Get To Know: Alia Sharrief
The talented MC, Alia Sharrief, was destined to perform lyrical masterpieces very early on in life. Coming from a big family of 9 brothers and sisters, Alia and her siblings were heavily influenced by her grandmother’s poetry. However, the influence didn’t stop there. Alia’s great grandfather was also a poet and civil rights leader, while Alia’s older brothers always displayed a love of Hip Hop. They constantly blasted hits by Tupac among other hip hop greats, which inspired Alia to don herself the rap name “Homie C” at the young age of 4 years old.
Ever since, Alia has been developing her talents and has complete creative control over her production. Her hard work was displayed on her debut project “Mental Cycles and Mood Swings” which features a very soulful style. She is currently working on her new project “Back On My Deen”, set to release in early 2015, from which she’ll be releasing the single “Who Ready?” in December of this year. Alia says this project will be completely different from “Mental Cycles and Mood Swings” which is more of a personal narrative, whereas “Back on my Deen” will discuss more social issues such as what’s happening in the Muslim and Black American communities. The project will be more straight forward, spiritual, and lyrical accompanied by more upbeat music.
Alia’s musical inspiration is attributed to listening to artists such as Lauryn Hill, Erykah Badu and others who display originality. Tupac’s message is also a huge influence on her delivery since Alia feels his presentation has not yet been duplicated. Alia has already left a bit of her own mark by performing at the 40th Anniversary of the Universal Zulu Nation. It was the California native’s first time visiting New York and Alia considered it a blessing to have the opportunity to showcase her talents, while paying homage to those who started and continue to perpetuate the true culture of Hip Hop. Alia even got the chance to meet the very humble Afrika Bambaataa and performed a rhyme she wrote about him when she just 16 years old.
Alia’s work doesn’t stop at music. She’s also a media consultant and a journalist. She admits, although it can be overwhelming keeping up with all imbalances of the world’s reality, it’s a part of her life and she has a continued interest in what is happening all around the world. Alia, can been seen frequently participaing in protests and spreading the word on social, political and international injustice all throughout the Bay Area. Alia has even been an ambassador for the Council on Islamic Relations (CAIR) An organization that helps with human rights violations of those of Muslim faith. She's also contributed her consulting talents by creating advertisements to spread the organization’s positive messages.
Alia plans to impact the industry by showing women and girls that it’s possible to be covered while simultaneously being attractive and classy. She hopes to encourage women to be more than what is presented to them in the mainstream media. Alia plans to broaden the scope of lyricism to include more images of reality outside of clubbing, shopping, and sexuality. A mission that she expresses with every stroke of her pen and everytime she picks a mic.
Check out Alia Sharrief's Website and listen to her new single "Who Ready”, Now in rotation on SHEmovement Radio!!
www.AliaSharrief.com
