During the pandemic, singer and rapper Kirani Ayat re-recorded his entire debut album “Aisha’s sun”. While revising the tracks, he also “found his true self” and included that in the album. In an interview on Y107.9 FM’s YLounge, Ayat talks about this experience and how the change in the music has affected him personally.
While many people suffered from having to take a break from their work during the covid-19 lockdown, others took the opportunity to take a step back and dare to make a new start. Ghanaian singer and producer Kirani Ayat used the pandemic to reproduce an entire album – and to find himself in the making.
In an interview with Akosua Hanson on Y107.9 FM’s YLounge, he talked about how this break made him find his way to, how he calls it, “perfection”. “Back then, I was depressed, stressed, down and out and nearly quit music. Then I went and did a whole 360.”
“Aisha’s sun” is the musician’s debut studio album. He started working on it in 2018 and then had to stop due to covid-19. “I finished the first one in 2019, it was supposed to come out in 2020. Then the pandemic happened.”, Ayat says. The album is a chronicle of his life from a teen to an adult. Using a rich variety of melodies and vocal cords, he managed to create a selection of songs that hold everything from everyday pop to soul music and chanting.
During the time of his covid-induced break, Kirani Ayat re-recorded the entire album and cut down from 13 to ten tracks. “I think it’s perfection”, he now says with confidence.
On the change that he went through during the reproduction, Ayat comments: “I had a whole epiphany, had a whole psychedelic experience. I found my true self and had to come again, come correct.”
The first song of the album is called “Aisha’s son”. Through this play with words, the singer creates a connection between the album and the singular tracks. In this song, he starts off by saying “I am the leader”. Talking about Aisha’s son, he says: “He doesn’t need your applause, he has no fears, he is going to live his truth and speak for his people. He is who he is and he knows who he is.”
The second track, “Fada Na”, focuses on the battles that Kirani Ayat has to fight every day. Nevertheless, Ayat claims that he has overcome that fight and now, as the musician says himself “my life is happening as I live it”. The album addresses this power of manifestation and the path to one’s true self.
Another song of the album is called “Duniya”, which translates to “world”. It talks about how one should not envy another man’s money or success, but work for oneself.
Ayat, whose real name is Ayat Maqwam Salis, also wants to represent “his people”. “I want to show how hard we are, how we are pushing and achieving excellence in various fields”, he says. That is why he finds it important to bring his background into the album.
While some of the songs are rather “usual”, how Ayat calls it – and are therefore liked by the majority of people since they have some familiarity – others sound more like old folk music and use a lot of traditional chanting. The singer explains that he intended on producing easy, light songs that you can listen to for fun, as well as soul music that helps you find back to yourself. The result of this wide-spread collection of music is his first ever studio album, “Aisha’s sun”.
