidah had a Muslim rapper friend, Anasse, and
they talked together about the mechanism of hiphop and how to balance their
lives between profession and faith in God. They listened to Eminem, Big L,
Lunatic Booba / Ali, Nessbeal, Sniper, IAM, Little Brother, Shurikn, Medina,
Manu, Vai, Samian, Soprano and many others. With former stage names for
Annasse, it’s Kamicaz and Fidah was Iss-iz. Kamicaz, has recorded the first
official sound of Fidah which is entitled “Faut de la maille” at the
age 14 years old. One of his favorite punchlines is: ” Avec le temps, je me perds dans ses
courbatures, la vérité se caricature…Suis-je un peintre ou une peinture?” His brother Shuhib has always supported him by explaining to
him how the music industry works while signing on the @ZahirXBatin label. After
buying beats on the internet Fidah’s brother decided to produce the rapper’s
next sound by merging Persian melodies and the 808s. The rapper is already
preparing a studio mixtape and a video freestyle in the near future.
The Hiphop in Montreal, the New France
hiphop.
For those who are not familiar with rap in
Quebec, there are Nzey, JKilla, Annasse a.k.a Kamicaz, YH, Mad Yizzy Kid.H2war,
there are Nino Birdz and Gioco to see absolutely,they killing everything!
A few years ago, Fidah was able to do the
first part of Manu Millitari, one of his idols, among the best in Quebec! After
this performance, the rapper knew he wanted to spend his life on stage and make
a place in the French rap game. The current rap scene draws a lot of Fidah
with: Vai and his new album Colors, Samian, Drake, J.Cole, Kendrick Lamar,
Royce, Da 5.9, and Booba always, rap game boss!
Attracted by the incredible fusion of sounds, cultures, rapper energies, Fidah is very ambitious to make a classic like Nas / Lunatic or to start a trap style with sensible content. Fidah already has a few recorded tracks that will come out very soon, “Calmate” and “Parlé”, “Parlé” is available on Soundcloud with a clip to come characterized by the 90s hiphop. Fidah wants to come to France to meet his idols rappers and freestyle in radio and he even has the ambition to collaborate musically with them such as Sofiane, Youssoupha, La Fouine, Nekfeu, Booba / Ali, Volt Face, Moha La Squale, Lartiste, Medina, Tunisiano, and Soprano. In any case, Fidah will enter the rap game with its musical / intellectual coming out, for those who are afraid of gray areas, you will see all black!
This story was originally published on Rap2France portal in French language.
