Quotes

About Serengety

Empowerment is the light of out of the darkness. For singer-songwriter and producer Serengety Songs born Safia Hakim, taking the reins of her creativity through writing and producing her own music has been a way to process her complex life as a gifted artistic spirit. Now, the LA-based musician perseveres with her soulfully cathartic debut EP, Metallic Clouds.

“The title refers to being under dark clouds that drench you with something heavier than rain,” she explains. “The message of the album is about overcoming and self-improvement. Writing this was like therapy for me.”

Serengety is an alternative artist with pan genre creativity that spans soul, hip-hop, rock, and pop. She has graced the stages of such esteemed venues as The Roxy, Viper Room, House of Blues and Temple Bar, among many other venues nationally. In addition, she has been featured in commercials for Sprint, Verizon, and participated in a print ad campaign for Dell. Serengety is also a poet who has performed her work in clubs across the country.

Serengety’s mother is a writer, and from a very young age, sparked her fascination with language. By age four, Serengety began writing songs and poems, and by third grade, her work had become so popular other students began to request she write on their behalf. Growing up, when she wasn’t reading adult-level novels, she was soaking up 1980s love songs, early hip-hop, blues, and early rock n’ roll. Slowly from internalizing and imitating these songs she began to write her own music.

“I started college in the 11th grade to make a better life for myself,” she explains. “While in college, I worked two jobs. I worked at a beauty salon as a receptionist, and then, around 3:00 pm, after my day there was done, I would go to my next job in retail where I'd work until 9:30 pm.”

Her rich journey is expressed through her lush and emotive debut EP, Metallic Clouds. It’s an artistic statement that is both personal and universal. “Some of these songs are just about relationships, stuff everyone can relate to, and some of this is about being a young parent, missing the opportunity to grow up and struggling,” she confides. Highlights of the five-track EP are the smoldering atmospheric soul of “Yesterday”; the lush “Cry,” a gorgeous ballad with stacked harmonies that gives off the feeling of luxuriousness and longing; and the sweetly haunting “Hold You Down.”

The EP’s centerpiece is the satiny emotive “Go,” which is also revisited on in an alternate form. “That song sums up the metallic clouds idea which is: If you know in your heart there is something you need to do, than just go do it,” she says. “It’s about making things happen and overcoming inner struggles.”
The sentiment in “Go” also applies to Serengety’s path to realizing her music on her own terms. “Initially, I would work with people and inevitably have to fit into their vision, but I wanted to put forth my own vision with my songs,” she says.

Reflecting back on her own powerful story and the music created from it, Serengety offers this: “I hope people listen to this music and feel like they can overcome whatever.”

Photos