Ummah WakeUp! Interview with Ani

Interview by Ahmed Nassef

Download Ummah WakeUp! (mp3, 3.47 MB)
Read the lyrics

Ani, the woman behind Ummah WakeUp!, is a Malaysian-born songwriter, producer, singer and multi-instrumentalist with her own eclectic blend of pop music fused with eastern and middle-eastern instrumentation.

MWU!: What got you interested in music?

Ani: My dad listened to music from around the world. I grew up listening to all kinds of things, from Led Zeppelin to Cat Stevens and of course Malaysian music. Since my dad was an ambassador, I got a chance to listen to all the different local music too. I also started studying classical music when I was 6.

By the time I was 16, I even had a band in Malaysia that played a kind of fusion of jazz and traditional Malaysian music. But when it came time to go to college, my parents wanted to make sure that I had focused on my education, so they sent me off to the States to study at Northern Illinois University.

MWU!: What was your experience like coming to America for the first time?

Ani: It was quite an experience coming here and going to college in a small town in Illinois. I remember when I first got here, I was on a plane from Chicago to get to the university, and this older woman sitting next to me asked me what religion I was. When I told her I was Muslim, she said, “I never heard of that church before.”

I was also amazed at how much partying went on in college. But I had no problem hanging out with different people—I had grown up as an ambassador’s daughter living in all kinds of places, so I learned from the beginning to be strong and confident in myself.

I was pretty focused on my studies in college—I double majored in economics and political science.

After graduation, I was at a loss about what I wanted to do. In Malaysia, it would have been a very easy life for me. I pretty much had a whole career lined up in the diplomatic corps if I wanted it. Here, I didn’t have anybody.

But music just ran in my blood. So I moved to Los Angeles because of the warm weather, and I got involved in production and produced a couple of albums for Malaysian artists.

MWU!: How is the music business in LA different from Malaysia?

Ani: Working here in the music business is very different from Malaysia. It’s funny, but when I work with Malaysians, I have no problem as a woman producer. But here in LA, I have found it much harder for a female producer. A lot of times when I walk in to a studio here, they all automatically assume I must be the singer or one of the musicians, and they are usually surprised to know I am the producer.

MWU!: Why did you decide to work on Islamically-themed songs after so many years working in the secular music industry?

Ani: I’ve been kind of a closet Muslim here for a long time. It’s hard to be myself in the mosques around here. But I have started going to the Islamic Center here in LA, and I do feel much more comfortable there. It is a much more liberal and accepting atmosphere.

I enrolled my 5-year-old daughter in the Islamic summer camp there, and that’s when I had a chance to meet other Muslim parents. One woman, when she found out I was in the music business, really encouraged me to make some Islamic-themed songs. So I decided to give it a try.

And then Muslim WakeUp! really inspired me to write this song, Ummah WakeUp! I first found out about this site from my friend Marina Mahathir, the daughter of the Malaysian Prime Minister. And I thought it was great. So I wrote the song.

I am working on the album now, and insha’llah it will be ready before Eid.

MWU!: What’s your biggest frustration with the Muslim community?

Ani: My biggest frustration with the Muslim community has to do with the mental blocks people have. In the Qur’an, the mind is supposed to be our biggest asset, and we should use it.

Another frustration is that we don’t stick together. Take for example Bridges TV [a Muslim American cable television initiative]. They need 10,000 subscribers to be able to put this on cable. Well there's apparently 7 million Muslims in America, and somehow there's only 2250 subscribers! How pathetic is that? That’s my schtick! I challenge the Muslim community to prove me wrong!

MWU!: What’s your goal as an artist?

Ani: A Grammy!

Ani can be reached via email.

Download Ummah WakeUp! (mp3, 3.47 MB)

Ummah WakeUp!

Allah will help
Those who help themselves
Don’t waste time and wonder why
The sufferings we have

Muslims of the world
No matter what you are
Look beyond our differences
That way we’ll go far

We need to live and work together
To make our lives that much better
We can agree to disagree
But please do so respectfully

Come my Ummah Wake Up!
Our Jihad is long overdue
Let’s go Ummah WakeUp!
‘cause you and I have much to do

(Repeat Chorus)

Nurture and we’ll grow
Zakat everyday
‘cause every kind word that you give
goes a long way

Giving in to hate
Will only eat your faith
If Allah is forgiving
Then we should do the same

We need to bury old traditions
That contradict Qur’anic teachings
Let us be just in this unjust world
The middle path is what we’ve been told

(Repeat Chorus)