KSA Goes To Hollywood: Musician Tamtam On Positivity, Success and Freedom
The Los Angeles-based musician shows us exactly what makes the people of the Kingdom untouchable
Hailing from Riyadh, Los Angeles-based singer and songwriter Tamtam – a pseudonym used to conceal her real name – draws on her life experiences to express her beliefs and inner realities. She began singing from childhood while living in Riyadh, joining school abroad at the age of 13 where she first took vocal lessons and participated in musicals, a choir and talent shows. “My love for expressing myself through music grew more every day,” she shares. “I promised myself that I would keep going on this journey and surrender the rest to God.”
The Kingdom has influenced her music in a myriad of ways, with family values being at the top of the list. “Family is such an important part of Saudi culture, to the extent that Saudis go out of their way to make guests feel like family.” A mix between alternative R&B and pop, besides being catchy, Tamtam’s music always nods to a deeper purpose that is close to her heart.
“I always write about things that I am going through,” she says. “If I am not feeling inspired, I don’t force it. When it’s the right time, the words pour out.” Released in late 2015, her hit single We’ve Got Wings helped promote 10KSA, a Saudi breast-cancer awareness initiative led by Her Royal Highness Princess Reema bint Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud, launched to raise awareness about holistic health issues and break the Guinness World Record for the largest human breast-cancer ribbon.
“She is a survivor,” says the artist of her aunt who was diagnosed with the disease. “Seeing her growth through that journey was very inspiring to me.”
Gender Game, another song of note, was written to portray her constant tug of war with being liked and simply being herself.
“I wrote Gender Game at a time when I wasn’t showing my face to the world because I was afraid of what society would think of me, being a Saudi woman, singing and revealing my name and face,” she expresses. “I didn’t think it would ever be accepted. And then I realised that nobody is going to accept me until I accept myself.”
And so the name Tamtam was born, to protect her privacy while sharing her passion with the world. Likewise, her 2017 song Identify Myself was released to share the message that we must identify as human beings first, above all else. “This song means many things,” she says.
Photo by Yanin Varela
“Nobody can tell you who you are, it’s okay to be confused sometimes about where you belong and also, our humanity connects us all no matter where we are from and what we believe. That connection is so important and we must never lose touch with it.”
Since her entrance into Hollywood, the singer has never lost sight of what’s most important: learning. “I’ve grown so much by starting my music journey in Los Angeles,” she shares. “I’m very grateful for all the lessons and when times are tough, I remind myself that God’s plan is so much bigger and better than mine, so I surrender to the difficult moments because I know that after hardship comes ease.”
One of the biggest challenges as an independent musician has been to market her work, which Tamtam tackles by observing LA’s musical community and unveiling every song with a different strategy.
“I meet with a lot of people who have been in music longer than me so I can also learn from their experiences,” she says.
“It’s all about persevering and growing when you’re on to the next project, every time.” Spreading love and remaining positive during times of turmoil is a skill Tamtam has mastered beautifully, and lyrics such as ‘Making something from nothing’ and ‘From the ashes I rise’, are a reflection of her resilient nature.
Tamtam’s current project, which she can’t reveal too much about at this stage, is a collection of songs which embrace her Arab roots. “It’s been a tough year for so for many of us,” she says, touching on the COVID-19 pandemic and many other humanitarian crises around us.
“So I’d just like to send a message to everyone who’s reading this: you are amazing, your actions matter and your thoughts matter. You are making a difference.”
For more inforamtion, please visit tamtamsound.com
From Harper’s Bazaar Saudi Summer 2021 Issue