Digital Cover Story 18: Belly
"I broke through darkness, and was able to bring this out to my fans and to the world in general. So it’s a celebration”
If you’re a fan of great music, Hip Hop in particular, then you’ve surely heard about Belly. The rapper and songwriter first rose to popularity when he entered the music scene with his critically acclaimed debut album ‘The Revolution’ that introduced him as an artist. At the end of 2015, music mogul Jay-Z discovered and signed him to Roc Nation, and his bodies of work ‘Another Day In Paradise’, ‘Inzombia, ‘Mumble Rap’ and ‘IMMIGRANT’ followed. Due to his natural talent, his career skyrocketed and the Palestinian-Canadian artist, who is also signed to The Weeknd’s XO has accumulated over 1 billion streams with the numbers going up steadily.
Words by Antonia Kuenzel
When I jump on my Zoom call with the artist, he greets me from his studio in California while smoking a shisha - wherever he was, it sure looked more lively than my room in gloomy London. Prior to the interview, I had the chance to get a sneaky listen of his album ‘See You Next Wednesday’ which is out now, and what can I say - I absolutely loved listening to it. But I will discuss the album in a bit.
First of all, I’d like to highlight that Belly isn’t just an acclaimed rapper. In fact, he’s also gained his accolades as a songwriter and the numbers speak for themselves - the songs he co-wrote have surpassed 7 billion streams . What kind of songs did he contribute you ask? Well, the list certainly is long but the most notable songs include Beyoncé’s mesmerizing ‘6 Inch’, Ariana Grande’s smash hit ‘Love Me Harder’ and a number of The Weeknd tracks, to name but a few. I’m particularly curious about his pen game on the latter’s ‘Beauty Behind The Madness’, which is one of my favourite albums and, in my opinion, a lyrical masterpiece. ‘The Hills’ even earned a diamond certification from RIAA and his overall efforts as a songwriter gained him a SOCAN Songwriter of the Year Award. But Belly remains humble and chuckles when I ask him further about co-writing The Weeknd’s tracks. “I don’t feel like I’ve written those songs. Like those are his babies. I’m just blessed to be a part of it”, he affirms. I do wonder though, how does he combine songwriting for others with his own artistry? “We’re all going through the same stuff but in different ways. Sometimes they’re just with different characters and similar to what I mean, but we all feel the same things”, he says. “Music is so global. It can be a number one hit which talks about pain and it can be a number one hit about love. Because it’s going to resonate with somebody out there. So, um, it’s never hard for me to talk about different things in different subjects, you know, with my rap stuff, it’s like, I kinda know the direction I want to go, but even with the rap stuff, you know, I got rap songs about love. We’re about the life stories. So I think that’s how I’m able to do it, but by paying attention to the different aspects of myself being, understanding that like, yo, I went through whatever situation you’re about to tell me about, like I probably went through something very similar.”
“When I made that realization that I could do what I love for the rest of my life - that was the most memorable moment for me”
- Belly
Having achieved so many things musically, both as a rapper and a songwriter, I’m curious about what his most memorable moment has been so far. “It wasn’t like a specific moment”, Belly reminisces. “I would just say that when I had the realization that I was doing what I love and I was able to support the people I love and able to support myself. It’s your fantasy to be able to do that. And I think when I made that realization that I could do what I love for the rest of my life. Yeah. That was the most memorable moment for me”, he concludes, and I couldn’t agree more that doing what you love is truly what matters the most.
Like I mentioned earlier, Belly’s new album ‘See You Next Wednesday’ is now finally out in the world for everyone to enjoy. The title of the project immediately caught my interest, and after digging a little deeper, I found out that it’s actually a nod to film director John Landis who directed a film with the same title. In case you don’t know who that is - his brilliant work includes the production of Michael Jackson’s legendary music video for Thriller. “John Landis has created some of my favorite movies from when I was a kid and my favorite video of all times which was ‘Thriller’. And when I dug deeper I found all these Easter eggs. And then when I dug a little deeper, I found out that ‘See You Next Wednesday’ was the first script that he wrote. It was inspired by Stanley Kubrick. And so for me, it was like, I gotta find out: Why is he putting that in his title and everything? And the way what I took from it was that it was kind of like the movie he never got to make because of mental health, you know, and when I started this project, I thought this might be the project that I never got to make. You know what I mean? So it was fitting for me to be like, this is my own See You Next Wednesday, because if I write this and it never gets made, you know, it’s like this, that’s my moment.”
‘See You Next Wednesday’ arrives three years since his autobiographical project ‘Immigrant‘ in which he speaks up about being an immigrant in North America and the struggles he’s had to face. It thoroughly addresses his struggles with mental health and has featured guest appearances from Meek Mill, M.I.A., and Yo Gotti, to name but a few. When we speak about the process of his new body of work, he explains that in-between projects his mental health had to take priority while he focused on becoming a better person. “I wanted to get myself mentally right. And just be able to just be happy every day and not replace happiness with things, with material things or whatever. I wanted to find my inner happiness. The only thing I really want fans to take away from this one is that this one was really created during my way uphill. I broke through darkness, and was able to bring this out to my fans and to the world in general. So it’s a celebration”, he claims, and it’s clear that he came out stronger on the other side and proves it with an album that boasts captivating, thoughtful lyrics and effortlessly showcases his signature rap flow - it is stacked with compelling features by the likes of Moneybagg Yo, Gunna, Big Sean, Nas and many more, and undoubtedly contains new fan favourites. In a world where many people suffer with anxiety and depression, it’s important to let them know they’re not alone - and after his own experiences, Belly uses his platform to speak up about this subject matter, something that I highly rate him for. “Take it a step at a time”, he says when I ask him if he had any advice to those struggling. “You know, a lot of times you put so much pressure on yourself to overcome these things, but it’s like such a long journey that you really got a step first, take it a step at a time just to make sure you’re not getting any worse, you know what I mean? Keep moving forward and take the little steps, you know, little things. I remember when right after Kobe passed, rest in peace, I used that Mamba mentality to like, get myself out of bed every morning, get two hours of activity, no matter what it was, I was walking or playing ball or whatever,” he recalls. “And that transformed to me being like, oh man, like, I feel better now.”
But not only mental health is something he is using his platform for. Coming from an immigrant background, the rapper is an activist and very open about his political views. Once, he even cancelled a Jimmy Kimmel Live! Appearance due to former presidential candidate Donald Trump being scheduled as a fellow guest - the artist is not afraid to stand up for himself and his beliefs. Growing up in Palestine and later moving to the United States, he is very outspoken about what’s happening in his home country. In a world of fake news by the media, it’s often helpful to receive insightful and more authentic information from someone like him who uses their platform in the right way by spreading awareness. “I’m not somebody wants to put anything on anybody,” he says when I inquire him more about using his voice. “You know, if you want to use your platform that’s great. I look at personal things for me and it’s not just my own personal variance with the Palestinian struggle. It’s not just a political struggle, it’s human rights. I’m just trying to try to speak up for people that are being oppressed by their government and shed light on it somehow.”
But music, mental health and human rights aside - what I have learned so far is that Belly is a man of many facets, and what not many might know yet, is that he actually owns his very own cannabis strain called Purple Wednesday. Naturally, I’m intrigued and ask him all about it. “I know a lot of people here in Cali, we wanted to create something for 4/20 this year, for the creative circle. Wednesday sold out the first day and we’re going to do a couple more drafts, but we got so much more in the works going on too. So I’m just excited to bring all of it to life, you know.” Although I’m not really a smoker personally, I do have many friends who would love to try Belly’s Cannabis strain - so I’m curious to hear whether he has any plans on expanding his brand to Europe. “I never planned on wanting to take something worldwide. Like in my head I’m just thinking quality control is good enough. And the branding to be so good so people know what they’re getting, you know? And then you don’t have to worry about, you know, thinking about where it’s going to go”, he says, elaborating that he is mostly focused on great customer service with a perfected product which, after all, is still the best approach for any business. “Like I’d rather focus on making it the best that I can make it because I know it’s going to take over”, he continues. “My first goal was like wanting to give people the best flower they ever smoked in their life. You know what I mean?” I have no doubt that it will take over, in the meantime I guess we will have to travel to California to try it, which sounds like the most exciting option anyway.
Now with his album out, I wonder out loud whether we will be seeing Belly on tour should the world open up a little bit more in the foreseeable future. “I definitely want to tour when everything opens back up, I feel like the stage is my real home you know what I mean? In the meantime for me, I’m trying to create as much as I can, no matter what it is. I’m just trying to pump in everyday, use the greatest blessing to be able to wake up. And like, I never take that for granted, you know, I thank God and the universe every day that I was given these gifts.”, he proclaims. I’d love to know though, will he be coming to the UK if a tour is happening? And his fans over here are in luck because Belly has got a lot of love for his fans on our side of the pond, and takes a moment to appreciate them. “I got one of my biggest fanbases in the UK, it was like my hub when I was touring in Europe, and when I was doing festivals. It was life-changing. Like for example Ireland, it was just such a different world which I loved.”
Speaking of the UK - obviously Belly has collaborated with a plethora of US-based artists, such as French Montana, The Weeknd, Travis Scott and the late Nipsey Hussle - to name but a few - but are there any artists from here that he’d love to work with one I ponder before our conversation draws to a close? “Skepta, Giggs, you know man, the guys are carrying the game, you know what I mean? Like there’s so much talent in the UK too. There’s so much young guys coming up now and killing the game. So it’s exciting to watch and to see how they take over in the United States, in Canada, UK, and all over the world, globally. Amazing to watch,” he praises.
‘See You Next Wednesday’ is out now.
Watch his latest visuals below!
YouTube/Belly
Stream ‘See You Next Wednesday’ HERE
Follow Belly on socials:
Instagram: @belly
Twitter: @reBELLYus
Facebook: @belly
Website: http://www.bellylive.com