With a voice so soulful it sends shivers down your spine, Fatima is the first lady of Floating Points & Alexander Nut’s Eglo records label.
Pricking up ears on Alex’s Rinse FM show as occasional guest MC, she’s received strong support from Benji B, Dam Funk and Gilles Peterson, and recently released her debut EP, Mind Travellin’, with production credits coming from labelmate Funkineven, LA’s Dam-Funk and Sweden’s VeeBeeO.
Additionally, if you’ve been to London club nights such as Deviation and Non-Sense, or spent some time down at Plastic People there’s little doubt you’d have seen this lady jump on the mic and tear down the house. With the 12” already sold out we thought it was about time we caught up with the one they called Queen Fatima (that’s her twitter name anyway) to find out how she’s been getting on since landing in London from Sweden four years ago and becoming one of the UK’s most exciting vocalists.
“I’m not saying what we have going on right now is dry or anything, but the past looks so glorious”
So Fatima, from Sweden by way of Hackney, what did you grow up listening to?
“I grew up with my mum, sister and brother in Söderhamn in Sweden baby. My Mum had this store called Boutique Afrique in Stockholm, where she used to import African drums and textiles, and would always play West African beats at home … I’m half Senegalese/Gambian so I was always around music and beats since I was a kid. Of course when I grew up I got into hip-hop – West Coast, East Coast – and R’n'B and now, everything. Seriously, my ears are always open.”
Tell us about your latest release, Mind Travellin’.
“On my EP, Mind Travellin’ there are four tracks. You know I can’t believe it is actually out. It took such a long time to come together, not because I didn’t have the material or anything like that, but the process of production and recording. Anyway, I’m so happy its out. Two tracks are produced by the wonderful Funkineven, (‘Soul Glo’ and ‘On The Go’), I did a track Dam Funk called ‘Warm Eyes’ and a Swedish producer VeeBeeO for ‘Higher’.”
Where did the name of the EP come from, does it have a story behind it?
“It’s quite funny that you asked me that actually, Mind Travellin’ basically came from the fact that I really wish I could time travel, I’m not kidding. My heart aches when I think back to like the late ’70s, the disco, the emergence of hip-hop and not being able to go back that? Seriously, could you imagine being somewhere where everything was sounding completely new, never heard before? I’m not saying what we have going on right now is dry or anything, but the past looks so glorious. In fact in the lyrics on ‘Higher’, I’m singing “All I wanna do is build a machine with you” I’m talking about a time machine!”
Lyrics! So what was so special about that era for you?
“Everything, well not everything. But even before that, Parliament Funkadelic, James Brown, all the Motown artists, all the massive soul singers, argh it’s too much! It just seemed so exciting and I would’ve loved to experience it. I’m not crazy by the way, but you gotta look back to go forward baby.”
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