R&B duo Majid Jordan joins Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1 to discuss their new song ‘Forget About the Party’. They also reflect on ‘Hold On, We’re Going Home’, how their friendship influenced their forthcoming album ‘Wildest Dreams’, wanting to bring new forms of music to audiences in the Middle East, and how the last year helped them reimagine their live show.
Video | Majid Jordan tell Apple Music about new song ‘Forget About the Party’ and forthcoming new album ‘Wildest Dreams’
Majid tells Apple Music about the inspiration for ‘Forget About the Party’
Yeah, I mean, there are things that, you’re not actively, maybe, thinking about, but they’re in your mind. Like, there was that phrase, divine intervention, you caught my attention. That divine intervention was in my mind. I had like, written a couple of things with that kind of concept and like, what does it mean? And that kind of, what are we doing? What is this experience in life? And so just playing with that kind of idea. And then this being such a divine moment, the way everything came together at the time as it was meant to be… Yeah. It just ended up with something where it makes sense. And it was a time when everyone was thinking, maybe I was partying too much. Maybe I should just be enjoying where I’m at right now. The world stood still for a moment. You could really be introspective.
Majid Jordan reflects on ‘Hold On, We’re Going Home’
I remember it so vividly now. I remember hearing it at 40’s cottage and him being like, yo, we have this one idea we think you guys would be great for. And they played us the idea, the hook and stuff. And now it’s like, that was our first big feature on a project. And it’s amazing. I go right back to that moment. I remember sitting in his office too, that he had built. He built a whole complex to for OVO sound and S.O.T.A. Studios and we’re sitting there, and he’s like, we have to put this out. This has to go in the album. So it’s crazy just to be here now. And I spoke to 40 yesterday, it’s just… Everyone’s still in our lives.
Majid Jordan tells Apple Music about starting out as a guitar-playing singer-songwriter
When I was first starting out, this is what made me fall in love with the form, with the music. This is what I gravitated towards. Because I only had a guitar. I didn’t have production equipment. I didn’t have anything. It was the only thing I knew how to play. And I learned it, I taught myself after a friend of mine in Bahrain taught me a couple of chords. And so I actually, if you hear all my early demos before, even the SoundCloud stuff, it is just me on a guitar singing songs. So it’s something that I feel like we get the chance to revisit on this project. And I think when you look down at the credits and things like that, you’re going to be surprised by the different sounds that you hear on this project, on Wildest Dreams.
Jordan tells Apple Music about becoming friends with Majid and how their friendship influenced their new album
I think the music is something that just comes out of the community of friendship and what we do. We became friends while we became partners in music, and it was very much two things happening at once, two different growths that merged into one thing. Even with Wildest Dreams and working on this album it’s like we revisited that once again because everything was not moving for a minute, and you got to really evaluate what you wanted to do for your next step. And so we were just sitting in Toronto thinking of making a whole new album, keep going with the mission, and I think it unlocked what we really want to accomplish in and out of music. What are our wildest streams and what do we want to say to the world? I think we’re in the best time of our lives right now for both of us for many different ways. But I think the one thing that I know is we’re just beginning making music and it’s something that I just personally feel from both of us. This is just the beginning of a whole new chapter.
Majid tells Apple Music about building confidence as a songwriter
I think I was so young and naive when I started, I was fearless. And I would go on stage and improvise songs at these open mics in Toronto and just play guitar. And people would have a really good reaction and they would let you finish the song without interrupting or talking on the phone like crowds do in Bahrain. Toronto has great crowds, props to them, and I think that just carried on to collaborating with other people. I just feel like there’s no weight or burden on me. I could just be totally myself, totally safe. The thing is, then you get in front of the entire world and then it’s like a microscope on you.
Majid tells Apple Music about wanting to bring new forms of music to the Middle East
When I was younger, I was always looking for like, you’d get the JAY Z’s were going around the world and all these stars, but they would never come through Bahrain. You know? So that’s something that beyond the music, it’s like something I put on myself, it’s just a standard, maybe an expectation is that I want to go to places that not a lot of people go to, to give people that feeling of being at a live show, being in that group kind of therapy moment. It feels good for everybody. You’re giving them this, enhancing this experience for them through the music. So I want to put together this promotional tour in the middle east, hopefully very soon. Go to like Algeria, Tunis, Cairo, Jordan, Saudi, Bahrain, and like do things like that. We have these dreams and that’s what we call the album Wildest Dreams, because they may seem wild now, but we don’t think they’re that wild to us.
Majid tells Apple Music about moving to Toronto at age 18
There was those things, and then also, coming from Bahrain, and being alone in Canada, I don’t have any family there. This guy became my family. When I was going through really tough times, when stuff was going on back home, that physical disconnection … it’s a totally different experience. Because you go from sitting down and seeing your family, you eat lunch with them every single day, and then you’re like, all right, 18 years old, I’m gone.There was a time when I was definitely partying a lot, and not taking care of my health, staying up late, just in the studio aimlessly. Yeah, being young. There were great times, don’t get me wrong. But there is a time when definitely, you stay up past… Nothing really happens after 4:00 AM at the party. And so, you’re just hanging around like, where do I go now? What am I supposed to be doing? And so, I think finding your purpose to change I guess your detrimental habits, I think that was that experience.
Majid tells Apple Music how the last year helped them imagine their live show
Where the live show is now, we’re so excited. We brought so much energy in it. We’re so inspired by uptempo and dance music, and making people physically move, because I think movement is therapy. And so, like you said, it was an opportunity, and I think this time gave us that.
