UK artist’s debut single deals with honour crimes

Born and raised in the north of England, Hekima has developed a special penchant for socially aware songwriting.  In the past two years, the video for his track ‘The Robots Rebellion’ has been featured on the website of David Icke and the Conscious Media Network respectively.

‘Shame’, which he wrote in 2008, has had an interesting journey.  Originally telling the story of a woman whose life spirals into self destruction, its lyrical content (and title especially) also carries an uncanny double meaning, spookily relevant to honour crimes. So when he was approached earlier in 2010 to lend music to a video made by an anti-honour killings Facebook group, ‘Shame’ was the most obvious choice.

The video, which can be seen on Youtube, contains images of victims that are at times quite shocking. The track itself features suitably plaintive vocals and a moody soul/reggae slow jam that recalls Massive Attack. The feeling of lament is captured to a tee.

The song has received the endorsement of internationally renowned activist/journalist Houzan Mahmoud, who is the abroad representative of the Organisation of Women’s Freedom in Iraq (where honour crimes have actually risen dramatically since the UK/US invasion).  

Imani said: ‘It’s unique and quite unexpected that ‘Shame’ has been adopted as part of the movement to eradicate honour crimes.  It’s a subject that I’ve always felt strongly about and I hope the song can assist the cause.’

‘Shame’ is available as a download single on iTunes and Amazon.  For more information, visit www.myspace.com/imanihekima    www.equalityiniraq.com.

 

(September 2010)
 

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