ZAKI IBRAHIM at the Junction Music Festival (Dundas West and Keele), Indian Grove Stage, Saturday (September 21), 7 pm. Free. thejunctionmusicfestival.com.
When Zaki Ibrahim talks music, you sense she’s creating as she speaks. You can feel the wheels turning as she figures out how to explain her style and influences.
The Canadian-born singer/songwriter currently calling South Africa home has globe-spanning roots (Dad is South African, Mom from the UK) and says her travels inspired her wide-ranging, all-encompassing debut album, Every Opposite (Pirates Blend).
“I like to keep things moving and utilize the time [in each place] as best I can,” she says. “It’s interesting. The people I’m working with just happen to be strewn across the world, from different places. It’s a global idea.”
That idea is reflected in a project that successfully combines hip-hop, dubstep, R&B, soul, dance and pop. After spending much of the past decade in Toronto, Ibrahim considers it a homecoming of sorts whenever she returns, and feels the album also reflects the city where she grew into her own musically.
“There is that celebration of cultures and histories,” Ibrahim says of Toronto’s diversity. “It’s a really nice thing to be a part of. It reflects my life right now – my life until now as a global citizen, that part of my personality.”
The singer was elated to hear she’d been shortlisted for the Polaris Prize (the winner-announcing gala goes down Monday, September 23), and will be fitting in as many shows as she can while she’s here (until November), including this weekend’s 2nd annual Junction Music Festival.
Her onstage goal? To jolt her audience with an emotional gut check they weren’t expecting when they walked through the door.
“I enjoy all the reactions,” she says. “Every town, every city, every venue has a different vibe, and I appreciate all of them. I hope to hit something or touch on something that hasn’t been touched on, just to kind of disturb it a bit.”
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