Shirazee had a troubled teenage. He grew up as a refugee is South Africa and had to face a lot of racism and violence. He braved his adversities and found an expression in music. His struggles finally seem to have ended and he’s just released his debut album on Apple Music and iTunes!
In an interview with Style magazine, he said: “I looked around, and I felt like I was hearing the same thing in music over and over again. I was frustrated, wondering if our generation wouldn’t be remembered for real music. The vibe is so important to protect. I wanted to push the envelope. I wanted to make sure I had my own voice. I wanted to take people on a journey.”
And that’s exactly what he did — take people on a journey!
His music video is a documentation of his travels across 13 countries. In a journey that took 31 days to complete, the young musician covered the US, the UK, South Africa, Germany and France — all countries he’s lived in.
Apple even tweeted a snippet of the video from their official Apple Music handle.
Shot on iPhone 6s.
13 countries.
31 days.#Different indeed.
The debut from @Shirazeeonline.https://t.co/FWFeXrs2Rz pic.twitter.com/FJq5u4LHY3— Apple Music (@AppleMusic) August 12, 2016
As the tweet proudly claims, the video been completely shot on an iPhone 6s!
Now, we’re not ones to politicise a moment of the celebration of the human spirit, but we can’t help but draw your attention to the infinite potential of a thing as simple as a smartphone.
There’s so much more that our devices can achieve. They can save lives, literally (like that of this teenage girl).
So let’s put our smartphones to a better, more constructive use like Shirazee who says “…if I can take my people away from their problems even for a minute I would have already won”. Isn’t that a lovely, sentiment?
Peace!