Bahjat moves through life in the spaces that refuse to contain him. From escaping war and rebuilding a home in Malta, to grappling with sudden virality and the harsh glare of public scrutiny, his path has always demanded reinvention. Music became the language he used to translate experience into something tangible, a conversation with himself that gradually reached listeners who recognized fragments of their own struggles in his words.

Songwriting, for him, is instinctual and urgent. Some songs pour out in a single sitting, others are carefully coaxed from raw emotion, every chord and lyric carrying weight, vulnerability, and defiance. Criticism and backlash could have silenced him, but instead they became catalysts, sharpening the instincts that protect the creative core at the heart of his work.

The “A-POP” EP may mark a milestone in sound, but the real story is Bahjat himself, the honesty, the resilience, the courage to exist fully in view of the world. In this interview, we talked about the moments that shaped him, the emotions that drive his music, and the truths he’s learned along the way.

For people discovering you for the first time, how would you describe your music in your own words?

I’d say my music is emotional, honest, cross-cultural and empowering. A safe space for everyone who never felt like they fit into society’s boxes.

What usually comes first for you: lyrics, melody, or a feeling you’re trying to process?

It’s a different process every time! I grew up writing songs on my guitar, and using lyrics as a way to cope with and understand my emotions.

When I spent some time in Sweden, I also experimented with melody-led songwriting. But I’d say that my favorite songs happen when I really feel a sense of urgency to say something about a situation or a feeling I’m processing. I think of my songs as conversations.

Sometimes, I’m writing because I have a confession or message to deliver to someone. Other times, I’m writing because I need to hear and understand what’s going on inside my head clearly, so it’s like having a conversation with myself.

Whilst what comes first is different from song to song, I’d say that the way it ends is always the same – I feel closure as soon as I write the last lyric of the song.

Can you walk us through your creative process, from the first idea to a finished song?

Since it’s so different with every song, I’ll walk you through the process of when I have something that I really want to say.

Usually it starts with recognizing that intense emotion I’m processing, then I would grab my guitar and find a chord progression that, to me, sounds like what the feeling feels like. Then I’d start humming melodies and writing lyrics that come to mind about what I’m processing. It’s like you’re just opening a portal from your brain to your pen and paper.

During this stage, it’s almost like I’m in a trance. It goes from grabbing my guitar to having a verse and a chorus so incredibly quickly that I can’t really explain the process as a methodological process to people.

For example, I wrote the entire first verse and the chorus of ‘Hometown Smile’ in one sitting in around 7 to 15 minutes. It just happened! So weird.

What do you hope listeners feel the first time they press play on your music?

I started writing music because other artists’ music had such a profound impact on me as a kid. I grew up feeling like an outsider who didn’t fit in no matter how hard they tried.

So, music was like a best friend who understood me and didn’t judge me. I got lost in the lyrics and my experiences felt validated by these songs and artists. So, what I hope to achieve with my own music is the same.

I hope that my words are true enough to pierce through someone’s similar experience, validate it, and make them feel less alone in their journey through life. I hope that my music empowers people and makes them feel that they can conquer whatever it is they’re dealing with.

After facing backlash for expressing yourself openly, did you ever feel tempted to soften your voice, or did it make you louder in different ways?

I’d be lying if I said that the hate of thousands of people didn’t creep into my mind. It’s hard. You go through so many psychological trips when you’re dealing with hate of that magnitude. One day you wake up and you’re like “oh what they hate me for didn’t even come naturally to me, I need to tone it down to who i used to be”, and then other days you wake up and you feel proud that you have the courage to be yourself despite all the hate.

All I can say is, now, after taking a step back from social media to write my debut album, I feel more empowered to continue being myself than ever before. I feel like my experience with the backlash made me realize that it was a necessary stepping stone if I wanted to do this popstar thing properly. So, I just look at it as an internship in the ups and downs of fame. (laugh)

Did the EP change shape over time, or did it always feel like a single narrative?

When I took a step back from social media to start writing my debut album in 2024, I had a clear vision of what I wanted to achieve with the music, both sonically and lyrically.

I began a document where I wrote down the life experiences that had shaped me so far—my struggles with fame, body image issues, becoming a refugee, losing control of my narrative, and finding love that some consider “forbidden”—and turned them into songs.

The “A-POP” EP serves as a checkpoint in this album’s narrative, and a formal introduction into the new world I’m building. A lot of people ask me “What is A-Pop?” and with this EP, I want the answer to be clear: musically, A-Pop is global pop with an Arabic soul.

What’s also really fun is that this EP is a part of an even bigger narrative, so all of its songs will have more context and nuance once the full album is out.

Which song on the EP was the hardest to finish, and why?

I’d say ‘Maybe I’m The Villain’ was the hardest to finish. I started working on all the demos by myself, producing and writing them.

‘Villain’ was the first song I took to one of my co-producers to develop. It was challenging because the sonic world of the song changed dramatically in a way that I liked but I was also trying to stay true to the intention behind my demo production, which included fusing Arabic musical elements with pop sounds.

The song now has a real Oud played throughout, a darbuka drum used as a snare, and Arabic flutes filling up the choruses. So, I’m very proud of the final product, but it was definitely a challenge to get to the finish line.

‘Mama, I’m on TV’ confronts fame head-on. What surprised you most about being seen by millions?

I’d say what surprised me the most was how quickly the tides change. The feeling of being loved by hundreds of thousands of people simultaneously is really hard to describe.

The moment of rise has a euphoria that makes you feel you’ve got the midas touch. Everything I posted after my first viral video, also went viral. People loved everything I did. They applauded my authenticity, my rawness and my honesty. This was until I continued evolving as an artist and the image that was once “Bahjat” was not the same anymore. When that happened, a lot of the crowds who were cheering me started to boo me, and I was confused, because to me, being authentic is remaining true to who you are in the present, not remaining true to what was once authentic to a past version of yourself.

So, yeah, among the many surprises, this was one of the biggest.

Luckily, along the journey, a family formed around me. My fans, who call themselves the “Bahjatroops”, stayed with me through the highs and the lows. So, I’m extremely grateful to have this beautiful connection with them.

You’ve built massive numbers while staying independent. What’s the hardest part of protecting your vision when the audience keeps growing?

The hardest part is navigating people’s opinions. When you’re young and start finding success, you’ll get so many people from the music industry, who have a lot more experience than you, chiming in to tell you how you should be doing this.

When it’s one person, it’s manageable, but when it’s 20 different people with opinions that contradict one another, you start to feel like you’re in a bit of an analysis paralysis.

I haven’t always protected my vision in the best way I could, but that’s also part of the process. I’d say what I have always done is that I’ve always believed that I would get there eventually. This faith has led me throughout my entire career.

‘Hometown Smile’ comes back in an acoustic form, almost like a quiet bow. What does home mean to you now, after everything?

It does! I wrote ‘Hometown Smile’ just a few years after escaping the war in my home country and relocating to Malta. I find the song’s meaning to be even more interesting in hindsight than when I first wrote it, because the words just came out of me and I didn’t think much of what they meant back then.

How I view home now is similar to how I sang it in that song: “you got that hometown smile, you got that look in your eyes that says ‘oh everything will one day be alright.” Home is where the people who make me feel the safest are.

When you’re not making music, what feeds your creativity?

So much feeds my creativity! I love watching shows, movies and historical documentaries. I love world-building and the more I mature as an artist the more I see how every art medium delivers its piece in a very similar way. I also love getting into deep discussions about psychology, human behaviour, ethics, history, power and self-awareness.

All of these things might not be directly related to creativity, but my brain lights up in a different way. I also go to the gym a lot! (laugh) I lost 264 pounds since a few years ago, so I keep exercising and eating healthy a consistent habit.

Once the EP is out, what part of it are you ready to leave behind, and what do you want to carry forward?

That’s such an interesting question. I think the thing I’m ready to leave behind is the doubting, overthinking and perfectionism mindset I tend to have during the creative process. I want to carry forward this forward-motion energy I’ve unlocked the past few months.

The last 2 songs I did for the EP happened so quickly and they inspired me to write new songs and gave me the space to dream-up creative music videos.

I realized that as an artist, my main job is to protect the creative inner-child in me who is driven by wide-eyed curiosity and exploration.

After formally defining the A-Pop sound, what excites you more: refining it further or breaking it apart?

When I think about it, A-Pop was born out of my refusal to conform to a musical identity that isn’t malleable enough to hold who I am. What excites me about it as a sound is that it’s constantly evolving as I evolve as an artist and songwriter.

To give you a bit of background, A-Pop is a term I coined to describe my Arabic-meets-global-pop musical style and genre in 2019. Since then, it has evolved as I have evolved as an artist, assuming different shapes with every era of my music.

Right now, A-Pop to me is the “awkward middle” space that I constantly find myself in. I was too “white-washed” as an Arab kid, but too Arab when I moved abroad; I was too fat compared to other kids but my loose skin makes me “too weird to be normal”; I was “too feminine” to hang out with the boys, but a boy who shouldn’t hang out with the girls; my music was “too English” to be a part of Arabic pop but “too Arabic” to be global pop.

A-Pop, to me, is me formally declaring that I do not want to stick to either of the extremes that people want me to fit into. I have always existed in this awkward middle, and I think that so many people do too. I believe we deserve a space that celebrates us without pressuring us to conform to either side.

So, besides A-Pop being my global pop music with an Arabic soul, A-Pop is also the safe space for everyone who feels like they exist in this awkward middle.

Are there new sounds or collaborations you’re curious to explore?

Definitely! I’m already in such a curious state of mind creatively and feel excited about the next era of my songwriting and artistry. I’d love to collaborate with more songwriters and producers who come from different cultural backgrounds. I find the fusion of different musical elements to be so exciting.

What would you like people to understand about you that can’t be captured in a headline?

That’s really tough to answer. I’d say maybe listen to the “A-POP” EP to figure that out? (wink)

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