NEMAHSIS
NEMAHSIS
SPEAKING TRUTH THROUGH ART
A little over a year ago, Canadian-Palestinian singer-songwriter Nemah Hasan, a.k.a. Nemahsis was signed and dropped by her label in the space of only a few days. The reason - the October 7th attacks and the resulting mass-shunning of Palestinians everywhere. In the following days, weeks, months as she was fighting to get her music heard, Nemah was told by everyone she turnt to for support that she was unmarketable – no matter how talented, no matter that she had the “album of the year” at her fingertips.
It would have been easy to give up then, admit defeat and wait for the storm to settle. But instead of waiting for others to believe in her again, she decided to back herself, release her debut album ‘Verbathim’ independently – “I used my savings entirely. Everything I’ve made over the last few years; I’ve put it right back into this project.”
One single at a time, Nemahsis took her power back, and reclaimed her narrative. But most importantly, she refused to stop standing up for her country. By the time ‘Verbathim’ dropped in September 2024, first single ‘Stick of Gum’ had already amassed close to 2 million streams on Spotify. Thanks to her courageous resilience and unwavering authenticity, Nemah was exactly what the world needed: Someone who was showing up for Palestine, speaking truth through art. “I think younger me would be proud of this album and betting on myself,” she says, fully aware that, for someone who “looks like [her]” success does not come easy, is never a given. “Even if this is my last album, at least I did it 100% and I don’t know that a lot of artists could say that.”
“We wanted to show Palestine in a light that it’s never been. Some people didn’t even know Palestine excited before October and now we want to show them in a way where we’re humanised again.”
The album itself is one hell of a debut. A stunning collection of intricate alt pop inspired by impactful moments in Nemah’s life. From drawing her dream bedroom onto concrete floors in her old family home (‘coloured concrete’) to the realisation that “there’s a correlation between how quickly you drive, how quickly you walk, how quickly you act on things, with how little you have in your bank account” (‘dead giveaway’), each song tells a captivating story that makes you want to dive even deeper into Nemahsis lore. A testament to Nemah’s skill as a lyricist and songwriter – effortlessly creating a doorway into a world that most people in westernised countries should definitely take the time to walk through.
But it’s not just her music that follows a clear artistic vision, her music videos are 100% Nemahsis as well. ‘Stick of Gum’ finds her in her family’s hometown in Palestine (filmed in the midst of the ongoing crisis) allowing us to meet her people and country. “We wanted to show Palestine in a light that it’s never been. Some people didn’t even know Palestine excited before October and now we want to show them in a way where we’re humanised again.”
I also highly recommend tuning in to ‘Free Carwash 4URAUX’ – I won’t spoil too much but it gives a glimpse of a different side to Nemah: she is absolutely hilarious – “I hate being heavy,” she explains. “I think everything about my image and my sound is so serious and as much as I try to let go of that (…) the world won’t let me forget it. I just wanna be goofy.” What do they say? Life is all about the balance…
It's in this balance that we leave Nemah, in between celebrating the release of a masterpiece, the knowledge that she did the impossible, and concern about what is still happening in her country, to her people. An injustice that gives the album a different meaning: “It’s more of a political stance that I was making by releasing it and persevering. I hope it does well, I hope it’s perceived well, and I hope people really like it. Not for my own ego but just to show that I wasn’t somebody to really be messed with.”