Navigating Life's Canvas: Artist Salibi Discusses Authenticity and Emotional Openness
By. Pranav Chittharanjan
Music has an incredible ability to resonate with individuals on a deeply personal level, serving as both an emotional outlet and a form of expression. For artists like Salibi, music has been a lifelong companion, providing a safe space to explore thoughts and feelings that may be difficult to articulate in any other way. In an exclusive interview with Alicia’s Studio, Salibi opens up about his journey through music, his creative inspirations, and the essential importance of authenticity in his artistic endeavors.
From a young age, Salibi recognized the transformative power of music, turning to it as a refuge amidst life’s challenges. This early connection laid the foundation for a passion that would shape his identity and artistic path. He believes that music should resonate with listeners in unique ways, inviting them to draw their own interpretations and experiences from his work. In this spirit, Salibi encourages his audience to embrace their individuality and find solace in their personal connections to music.
Salibi's outlook extends beyond just creating music; he aims to foster an environment where experimentation and self-discovery are celebrated. In his interview, he emphasizes the importance of allowing oneself to take breaks and explore different styles and sounds. This approach not only enriches the creative process but also promotes mental well-being among artists and listeners alike. By encouraging others to embrace their artistic journey, Salibi hopes to inspire a community that values exploration, creativity, and authenticity in music.
Diving In
Pranav: Hi! We can start off with an introduction then we can dive into the questions.
Salibi: My name is Salibi. I'm an artist based out of West Covina, California, SoCal. I'm really tapped into the underground rap scene right now. I do stuff varying from Plug and B to Jerk to just regular trap. I came up with the artist name Salibi because it's my mom's last name and in Arabic, it means cross. I've had a cross tattoo on my wrist since I was a little kid. And yeah, I was born in Egypt, moved to America when I was 10 years old in 2016.
Pranav: Okay, awesome. I’ll ask you some questions about that later on, because that's a pretty interesting backstory!
Pranav: To start, can you tell us a little bit about your musical journey and how you got started in music?
Salibi: Growing up, my mom was always into music, so I was always around music. I was always writing stuff I wouldn't say is music per se, but poems when I first moved to America. I started writing at 11 years old and then around 12 or 13, I got a MacBook from my school and they forgot to remove Garage Band off of it. So I started messing around with that a lot and that's when I really started making music. I used to perform under the name MBB Glock, but then around 2023-2024, I changed my name to Salibi because it had a lot more personal meaning to me. I was never really taking music seriously until I started connecting with other artists. For example, kenesukoh; they really pushed me to start taking music seriously and I started getting into the underground scene from there.
Pranav: What's the first song or album that truly inspired you or made an impact on you, that wanted you to or inspired you to pursue music?
Salibi: I would say I don't remember the exact song, but it was definitely a kenesukoh song. I wouldn't say it inspired me to make music because I was already experimenting with music at the time. I've been friends with this guy for years, right? And then I heard a song by him that was really good. I was like, “Wow, this guy's really taking this seriously.” I thought that I should start taking this seriously, you know? I could do this too. That's when I started really taking this seriously. But if we're talking about what made me start creating music, it would probably be a Tyler the Creator song, to be honest, from 2016-2017. I just can't remember. Probably something from Flower Boy, to be honest.
Pranav: Are there any other artists that you were influenced by?
Salibi: I'd say Xaviersobased is a very big inspiration to my sound, to the whole jerk scene. I know he's propping right now, but I've been on him for years. I'd say if we're talking about big influences, like Speaker Knockerz, right? You obviously got Future, Young Thug. You know, the people who really put the trap scene on.
Pranav: In terms of your particular sound and what you currently make, how would you describe that to someone who hasn't heard your music before or isn't familiar with underground rap?
Salibi: Shit's just fun to be honest. It's just fun music. I would say I have some stuff that you could really listen to and do a dig deep and analyze. But most of my music, and at least the stuff I'm working on right now, you just listen and have fun bro. Just enjoy the music! You don't gotta look too deep into it.
Pranav: How long have you been releasing songs for?
Salibi: It's 2025. 2019, so about six years.
Pranav: In that time, were there any particular challenges or obstacles you faced? If there were some, how did you overcome it?
Salibi: I say for sure. New artists now are always on BandLab. I fuck with BandLab heavy bro because it's easy to use. But before BandLab, you had to really learn how to mix and master your own shit. That was really challenging, especially when I was a kid. At 13 years old, I was learning that shit on my own.
Salibi: I feel like that's a challenge, but honestly, just put the time you keep messing around with it and you'll learn eventually. Other than that, money was also an issue. I couldn't really afford the good equipment or anything. Eventually I had a song blow up. It's off all platforms now, but I had 200K streams from it and I got me like a few, a couple hundred bucks that helped me afford a headset with a microphone and shit like that.
Pranav: Can you tell us about any of your current projects or music that you're working on at the moment? It can be anything that was just released or something that is in the works.
Salibi: I got an EP coming up with Kenesukoh that is possibly going to be titled Hallelujah. It has six or seven songs on it, possibly. I got a couple of singles in the works. I just released two that I would say are very experimental. I'm really tapped into the underground rap scene, but the two singles I just dropped are more of alt-rock and indie. It's weird, I was just messing around with that. But expect an EP from me and Kenesukoh soon. That's the main thing I'm working on right now.
Pranav: Any details you can share about that in terms of release date or maybe style?
Salibi: We're thinking of late February or early March. It's fun! We got a couple of jerk and trap songs on there. We have some songs I'd say are EDMish. I'd say it's very inspired by 2hollis and Nate Sib. We got a song like that on there. Yeah, it's going to be fun. It's going to be really good.
Pranav: In terms of your songs, how do you approach the lyric writing process and the composing music? Do you have a specific process you follow or is it kind of different each time?
Salibi: So I live in two different spots. When I go back to where I have my actual equipment, I record what I wrote. But before that, whenever I hear a beat and catch a flow, I just punch in! I freestyle a lot of my shit too.
Pranav: Do a lot of your lyrics just come from freestyling, or do you take the lyrics from experiences that you ran through in your own life?
Salibi: Oh yeah, for sure! I noticed that a lot of what I write about is stuff that I've experienced recently. It's in my mind already because I just experienced it. So when I'm freestyling, I'm saying what I like and the first thing off the top of my mind.
Pranav: Do you have maybe an example if you want to share from looking at your Spotify list, like logs, the two singles that you dropped? Is there like maybe some event or something that happened that caused you to want to create either one of those two songs?
Salibi: If you people like emojerk, it has a lot of what I was feeling when I was in a really dark place. When I started freestyling that song, I freestyled that whole song verse by verse. I was punching in. You can really tell how I was 15 trying to hurt myself. I was 16 trying to kill myself. It's just shit that I would be thinking about.
Pranav: Have you heard of Antisocial 2?
Salibi: By Tana?
Pranav: I listened to emojerk earlier today and it sounds like those two songs sound very similar. Yeah. I used to dig that vibe a lot two years ago when I just graduated high school. That was kind of the vibe. So when I listened to emojerk, that was the first song that came to mind.
Salibi: I say it's very influential on the modern day underground scene. I wouldn't say it's the song that really put on. I think a whole lot of red started the whole wave, the whole hyper wave. I don't want to call it hyper pop. It's not hyper pop, but rage music kind of. And you know, BabySantana. I think Yung Fazo, SSGKobe; they really took that wave. It still influences a lot of what people are doing now, right? If you look at Rich Amiri, OsamaSon, bro, they wouldn't sound the same if it wasn't for songs like Antisocial 2.
Pranav: What is your favorite track or song you've created so far?
Salibi: I have like three. I say “Never Leave Me On My Own” and “Hold Me So Closely.” I really like that song because it was the intro to my debut album. I got to work with an artist called Sean and he's very talented. The producer was insanely talented. He unfortunately passed away and I never got to directly work with him. I just got the beat off of him but man, that beat is insane! Rest in peace. His name was Shem. Another one is "i'll make it up” from my 4:21 AM EP. I really liked that song because it's very experimental. It's really the first time I started messing with indie rock. It was just me messing around. It sounds raw. Also, “Emojerk," I think “Emojerk” is on there. Now that I'm thinking about it, I wish I would have gone back and not sped it up because I like the original cadence. The lyrics are very raw and very honest for that song. There’s even a lot of rhyming. I'm just rhyming the same word over and over again. There's a lot of psychology to that song too because as you listen, the lyrics get harsher and harsher.
Pranav: I was just rolling through and I saw that you dropped four EPs in 2024. Are those songs created in the past and you just dropped them in 2024 or were all those songs created within that year?
Salibi: There’s definitely songs there I've made in the past. ‘it's not fair’ is an old song. Going back to the 2 singles I recently released, the second song was made very recently, which was honestly the one that I was talking more about when it comes to the lyrics. But the first song was made in 2023 and that was actually the first time I was experimenting with indie rock. Not “I'll make it up,” but yeah, that song's old. I'd say a lot of my stuff produced by kenesukoh like the EP called IV. A lot of that stuff is kind of old too from late 2023.
Pranav: It's very impressive to see the amount of stuff that you've created and released in the past two years. You said you were also balancing school. Is that right?
Salibi: Yeah. I'm a computer engineering major.
Pranav: How did those two interests combine? Both underground rap and computer engineering. Do you have a preference on where you want to go in the future or is music something you're pursuing on the side for now?
Salibi: I'm really interested in computers, hardware, and shit. So I want to get my degree, have it as a backup if music doesn't work out, but trust me, music is going to work out! But you know, it's good to have a backup plan. And at least I'm studying something I'm actually interested in. Computer engineering is cool. It is hard, but it's cool.
Pranav: Have you tried to experiment with any new sounds? I know you kind of mentioned that I think the newer tracks that you just dropped were a little bit different than your typical tracks. But if you want to dive more into that, what kind of sounds are you trying to lean towards?
Salibi: I'm definitely still trying to experiment. I don't think I've found my sound yet, to be honest. It's been five years and I still haven't found my sound. Feels like every other month I find a new sound. And the thing about me is I don't want to toot my own horn, but I could do almost every genre pretty effectively. The most recent thing I've been working on is more of no auto-tune music. Kind of like ‘listen to me’ off the EP Treacherous. I don't know if I'm going to drop those, but as of right now, what I have planned to drop is just trap and I'm experimenting with EDM a bit.
Pranav: I noticed that throughout a lot of the songs, you have collaborations or other people credited. Do you tend to prefer producing or having your own work like just you on the song or do you like to have other musicians hop on all the songs?
Salibi: My favorite artist to work with is Kenesukoh, honestly. I feel like sometimes, I'll hit creative blocks and when I connect with another artist and collaborate with them, that really helps me go through that block. Yeah I love working with other artists. And if they're not hopping on the song with me, they're like, a lot of my new shit is produced by Kenesukoh.
Pranav: Awesome! Have you ever performed live before?
Salibi: Yeah! I've performed live a couple of times. It's never been anything big, though. I performed around Halloween of 2024 at 626 Jamo Fest. And I've done things like small parties and stuff. I haven't done anything huge though.
Pranav: What was your favorite part about performing live?
Salibi: Honestly, that 606 Jam Fest was not a good performance. I don't know what was up with that. The mic was all messed up and I was opening. As an artist, I don't like opening, to be honest. You're getting the crowd without any energy and by the time of the main performance or when the second artist is performing, the crowd's already like, you know, their turn. It’s very hard to be an opener. And I don't have a lot of experience with performing. But I would say my most memorable one would be when I performed for a party. I performed at around 2023. Everyone was already kind of drunk and they were just having fun.
Pranav: Now we're gonna dive into your future projects. You mentioned that you're dropping an EP. Is there anything else that you wanna share about that?
Salibi: Yeah, the whole EP is a collaboration with Kenesukoh. Most of the songs on there are produced by him.
Pranav: Okay, cool. In terms of creating your music, how do you find your inspiration? And also to stay motivated because being in computer engineering is not an easy major by any means. So how do you balance that?
Salibi: I say working with other artists gets me going. Seeing what other artists are doing helps me unlock different sounds if that makes sense. In terms of motivation with school and everything, I see music not as a job or a chore. I see music as fun. That's why I don't really like promoting my shit like that. Sometimes I drop without even promoting any music, which honestly, it's not a good thing to do, but that's just how I see music. It's just fun. I don't need to stay motivated for music because I do it because I want to, you know, not because I have to.
Pranav: How do you fight creative blocks?
Salibi: If I have a creative block, I'll work with other artists. I'll have a producer that I know send me beats to see if anything clicks. If not, honestly, I think more artists should just take a break. As fun as music is sometimes, you need a three, four week break and then something will hit eventually. If you're really truly meant for this music shit, you're not going to have a forever creative block.
Pranav: Speaking of, you mentioned that you'd like to work with other artists when you have a creative block. Are there any other artists other than Kenesukoh that you are excited to work with in the future?
Salibi: Well you know, I have some stuff in the works with an artist called Wally Phantom. I have some stuff with some producers like Eddie EDDY and that's all for now. I'm trying to think off the top of my head because I feel like I definitely have more. I think that's it, yeah.
Pranav: In terms of performing live, do you have any plans to continue to perform live or any set performances in the future or potentially have a tour since you have a ton of songs. I'm sure you're able to create a tour setlist. Is that something in the works?
Salibi: I don't know specifically about a tour. With school, it's kind of hard because I have to stay here in Long Beach. But for sure I'm definitely performing sometime this year. I don't know exactly when but it's probably going to be in LA.
Pranav: Where do you physically see yourself in the next five and ten years?
Salibi: I would say probably evolved in terms of the sound. I'm really tapped into the sound, so I don't really stay behind. I say doing some shit that nobody really else is doing, like staying ahead of the sound of anything, not just with the sound. That's how you gain success. If we're talking about numbers, I want to say I'm going to be successful. I'm going to have hella money, hella fans or whatever. But again, music is not really a job for me. As long as I'm still having fun with this shit, I'm going to keep doing it.
Pranav: Do you have any milestone achievements that you want? Like maybe you want to, I don't know, put out X number of songs or you want to perform at X venue or whatever else comes to mind.
Salibi: I'm trying to sell out; to try to sell out some sort of venue in LA. That's the goal one day.
Pranav: Are there any new directions or themes that you're looking to explore? Maybe not so much of the sound because we talked about that, but in terms of the actual topics of the lyrics that you're writing, is there a direction that you want to go towards in general?
Salibi: I want to try to speak my feelings through the mic and I just want to be able to relate to other people. I want people to relate to my music, not me relate to other people. I'm just trying to get into more real shit, you know. That's it. But honestly, I don't have any set plans on paper. I'm just speaking about my life, you know.
Pranav: What does music in general mean to you personally? I know you mentioned that when you were younger, you went through some dark periods. So maybe is it like a form of expression therapy versus something else for you?
Salibi: Music for me is sort of a form of therapy, but at the same time it's like a creative outlet. I know I said I like to speak my life into my music. Although sometimes, for songs like “emojerk,” logs, like that shit I've actually gone through. But at the same time, you have songs like “kuromi.” I'm not gonna lie, I be lying in my songs sometimes too. It's all good though, because music is really just a form of expression. It's kind of like, name your favorite sci-fi movie if you can name one.
Pranav: Let's just say Star Wars, I guess, because it's probably the most popular.
Salibi: People like the Star Wars series, right? It entertains a lot of people. Some people are obsessed with it. Doesn't mean that shit's real. You know what I mean? Music for me is just a way to be able to let those creative juices out. Whether I'm lying, I'm telling the truth, doesn't matter.
Pranav: What do you want your music to mean to your listeners, supporters, and fans? What message do you want them to take away or how do you want them to feel?
Salibi: You could take my music whichever way you want. I imagine some people see my shit as just fun. Just listen and have fun, bro. I got some deeper shit too. I'm sure people have gone through shit in their lives and it's good to have a song that you can relate to. Just listen, feel the vibe, and chill.
Pranav: In terms of the underground rap genre like your music kind of closely relates to, how has that changed over the past few years. And how do you kind of navigate those changes? I know you mentioned earlier that you want us to try to stay on top of the sound. How do you do that? How do you navigate the changes within that sound?
Salibi: I like to incorporate different sounds of the underground into one sound. For example, jerk music is known to be like fun. I'm thinking like NetSpend, you know it's very fun music. So I would take something like that and I would add elements from emo music, or real life. I would have my own spin to it and then I make something like emojerk. A jerk song that sounds happy and energetic. If you're really listening to the lyrics, you know it's actually really traumatizing and really dark. I just like to get sounds that I hear relevant in the underground scene. And I add my own spin to it or add spins from other genres from it.
Pranav: What's one thing that you wish people in general understood more about your music making process?
Salibi: I wish people would understand that music is a way of self-expression. Sometimes you'll make a really energetic song because you're in a good place in life. You'll make a really sad sounding song because you're in a dark place in life. Just because you can't relate to the song, doesn't mean others can't, you know? That's the thing. And also, people don't understand how hard music actually is. People just think you always hear this all the time when it comes to old heads talking about underground music. It's like, “Oh, you just put it into auto tune all the way up and you're good.” But it’s so much more than that. It takes actual talent to use auto. It's like an instrument.
Pranav: Have you faced criticism or hate comments before or negative attention? And if so, like, how do you deal with that? How do you overcome that?
Salibi: I've for sure faced criticism when I was younger, I didn't know how to deal with that shit at all but when I was younger, to be fair, I didn't have a polished sound. It didn't sound good when I was younger, but I got a lot of hate comments for it. I used to let that shit get to me for real. But what that taught me is you just gotta keep pushing. That’s how I look at it. I just told an artist about it who just started making music recently about this and they were tripping about getting hate comments.
Salibi: If everyone is in agreement that your music is good, then that's all it is. Your music is just good. It appeals to everyone. It's per se basic, right? If you're doing something different, there's going to be some people that are not going to fuck with it, right? Look at “emojerk.” As much as people told me they liked that song, I've also faced a lot of criticism. Like, “What is this? We got to go back to real rap.” If you want to just be a basic artist, you can be just a basic artist, right? But what I want to do is I want to push beyond that. I want to be unique, you know? And if you're unique, nobody's ever going to be in 100% agreement that your music is just good. And if they are, that's not a good thing. That just means you're just good. You're not going to be great.
Pranav: I think like in terms of critics, it's always the people who know the least, I want to say the most.
Salibi: A hundred percent!
Pranav: I'm a photographer. It doesn't make sense for me to criticize another photographer’s shots even if the photos weren’t that good. It just makes sense for me to help them. I think when you're in the community, all you do is uplift and help. But when you're outside looking here, it's so much easier to tear down people.
Salibi: Yeah, that's what I noticed too. I feel like the people that really shit on other people when it comes to music, and I'm sure it's like this for photography, for any industry really, are people that are not really tapped in. You'll never see an artist that's in the same scene as you. I mean, you will see it, but it doesn't happen as much as other people criticizing you. Like sure, I was making ass music at some point, right? But an artist like Kenesukoh helped me polish my sound. He wasn't just like, “Oh, your shit is ass.” and left, you know? That's what I see a lot of in the underground. Not that I don't see negativity, don't get me wrong. Negativity is everywhere.
Pranav: If you weren't making music, what do you think you'd be doing?
Salibi: Probably engineering.
Pranav: Is there a specific career in engineering that you would like in computer engineering? Do you do hardware interfacing, like the creation process?
Salibi: Yeah for me, it's the hardware. I don't really like all the math and shit going on with it, but you know, he's got to get through it. Yeah I love hardware. I like being hands on with, with stuff.
Pranav: If you could only play one song for the rest of your career, what would it be and why?
Salibi: If we're talking about one of my songs, either “Never Leave Me On My Own, Hold Me So Closely” or “emojerk.” I'm gonna say “emojerk” because that song showcases a really dark time in my life. It's just a good reminder to know how good my life is now compared to that time.And if we're talking just a song in general, “Runaway” by Kanye 100%. It is a really good song. That song is fucking amazing.
Pranav: Ending the interview off, is there anything else you would like to say to the people or to your supporters who listen to your music?
Salibi: Thank you for sticking with me, you know? I hope you keep sticking with me. I got a lot of music to share out to the world. And I'm sure some of it you're not gonna like because I like jumping around all over the spectrum when it comes to music. But you know, just stick with me, bro. Yeah, we'll succeed together.
