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With just a handful of singles under their belt, IDMAN a Somali-Canadian singer-songwriter has already piqued our interest with their captivating, earnest lyrical approach bolstered by a syrupy gorgeous voice and layered style. Wanting to get ahead of what will be a busy 2023, we reached out to find out more about this very thoughtful artist on the rise and their new single "Hate."

Ones To Watch: Who is IDMAN?

IDMAN: I am all heart.

What is "Hate" all about?

"Hate" is this song I wrote to get out all of the emergent feelings that were showing up for me not at the beginning of my break-up but at the beginning of my healing from it.

How would you describe your songwriting style?

I think it’s always been super malleable and felt particularly different working on this song and the project it’s on. Currently, I would say that my style is so honest. I can physically feel the ramifications of the type of truth-telling I’m doing physically both when I sing the song and when I hear it back.

Any collaborations on the track?

I worked with the same set of people on “Hate” as I did every other song on the upcoming project (“Good Life” included). I worked with Khris Riddick-Tynes, Alex Goldblatt, D’anna Stewart , Antonio Dixon, and Kameron Glasper. It was an honor. This is my first real EP and I’m really saying shit on it. I got to create the mosaic of what this project feels and sounds like with the same people who had made the songs that helped me move through baby versions of what I was currently feeling. Through making the project they helped me heal a lot of my wounds through shared vulnerability and taught me the value of alchemizing the pain with music.

Loved the very raw in-your-face video for the single. How did you settle on your wardrobe, set design, and overall vibe for the video?

Thank you so much! It means so much to me that all the visuals kind of feel like they are existing in their own universe because oftentimes my feelings feel so big and disconnected that even I want to know that things that feel so different still have tentacles that interlock. Our creative director Khufu is brilliant and he suggested after hearing the project the use of mirrors in all of our visuals. In a lot of ways, this song was an opportunity to look myself in the eye and really engage in some self-reflection, self-accountability, and self-critique. Wardrobe is done by this really cool stylist named ODDKevin he really understood the assignment. I’m non-binary and so a lot of how I think about garment is gender-free and sometimes gender fluid and so I appreciated the opportunity to pair some really boxy masculine denim with really classic high-femme glam. I really wanted to get the last bit of my tears out on set genuinely. I got on set and from the first take was counting down how long I would have left in the make-up before I completely ruined it with mascara because the tears were coming and the catharsis was super premeditated in this case.

Can we expect more of this style in the future, potentially on an upcoming album?

I would say yes and no in that all the songs on the project definitely exist in the same world. I was releasing a lot of singles previously about feelings that were not related at all and it’s why none of the storytelling was really connected. But for this project, it’s all one story and the sound is super duper cohesive and I get to move through the timeline of the disintegration of my first ever real love and heartbreak with the listener in a real and chronologically accurate way. So I would say yes there is so much more that feels like “Hate” on the project and also we do still get to play with tempos and sound throughout.

Besides this excellent single, what else should we be on the lookout for?

More music, more really great music I think. I started doing music not that long ago and all the songs I had previously released I had made at the beginning of my start with music like three or four years ago, so this is going to be the first time people are going to hear music that was made pretty recent to when it’s coming out. It feels way more reflective of my growth as an artist, songwriter, and ultimately as a person who just went through this really huge heart thing. Definitely more content and visuals to go alongside some more of the songs coming out from the project. I really want to build out the experience and universe for the people I’m hopefully going to connect with through this music. I have a lot of interest in more music, songwriting for other people, acting, and design and fashion, so I’m just excited for people to kind of get to know me and see all that I have in store to share.

What's inspiring you right now outside of music?

Everything is really inspiring to me right now. I think post-pandemic we’re starting to see a lot more projects across mediums being created by black, brown, queer, and trans-disabled creators in fashion and movies and even in start-up brands and businesses and it’s inspiring to just see all the innovation happening across different fields. I think for the first time, we’re engaging in conversations beyond just representation that are rooted in the creation of people’s own tables and own structures and it’s exciting to see. I also am inspired by a lot of young people organizing locally in their hometown‘s and on TikTok and using the Internet in really innovative ways to connect with people and mobilize people. It’s been inspiring to really see as someone who has been both in like really toxic nonprofit struggle nonprofit structures and grassroots organizations that young people are figuring out how to do things in the past that would cost most companies and orgs thousands and thousands of dollars in think tanks and in control groups to figure out. In a world that stands to profit and benefit from globalized fatigue and exhaustion/apathy, I feel that and also I’m super inspired by just all the people persisting.

Ambitions for 2023?

My ambitions for 2023 are to connect and permeate in all the ways the universe sees fit. I am so open and receptive to all the blessings and abundance it has to offer and I’m committed to staying out of my own way honestly. I want it to be my “and I never looked back” year. 

Who are your Ones To Watch?

My ones to watch right now would probably be Prado Monroe. She is a popstar from the West Coast of Canada who I just think everyone should refer to as the queen of BC. She rocks with her city in a very specific way and they rock with her back and I just think that for such a new artist, her visuals and sound feels so refined and lived in and like she’s been here. She’s one of the most exciting artists coming out to Canada. It’s her and Sadboi honestly. Sadboi is so dope they’ve been one of those artists who we’ve all kind of seen evolve into really dope iterations of themselves. Her online content is so dope and she just has a way of being transparent that’s so relatable and her stuff is just fun and aspirational. Dua Saleh as well, it makes me happy to be making music and existing at the same time that xe is making music/art and putting it out into the world. Xe feels like the kind of artist that I wish I had when I was growing up and so it makes me super happy to know that there’s a whole younger generation that gets to experience xim and grow up with xim. Warm Pants is probably one of my favorite songs the last 10 years. Obviously I love Ice Spice, I love Tokischa, Hemlocke Springs and artists coming out from the continent like Ayra Starr and Tems. I just did a song camp with the Remix project which is the arts program that I’m an alumni of and I got to work with some of their other alumni and the producers and artists coming out of Toronto just make me really proud. Artists like Benita, Leila Dey, Ashm, and Osè. Producers like Kali Sway, Francis GotHeat, Florian, Mamiq, Moose and North English. There is a huge world out there and there’s so much room for everybody and healing can exist in different sounds for so many people. There are so many Ones To Watch… I could list them for days. Alhamdulilah we get to exist in a time where we can experience it all, gratitude.