Jump to navigation bar

ON AIR

Not Live

20:51 LA | 23:51 NYC

Selah Premiers New Single Entitled “Safety”

Selah premiered her new single with us while a candid conversation about spirituality & Music

Ketia, Editor

Ketia

Editor

Updated

Oftentimes, we humans want to force each other into a box, grouping all experiences as if they are one, identifying someone with who or where they come from. However, doing so always takes away people’s true essence, their existence outside of words, diminishing the vessel they truly are in a particular time and space. I had the pleasure of meeting Selah for this interview but in doing so, I noticed how she is able to articulate worldly experiences from a different perspective – a spiritual yet scientific viewpoint. Selah is an observer and a creator. A lot of our discussions explored her own spiritual journey which informed her new single “Safety” premiering exclusively on Half Moon BK. The interview started with how we both met, initially the idea was to have her on the new radio show, PINKPLAN3T, but as conversations continued, the importance of her controlling her own narrative became my intention. Being a publicist, I thought she deserved to tell her own story instead of the media dissecting it into fragments of what they believe she is. We all know Selah’s legacy but everyday she is building her own.

What did creating music look like for you last year?

Ketia

I actually had a plan to drop 4 EP’s last year but I ended up only dropping one because visuals are expensive. I wanted to do multiple visual albums and a short film type of experience for each project. So I jumped into it but the budget was too crazy. I’m also an independent artist, and I am still building my team so there was a lot I had to do by myself. Plus, there’s the burnout element.It’s like you still want to be taken seriously to the level of someone who might be signed to a major record label or might have a multimillion-dollar budget. I tried to run myself like a fucking label. Now I realize a label has like three hundred people that work for them and seventy departments.

Tell me about your last EP “Star Power”

That EP was about letting loose and me stepping in and talking my shit. I take a lot of music classes so I take every song as an opportunity to apply what I learned. So it’s almost like the grade or the test of my classes. I took what I learned in my music theory, vocal and songwriting classes and applied to the EP. That EP was really fun for me. Making the song is the easy part but releasing it is the hardest part.

What were your favorite songs on the EP and talk to me about the process of making “Star Power”?

I can’t. I love them all for different reasons! It bounces between different sounds and genres. It’s electronic, it’s rap, it’s alternative rap a little bit, in certain areas, but it’s really just me expressing myself. I had to let go of perfectionism to a certain degree, I had to let go of grandiosity, and I had to let go of every moment being this super big moment because that was a big thing for me. When I was younger, I felt like everything had to be huge! I guess I was just used to that based on the life that I grew up in. But, I am only 23, back then I was 22/21 and now I am realizing it's okay to not have these CGI videos, with effects, a script that is thirty mins long, and a sound director. It’s ok to not have that all the time! I learn a lot of things on the job and through life. Life is my teacher. It’s been humbling.

“I feel like an old car, you know how you have to start it up a few times before it finally starts driving. I feel like I had to crank the car up a few times starting on SoundCloud, then Star Power, now this single.”

What did you learn about the music business?

I learned about how much goes into it. I can create anything in three seconds but then there is the marketing, the PR and I want to say, unfortunately, it gives the music more value. Like as an artist, you don't want to think about all that, you just want to tell people this is what I am doing, this is what I am creating, but then I would go to people and they would ask how are you going to market this song? and I would say what do you mean, I am going to post it on Instagram. I never took public relations or marketing into account.

It’s not something I really consider so another part of creating music is just building a team of people that will support you. There is a business element to it, and even when you’re thinking, how is ‘so and so's face on Spotify when I open it?” It’s because a lot of them have a label behind them, and when you’re independent, you just don’t know these things so you have to go through trial and error.

Tell me about the spiritual journey you’ve been on since making “Star Power”?

Well, finding yourself, are we ever really found? That’s one. I’ve come to realize that’s a journey. You know, it’s really not over until you are dead. It’s really not. There’s always going to be a new trial, new tribulation, a new blissful moment, a new opportunity, etc. I think that’s just something I had to learn — life is a journey. I think with our generation and the social media thing, there’s this pressure to keep up. And it’s exhausting and it has people doing things for the sake of social media. I really had to step away from that because I had social media since I was eleven. I just want to cut off all the noise. They make these apps to be extremely addictive so we don't realize we are on a hamster wheel. I just want to take a second to think about what I really want to put out there and use my platform for the right reason.

What keeps you going?

Something I really struggled with is whether or not I mattered. I just really struggled with it, I always struggled with it. I can easily slip into this place of questioning what is the point. My family of course keeps me going and my friends, but outside of the external things, my artistic expression matters so much to me because if I don’t have that then what else? What do I really have? This concept is a little cliche but you can have everything, but if you are not fulfilled with yourself, the cars don’t matter, the house doesn’t matter, the hoes do not matter. It doesn't matter and all of that ends up just filling this void. I want to feel like I am having a positive impact on the world and I need what positively fulfills me to have a positive impact on the world — it’s a symbiotic connection.

What is your new single “Safety” about?

This song is a little ambient and not as lyrical as my other songs. It’s so crazy that last night happened, I finally broke through the spell I was under. During my interview with Paper, I told her I wrote this song because I could not express it to that person. I do not have that safety. I am crying out for safety. First, it was external, I need you (the person) to make me feel safe. How come I cannot talk to you? How come I cannot just call you at 3 AM like I can with some of my friends or the other people in my life that I have this high frequency with where I can talk on the phone with them for hours. Why do I feel reluctant and hesitant with a particular person? This song was created from the fact that I met someone who really inspired me and the way they inspired me was so cool. I really wanted to connect with them. But because they inspired me so much, it made me nervous. They became like a God almost like a figure and I just wanted them to come off their pedestal and fuck with me. They made me nervous and I didn’t feel safe talking to them.

Explain how the idea of limerence plays a role in the song?

I was talking about the concept of limerence and I almost called the song that because it’s the idea of falling in love with the potential of what something can be. So you have expectations for a thing so you put it on a pedestal. You really want this to be a thing but it’s not what it is. So I started to look within myself, and tried to figure out what security means in a relationship dynamic, what does it look like, what does it feel like for me? It took us having that time apart, for me to dig deep, and do the shadow work, to now have the confidence to show up for myself. You need to have confidence within yourself to even reveal who you are to someone.

Explain the duality of safety and what the word means to you?

I had to develop a relationship with spirit. There are so many different words: God, Allah, Creator, The Source, TMH. And there’s a different type of safety there, knowing that your creator would never put you in a situation that you cannot handle. I always feel protected. I am always protected. When you externalize that faith into other people, we have to understand that people are people, and we are flawed. They must have a relationship with their creator because that same level of faith that you both have will allow you to be in a relationship together. When you have a healthy relationship with yourself, you can have a healthy relationship with others. You have to heal that pattern within yourself, really clear out your baggage and energy field before you go to someone else. You have to heal.

“LIFE IS A TRINITY. FIRST IT’S YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, THEN IT’S YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOURSELF, THEN IT’S YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH EVERYONE ELSE.”

The interview ended on a powerful note. Singer-songwriter Selah's latest single “Safety” is now on all streaming platforms. The two-minute and 30-second melody opens with a deep melodic percussion as Selah harmonizes in dynamic keys in her hypnotic dreamy soprano voice. The captivating song will have you fully immersed in her multidimensional vocals.

Listen to the full audio of the interview plus the premier of "Safety"


HalfmoonBK logo