We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ibbi Too Vicious a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Ibbi Too Vicious, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
I developed a love for reading at a very early age and that eventually evolved into my love for writing. A common pattern in my life is when I find something I really enjoy, I urge to become a part of it, rather than just remaining a spectator. Reading turning into writing was probably the first the occurrence of that pattern. I started writing short stories in elementary school and selling them to my classmates for $0.50. This was the first time in my. life I did something that I now believe is my purpose: the intersection of business and the arts. In high school, I started my own clothing brand, which taught me about entrepreneurship, but also overcoming self-doubt and fear and taught me that the only. way to achieve your dreams is to try rather than be afraid of what could go wrong. I believe these two experiences shaped a lot of the life I have today and what I am pursuing. I started making music during the pandemic, around the end of 2020. It was something I had always wanted to do, but was afraid of starting and didn’t know where to begin. I used to write poetry and song lyrics in high school in my freetime for fun, but had never recorded or written a full song before. The pandemic gave me the time to focus on this passion and explore my expression with it. I wrote and recorded my first full song in November of 2020. It was an awful indie pop track and I hated it. For 5 months, I continued to record song after song, none that I was proud of. Each time, I debated quitting and wondered if music wasn’t what I was meant to be doing. One of my best friends who shares the same dream had been making music since he was around 13. He was the first person to tell me that he saw potential in me and convinced me to keep going. He would show me songs he made when he first started out, emphasizing how bad they were, and was showing me that this is how everyone is when they. first start something new and if I kept pushing, I would eventually breakthrough. He was right. I made my first single that I released on all platforms, “Sybarite Tendencies,” in March of 2021. It was the first song I made that I felt proud of enough to release and promote publicly, and gave me the confidence and boost I needed to keep going. Since then, I have released 6 more singles, directed and produced 2 music videos, have amassed over 3000 monthly. listeners and 50K+ streams, have had several blogs feature and write about me, created a label/team based in Cincinnati, and helped open our own professional recording studio in Downtown Cincinnati.
Ibbi Too Vicious, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
From Cincinnati, OH, ibbi Too Vicious (Ibrahim Munir) is a Pakistani-American independent singer-songwriter who is breaking the boxes of genre. ibbi started making music at the end of 2020 while he was cooped up during the pandemic.
ibbi is heavily inspired by Steve Jobs, Young Thug, The Beatles, and Jaden. He looks up to those who have defied industry and synthesized something completely new with their resources and channels that same energy into his musical efforts. Reviewers often note he has a contemporary take on a traditional rock style.
ibbi has always loved writing since he was young: in elementary school he used to write short stories and sell them to his classmates for $0.50. That love for writing has stayed over the years, and his lyrical talent is one of the main differentiators between him and other artists. He is able to share his stories – in a specific but still relatable manner – and at the same time maintain a high rhythm and flow element that makes his songs both catchy and meaningful.
ibbi’s musical style has consistently evolved over a short period of 2 years. Punk, pop, indie/alternative rock, and alternative hip-hop are just a few of the genres he has tackled and his recent work shows elements of all of them put together. Every release thus far is always bigger than the last; whether it’s a music video shot in Puerto Rico, pictures on top of a WWII tank, or merchandise, ibbi is always creating worlds around each release. He is clearly more than just a singer-songwriter; he directs, produces, and ideates every piece of art connected to his music. He promotes and pushes singles as if they’re albums. His greatest differentiator from his peers is the amount of world-building, marketing, and branding he puts into each release.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is creating something original and having someone connect with your work in some way. Art is always subjective and once you let go of something into the world, it is no longer just yours, but belongs to the audience. They are going to take it in relation to their own life and their own experiences, and it’s extremely rewarding when someone can connect with the way you express your own experiences and they gain something from it themselves. That can also be daunting at times, especially as a local artist, when a majority of people that consume your art also know you in real life, it can be scary to put out vulnerable and honest art and have people you know have that information about you or make their own assumptions about you based on the art. I think I’ve let go of that fear because art is meant to be perceived however the viewer desires, and the most you can hope for as an artist is that it makes someone feel something. Whether it’s joy, sadness, disgust, pride, or anything in between, I think rewarding art is anything that makes someone feel. I think the other most rewarding aspect as an artist is seeing the ideas and thoughts in your head turn into reality. I believe that’s the closest thing we have to magic on earth. Whether it’s storyboarding a music video, writing a song and then performing it, or coming up with cover art, seeing an idea in your head manifest physically and executed exactly how you envisioned it is an extremely rewarding feeling.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
The goals driving my creative journey are chasing freedom, inspiring others, and creating/finding the best version of myself. A big goal for me is to inspire more people in the Desi and Pakistani community to pursue careers in the arts. It’s fairly uncommon for people in the community to do what I’m doing, mostly because of cultural expectations, family expectations, and more. I think there are a lot more creative Desi people than are represented in the industry, and partly due to lack of numbers trying. I think many of them may not have a supportive community around them encouraging them to pursue those passions nor someone similar who has done it before, so I want to be that figure for kids like me. Freedom is also an important goal for me. I want to be able to support myself and do what I love for a living rather than working a job I hate. I have the most fun in my life when I’m recording in the studio, performing, drafting video ideas, and anything creative related. I want to keep that fun going forever. I also learn more about myself with each project and this career path. Many of my songs are about personal evolutions I am going through in real time, realizations I have about myself and my relationships, and each song I make carries a part of me in it. Each one tells a story of something I learned or went through, and I think they are stories many can relate to. But the process of creating the world around each song teaches me more about myself. This career path itself puts me in a lot of situations where I have to get outside of my comfort zone, whether it’s pitching myself to people, performing in front of crowds of strangers, and having the confidence and belief in myself that I can make this happen.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.iwdwd.com/connectibbitv
- Instagram: instagram.com/ibrahimunir
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/ibbitoovicious
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ibbitoovicious
Image Credits
Photo Credit: Jake Hicks Photo Credit for photo in black hoodie holding mic with ghost trails: Nihal Ahmed