Iraqi-Canadian rapper Ali Gatie received almost 5 million views on his latest song in just the first 2 weeks. Now, that count pushes 7 million.
The collab with pop sensation Alessia Cara began as a rumination on isolation during the pandemic, quickly breaking into the Top 10 Billboard charts for R&B. But, like many other artists, Gatie pushes back on and rejects labels.
“Even as a kid I had an understanding of music being universal and I never put it in a certain category, and I think that my music now is [so diverse],” he tells Cool Accidents. “It’s pop, but it’s R&B, it’s a little hip hop, it’s definitely not just one [genre].”
Ali Gatie: From teenage poetry to worldwide hits
Gatie started off writing poetry as a kid. He would send his poems as voice notes to girls he liked. At 18, he had his first foray in the professional studio. At this point, a rapper friend invited him to tag along. “That was like January 2016,” Gatie recalls “Ever since then, no one can get me out of the studio now.”
Gatie dropped out of university to pursue his music career, which caused some friction with his parents initially. “But I thought, ‘school is pretty much gonna hold me back,’” Gatie explains. “’If I invest these four years into my music career, I bet by the end of the four years I would’ve invested into school, I could become a popular artist, make a living doing this.’”
So far, Gatie’s hypothesis seems sound. One of his early songs, “Moonlight,” a traditional R&B ballad, reached viral popularity, while “It’s You” really skyrocketed the young artist in the charts.
- The official video for Moonlight
- “I just dropped this music video for “It’s You: and it’s like, it shows diversity,” says Gatie, “Everyone looks different – some people wear hijab, some people don’t wear much at all, some people like the same sex, some people don’t like anyone.”
“I’m always going to push the narrative that I make love songs and love is universal and love can look like anything,” says Gatie about his music. His goals include working with his favorite artist, J. Cole, and to be the first Muslim Arab to have a No. 1 single or album.
“I think it’s a statement for that community,” he explains. “…Like ‘Damn, Ali was just another immigrant kid with no connections or anything.’ It doesn’t even have to be an immigrant kid, but even the average Joe who just loves music and wants to work hard.”
Learning real love at home
“Even though I grew up in this Western culture and I have a lot of Western influences, because my parents raised me in the Middle Eastern culture, I got this good mixture of Middle Eastern and Western,” Gatie notes. He was born in Yemen and raised in Abu Dhabi. Then, at the age of 9 or 10, he and his family moved to Toronto.
Other than commercial success to represent his community on a global scale, Gatie’s other dream is to give back to his parents. “My parents never owned a house in Canada,” he tells Variety, “I’d always tell my mom, ‘I know we’re sharing a room right now, but I’ll get you your own house one day.’ That was always my goal and dream.”
He also cites his mother as a huge inspiration to him, for her hard work and selflessness. “She’s truly taught me the meaning of love, sacrifice, loyalty, honesty and made me the person I am,” he says.
Ali Gatie and Alessia Cara craft a timely hit for the pandemic
For his latest hit, Gatie collaborated with pop sensation Alessia Cara. The result, “Welcome Back,” is a relaxing song about two partners who aren’t together anymore but are finally reconnecting.
“There’s an easy-to-understand love story within the song about a returning lover who always has temporary visits,” Gatie explains to Complex Canada. “But the darker side is that I wrote it for a different version of myself, a happier one, welcoming ‘him’ back during dark times and dark days.” These thoughts grew out of the isolation and fear created by the Coronavirus pandemic.
“I’m thankful that Alessia came because obviously not everyone is willing to do videos and stuff like that right now,” Gatie says. “That was my first time meeting her in person. So it was nice. And she was very humble and sweet.”
In the meantime, Gatie is working on new music.
“The ideal 2020 is to end the year with happiness, gratitude, and remain humble,” he tells Flaunt. “Even if my album, which I’m planning to release this year, goes No. 1 or No. 1000, just remember that I have people around the world that wake up and listen to my music.”
Listen to Gatie’s music on his official YouTube channel or Spotify
