Life & Work with Eiman Hamza

Today we’d like to introduce you to Eiman Hamza.

Hi Eiman, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born & raised in Los Angeles, CA to Egyptian parents. I was definitely the black sheep of the family. Singing and fashion were the way I expressed myself at a very early age. I would be in my room a lot, writing music, performing in front of the mirror or cutting up clothes and supergluing rhinestones to everything from denim to shoes. I knew my path from the day I knew I could choose a path. Then when that day came, I was told I could only become one of three things; an engineer, a doctor or a pharmacist. As an Egyptian growing up in America we are exposed to a lot but when the day comes to go off and become something, we are limited to the few more “secure” options.

I started to perform in Hollywood behind my dad’s back and the music industry at that time in short was not for me. I thank God every day that I trusted the timing of things and instead took shifted directions to fashion. I graduated college in Los Angeles with a merchandise marketing degree, moved to Italy and started a fashion brand. The brand turned into a big company and it took a lot out of me. It was a lot of work, blood, sweat and tears. The fashion industry is not as glamorous as people think. I felt like it built me just to tear me into pieces. Right before Covid, I started really expressing myself again through music. I had written six songs in a day from such a deep need to release all of my emotions in lyrical form. When Covid happened, I was faced with time, time to reflect, time to understand my needs, wants, and purpose in life. It was then that I realized I had to move with meaning and purpose and music transformed me. It would be my legacy. I made a promise to myself to face my fears and go after my dreams of creating music the way I want to create it, mixing both my worlds as an Egyptian and American.

I found myself in Nashville and felt like a fish out of water, so I moved to Egypt and started to understand that I will never be either 100% and therein lies the beauty, the creativity that fuels me to do something that has never been done before. Music that is reflective of that uncomfortable world that is neither but both. I moved back to Los Angeles and had two sold-out shows at the iconic Hotel Cafe and found an audience that really resonates with my sound. It has been a journey and a rather meaningful one.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The journey has not been smooth. I was struggling to find my sound and met so many people who were pushing me in different directions; I felt so lost and confused. In fact, that’s what has made this journey so interesting. The first song I released was very pop and jazzy, so very different than the music I create now. Because it is also such a very personal journey, it has been hard on me emotionally. Confronting pieces within me, really overcoming fears. I have a deep fear of being the center of attention and performing but now I go up there and kill it. I will repeat, it is still not easy and I do a lot of inner work to make it happen. Being an artist is vulnerable and requires a lot of self-reflection. I look back a lot at the seven-year-old girl within me. How she behaved, what she wanted and I still see a lot of her within me. I was never the child who held performances in front of my family or loved attention and I thought as a performer, you had to be that kind of child. They are the stories big artists always told. “ever since I could remember, I was performing for family and friends…” I was always very isolated and in that isolation, that is where my creativity was born.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am an Egyptian American singer-songwriter singing in both English & Arabic. I am out here trying to make the seven-year-old version of myself proud and be a good representation for younger people like me. I never had a good representation of Arab women in creative fields growing up. I never knew there was space or a career for me in fashion or music growing up in the U.S. I started one of the first streetwear brands that you may have seen Kylie Jenner wearing or Gwen Stefani, and now I do music. I had two sold-out shows at The Hotel Cafe which I am very proud of and I am working on more music as we speak!

So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
DM me on Instagram! @eimanhamza

Contact Info:

• Website: www.eimanhamza.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eimanhamza/?hl=en
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuEH9Tiw6wtTBhzR9-VAzAg
• Other: https://hyperfollow.com/eimanhamza