When inspired to leave environmental engineering and rap on stage, BASYL learned to make the most of his freedom and cope with discomfort by meditating and creating music to make the world a better place.
In 2022, Basel Sabri didn’t just change careers, his life took a completely different trajectory. After studying environmental engineering and graduating in 2020, he dabbled in various jobs but found himself drawn back to music every time, specifically hip-hop.
Thinking back to when he was in isolation during COVID, the 29-year-old says, “There were just a lot of lot of hard times in my life where music pulled me through.” That reflection led to the realization that “of course” he could commit to music because “it’s been pulling me through my whole life.” Still, he wasn’t quite ready to wholeheartedly dedicate himself to creating and performing.
Until, one day when he was working as a sales representative, he had a chance encounter with a blues musician who inspired him to take the next step. “He sort of put the battery in my back,” says Sabri. “He gave me so much confidence to chase my dream, doing what I have a calling for, and also doing it my way.”
From there, Basel became BASYL. He’s played several shows over the last few years including Halifax Jazz Fest, the Riddim & Roots Festival, and the Hopscotch Festival. His first solo show was March 1 at Stillwell Brewing, while his new album, Love Bombers, came out February 28.
After realizing his calling, Sabri’s vision for his life deepened and widened. It now includes supporting Palestine in the ongoing war in Gaza.
Sabri was born in Jordan and has family and friends in the Gaza area. He says there are common ways to support Palestine through rallies, donations, boycotts and other movements, but, for him, it’s especially important to use his voice because he is in a “comfortable” and safe place, and others aren’t.
“The best thing that I can do is, unselfishly, seek my fullest potential,” he says.
“Everybody back there wants the freedom we all have outside of there, so when we do have that freedom, we can’t let that go to waste.”
“Everybody back there wants the freedom we all have outside of there, so when we do have that freedom, we can’t let that go to waste. The best way beyond donating, beyond helping as much as we can, boycotting and protesting, all those things, the best way is to not waste my freedom. The best way to fight my survivor’s guilt is to make sure that my freedom is well invested into myself. That way I can give back as much as I can.”
When it comes to his creative process, Sabri says there are many steps, but the first is to acknowledge what’s bothering him.
“Whenever I’m not feeling right, I’m like, ‘hey, what’s happening there?’ And that that’s usually my first sign of being like, ‘okay, I need to create something now, because I have this discomfort’.” From there, he mediates and reflects on the subject and thinks about why it is making him feel a certain way. The last step is to turn that into art, whether that’s laying down a beat in the studio, or writing an entire song.
“I know that the music is going to move me enough for me to channel these discomforts,” he says. “Usually when I write a song, anything that is very deep … sort of leaves my body and lives in the song now, so it’s a lot lighter for me.”
The journey is never easy, but his advice: “do what makes your stomach weak.” With the amount tragedy and negativity in the world, it can be tough to channel difficult feelings into constructive expression, but that transformation is exactly what motivates Sabri to create.
“That’s more motivation to live my life to the fullest and help other people do the same,” he says. “Because I’ll be honest with you, the only reason I went into environmental engineering is because I want to help people … and that didn’t change while doing music, I just realized that I have a better chance of fulfilling my potential doing something I love. So going back to my world view, it’s a beautiful world run by not so beautiful people, and that’s more reason to do what I do.”
BASYL can be found on various social platforms @baselsabri.
