Ali Shah talks about the change of direction in his new releases

Ali Shah is a young Toronto-based queer, brown pop artist. While he’s already released an EP and several singles, his upcoming projects shift his music both sonically and thematically.

Shah said he grew up in a musical family. His mother used to act in Pakistan in movies, similar to Bollywood movies in that music is intertwined with every movie. Shah’s father was also a singer. 

“That’s kind of how I started, just seeing that and ever since I started getting into pop music here, I just loved it and the rest is history.”

Aside from his parents, some of his music inspirations are rooted in a lot of the Disney popstars. 

“From an early age, I was super into Disney, all the Disney girls. I would definitely cite Selena [Gomez], Miley [Cyrus], Demi [Lovato], [and] Ariana [Grande], because they’re the ones who started my passion for it.”

Shah also said he takes inspiration from Troye Sivan, Charlie XCX, and Conan Gray.

“So it feels like an even shot, which is rather uncommon for people like me,” Shah says

He said he’s been grateful to be in the music industry in the age of online.

“It feels really empowering to be able to put out the music that I create and also have my voice heard equal to everyone else is putting music out because everyone’s just relying on social media,” Shah explained.

“So it feels like an even shot, which is rather uncommon for people like me.”

One of the pillars of Shah’s upcoming project is “undeniable sexuality.” He explained that his previous work was much more centred around romance and unrequited love.

“The difference between this new upcoming project compared to those is that in that time, I’ve had different experiences and I’ve gotten the requited love,” he said. “That in itself, as great as it is, it comes with its own set of challenges and goals and feelings, and that’s why undeniable sexuality is so infused in that because there’s no denying what’s there.”

“I think that’s why it takes centre stage because it finally exists in my life and it’s finally existing in the art,” Shah added.

Shah has been working with Liam Benayon, who has worked with artists like Megan Thee Stallion and Paris Hilton, for his upcoming project. He’s also been working with the producer Ming.

He said they’ve been working together for years and it’s always great to work with them. But his latest projects differ sonically from their previous collaborations.

“When you hear the rest of the EP you’re gonna feel like, oh yeah, like every song is in its own world, but then they’re still connected thematically,” Shah said.

Taking power through a more masculine role

Shah also spoke about his recent music video for his single “Lead By Example,” which took place in a boxing gym.

He said the song is very sexual and about taking power and putting on a more masculine role.

“I identify as more feminine than masculine, to be honest, and I wanted that song to kind of be a theme song for those who do feel more feminine, but want to feel empowered in their masculine energy and I didn’t want to do it so blatantly sexual, in the video.”

The first way he thought of to represent that was through athleticism, which is a very traditionally masculine space. Shah wanted to put a more feminine, queer spin on it.

He said another piece of the inspiration was how rappers often present in their music videos.

“What if I was just like rappers’ videos, they have a bunch of cars and they have girls around them and they’re like rapping, they’re like super in their energy,” Shah explained. “I kind of want to feel like that, but like in my own way, you know, so that’s kind of how the result came to be.”

Shah said he hopes people can see themselves in his upcoming project, especially for queer people and queer people of colour.

“I just hope as always that the songs are the type of songs that people can add to their playlist and put on when they’re feeling a certain way and integrate into their lives.”

Shah’s next single is set to be released on August 15.