Aazim Jafarey ’11 has finished recording his first album, Lucidity, in his attic using one modest tool, a microphone. The album offers 16 unique tracks for the listeners, one of which includes Jafarey’s cover of a Miley Cyrus track. Despite its humble origins, Lucidity is an album for everyone to enjoy. For Jafarey, being a serious rapper and a student at the same time poses some difficulties. He said that he felt “a general sense of doubt from people” whenever he told them about his musical aspirations. He said, “I showed [my music] to my friends and they laughed it off. A few people were like ‘give up.’ Most people don’t expect me to be good, and there’s always a note of surprise when I play [for them].” “Someone nearby sized me up and told me that I didn’t look like a rapper. He then asked me to rap right there on the spot, probably expecting some unoriginal terrible attempt. This is basically what happens whenever someone new listens to my music. When they finally overcome my appearance and listen to the content, they generally seem to enjoy my music.” Jafarey used pre-made vocal tracks, background music and choruses to serve as his beat. However, the combination of the background music and his own lyrics reflects his unique style. Jafarey said, “I can’t make any [instrumentals] myself, but there are sites online. I looked around to see what appealed to me.” He is currently working on a new album, in which he is trying to create his own background music. Jafarey added, “I guess I started writing raps a few years ago as a way to release stress. But after a while I felt like recording. This is the first album [in which] I feel like everything turned out really well.” Jafarey’s first song in Lucidity, “On One,” serves both as an intro to his album and as declaration of his hopes and dreams as a rapper. A simple beat accompanies Jafarey as he speaks to his listeners about his personal goals. His lyricism is superb, as seen in humorous lines such as “if I don’t stack up grands / It’s all good education is my back up plan.” He boldly declares that he will be the best rapper of all time. The next track is a remix of Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the USA.” While the guitar theme and chorus in Cyrus’s original song remain untouched, the addition of Jafarey’s rap achieves a blend of both the original theme and his own words. In another track titled “A Star is Born,” the music follows a simple chorus singing “Everyday a star is born.” In this song, Jafarey again declares his ambitions to become a rapper. Lines such as “Can’t let these dreamkillers try and get the best of me,” suggests the barriers he had to overcome to pursue his passion for rapping. Listen for the third verse of “A Star is Born,” his favorite lyrics in the entire album. Another of Jafarey’s personal favorites, “What a Job,” is perhaps one of the most emotional and profound tracks in the album. Jafarey said, “I think a lot of music represents emotions, and, like everyone else, I have moments [when] I feel stressed or down. For me, writing lyrics is a great way of venting these frustrations. In a few songs I even refer to my song-writing as therapy, where I can really be honest and express what I’m feeling.” “To me, ‘What a Job’ represents the feeling of using music as a crutch, a route to escape whatever emotion I’m having. There are also a few references to how my ‘dream is wrong,’ which is just me being self-aware. While I understand that some of my peers think of my raps as a joke, I really do view [my raps] as deeply personal.” Though Jafarey’s music is filled with emotional songs, the album is not devoid of lighthearted, purely enjoyable music. Jafarey said, “All my music depends on my mood. I try a lot to have conceptual stuff, like girls, school…happy sounding songs that people can put on and enjoy.” The entire CD file, in zip-format is at http://usershare.net/1wz73uaysoda. Or go to http://www.datpiff.com/Presented_by_Lucid_J-Bleezy_Lucid_Dreams_Lucidi.m87994.html to stream all the tracks.
