ARTIST INTERVIEW: Sabah
Interview Conducted by Jesse Smith
Sabah is a brand new artist emerging on the scene with a fresh and focused attitude. Creator of ‘Gin & Juice TV’, a Multimedia brand based around music is now branching into music herself! We caught wind of the release of her debut single “Bombs Away! (Last Time I Saw You)” which is a Pop Goes Punk style cover of Nicki Minaj. With this release, we were able to get in touch with her and ask her some questions!
Hey Sabah! Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us and answer a few questions! Let's start with telling us and our fans a little backstory on who you are and where are you from?
Hey! Thanks for having me. My name is Sabah, and I'm from Yagoona West of Sydney, Australia. I travel back and forth from Sydney to Atlanta. I used to be in a band when I was in school but didn't really put anything out, and then I went on to become a music journalist. Making music was always my ultimate dream, but I was heavily discouraged growing up, especially being ethnic. I was never supported, which is why I took the journalism route. I finally decided it was now never, and I'm putting out my first single in a few days!
You just released a brand new cover of Nicki Minaj's "Last Time I Saw You.", Is this your first official musical release?! Is this your music debut as Sabah?!
Yes, I am proud to say this will be my debut song!
You have the song track 'Bombs Away!' before Nicki's original song title, What was the inspiration for doing that?
When I first heard her track "Last Time I Saw You", I loved it so much, and if you hear the original, it's a slow ballad track. My favourite part was the ending when she says, "Bombs Away." she says only this a few times at the end really softly, but I loved that part so much I wanted to turn that into the chorus.
I know you are a big Nicki fan, but what was it about this song in particular that made you want to make a 'Pop Goes Punk' style song?
At first, I never planned to make an actual song. I wanted to get a guitarist to turn the song into a rock song for a 30-second Instagram reel, but one thing led to another. I took complete creative direction and stripped apart the entire song, rearranging it to make it my own. I loved my version so much that I took it to a producer, and the rest was history! We gotta tell "Pop Goes Punk" to bring it back!! I'm also the first artist to remake any Nicki Track officially in a different genre other than Hip-Hop.
Being that this is your first release, do you have anything else lined up for the future? I love your rendition of this song and would love to know if you plan to continue doing stylistic remixes of songs that inspire you or will you transition over to original material!
I definitely have a few originals that will follow! This was the perfect debut to showcase my identity to the world. My love for both punk rock music and Nicki Minaj meshed into one, but yes will follow up with originals after this
Heads up, this one here is a three-parter… You are the creator of Gin & Juice TV, which is a multimedia music outlet where you have music news and interviews spread over all genres. When did you start doing that, and what made you start? And also, what was the inspiration for the name 'Gin & Juice TV'?
Yes! I've been in the music industry my whole life, and as I mentioned before, I ended up taking the journalism route as it was my backup to being an artist. I worked for MTV Australia as an assistant producer, writing and conducting interviews as well as a majority of the edits for on-air, and I also worked for Universal Music as an assistant A&R. It was my manager at MTV who told me I should start my own blog because he said I'm doing everything myself anyway. After graduating with a double major in music and media, I launched Gin & Juice TV and have been building my brand ever since. The name came from the iconic Snoop Dogg track, of course, and the colours were inspired by The Simpsons and my love for 90's animation and cartoons
Being in the news journalist business myself, I know there are some interviews or interactions that I've had that has left a standing impression on me. Who was the one or were some of your favorite interviews or people you have got to meet?
My favorite interview to this day has been a rapper called Yung Mal, who is Gucci Manes artist. He was the funniest I ever met. I had NO idea what to expect when he invited me down, and that video went viral and reached over 300k views in two weeks before my original channel was hacked, unfortunately. He was a stand-out artist I met, so raw, and he took me to his block called Zone 6 in Atlanta, a rough part of town, but I was up for it and loved seeing that side of Atlanta as I'm from a rough part of Sydney myself. I was also honoured enough to get backstage content of Juice Wrld, the last show he did in Australia before his death. That was wild! He died two weeks after the show, flying back home.
I like to end off with some fun questions! So first, What is your drink of choice when you are out at a bar or club? Is it the obvious?! (Gin & Juice)
haha, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but I'm 83 days sober! I loved tequila, though my main drink of choice would be straight tequila with a splash of water and lemon or margaritas. Since I'm new to the sober club, you'll catch me at the clubs sipping on some lemonade of water with lemon
If you could collab with any artist for a track, who would it be?
Definitely Nicki Minaj! But until that happens, I'd love to do a track with Teezo Touchdown. I love his vibe it’s so cool. Good Charlotte would be dope, and Doja Cat!
Lastly, If you could only have 5 things with you on a deserted island, what would they be?
If you had asked me 83 days ago, I would have said tequila, haha, but if I were deserted on an island, I would have
1: Maui babe tanning cream
2: Mangoes with chilli and lime or fresh fruit
3: Scuba dive gear to dive with all the animals
4: Endless supply of water
5: Good tunes
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer some questions and talk to us! Is there anything you would like to say or plug?
Yes! Subscribe to my newly made YouTube channel "Sabah" and stream "Bombs Away! (Last Time I Saw You)
Thank youuu 🫶🏽🎀💿
You can stream Sabah’s newest track NOW everywhere! This track also is accompanied with a music video you can see on YouTube. If you are up to date on trends, you know the early 2000’s aesthetic is coming back and coming back HARD! Sabah’s approach with her style and music is hitting the nail on the head, but with her uniqueness and her delivery, she is sure to stand out above the rest.