Q&A: From Law School to Love Songs, anees Talks “Leave Me,” Upcoming Tour & Debut Album ‘Summer Camp’
HARNESSING A FREESTYLE FLOW-STATE — pop-soul artist anees manifests music for the heart. Blending elements of hip-hop, indie, R&B, and neo-soul, the rapper singer-songwriter has a genre-fluid resume of tunes that speak to the soul with a refreshing honesty. Having made a name for himself and garnered a sizable following through hit song “Sun and Moon,” anees has established a well-deserved place within today’s up-and-coming names. His newest song, “Leave Me,” was recently released on Aug. 26 as he finished up his sold-out summer East Coast tour. Preparing to hit the road again starting this September, anees will visit 20 cities across his US Summer Camp tour, performing songs included on his upcoming debut album of the same name.
Anees’s discography of songs have a distinct depth and bittersweet romanticism sewn into the melodies. Having discovered a natural calling to words and rhythms in the earliest years of his life, anees then developed a passion for freestyling. After having gone to college, becoming a lawyer, and working as a Domino’s Pizza driver, anees came to terms with his dissatisfaction in these pursuits. He made the bold choice to follow his love of music, a fantastic choice in retrospect as he is now surrounded by acclaim for the fruits of his freestyling passion. His latest single, “Leave Me,” is introspective and heartfelt, reflecting on the difficult sides of love. Lyrically candid and vocally moving, anees is unafraid to be vulnerable and channel music as a form of healing for both himself and others.
Love is at the core of anees’ music, with themes that nearly all listeners can resonate with in some sense. 2022’s “Sun and Moon” debuted at the #2 spot on the Billboard Songs Breakers Chart and reached #2 on Genius’s Global Chart. Both “Leave Me” and “Sun and Moon” will be on his forthcoming album, Summer Camp, which pays homage to a coming-of-age chapter of his youth.
Read below as we talk with anees about crossroads in life, ubiquitous abundance, and spiritual music-making.
LUNA: It’s great to be talking within you! For those who may be unfamiliar, how would you describe your music to listeners?
ANEES: Lately, I've been saying pop soul. And that's because I don't think I truly fit into one genre. But I do think that there's a lot of soul in my music no matter what genre I am — tapping into [anything,] whether it be pop, R&B, hip-hop. Soul is the umbrella term for my music, and then sometimes it can blend elements of pop soul, neo soul, and R&B.
LUNA: Definitely, your music is very genre-fluid. Through listening, there’s a myriad of different influences. How did you first come into making music and performing?
ANEES: I can remember when I was 15, I first started freestyling. This is around the time I got my permit and my license so, you know, you're free to drive, and driving has always been this feeling like I'm in a spaceship and I'm orbiting. I feel very uninhibited when I'm driving, which really behooves freestyling because that is just a practice of becoming free and uninhibited. If I am being honest with myself, it probably started a lot earlier, when I was a young kid playing word games. I was stitching words together, I was understanding the melodic and poetic sort of rhythm of vocabulary. That was definitely probably the birth of my musical mind.
LUNA: So did you always know you wanted to be a musician?
ANEES: Not at all. No — I always loved words, but I never felt that music was an option for me. I wasn't one of those kids that was super gifted at, say, playing piano or playing guitar. I wrote it off for myself and kind of assigned the more traditional path of life to myself, thinking that really any other path would be too scary. I'd be an imposter. I wouldn't belong. My community wouldn't support it. I created a whole bunch of delusions in my head as to why music wasn't an option. I went to college, studied philosophy and sociology. I graduated at a crossroads and went to law school. I became a lawyer, which was a very depressing experience for me. I sort of had to reconcile with myself, like, “How do I want to spend this time, this existence?” And I knew that it was not law. When I got to my lowest point, I accepted that I had to stop worrying about what people think about me and had to do whatever makes my heart feel alive. And that was always freestyling, coming up with melodies. Singing. So I started putting myself out there on YouTube and Instagram. The reaction, the response, was so overwhelmingly positive.
LUNA: Wow. So it's truly been a roller-coaster for you. Law and music are two very different realms.
ANEES: Yeah, it couldn't be more opposite, right? Becoming a lawyer, the whole process was so competitive, and I believe in abundance. I believe that everybody can thrive to the maximum amount despite everybody else thriving — there's no limit on this earth for everyone to be successful relative to each other. But in my law experience it was so “I put you down, I go up.” I think, thank God I did something that I hated so much. It scared me enough that I had to do what I love.
LUNA: That’s amazing. Your single “Leave Me” was released this August — congratulations! What does this song mean to you?
ANEES: “Leave Me” is a special song because it’s so honest. As humans, we often run away from the truth. The truth of “Leave Me” is “I hate how I feel after I make the person I love feel like shit.” We all know what that feels like whether or not we want to admit it. Have those moments of clarity right after we've treated someone like shit and you get that icky feeling. I can't be a songwriter who writes about love and affection and adoration without being honest about the full body of love, which is the moments when you mess up. The moments when your passion sort of takes you too far and you hurt the person you love the most. So this is my way of getting that off my chest. And honestly, it was very therapeutic and very cathartic.
LUNA: Going off that, tell me about your songwriting and creative process.
ANEES: I work with multiple producers, and they'll send me music, beats, or loops. And I just freestyle. The best songs are the ones that flow from you effortlessly. Because if they flow from you effortlessly, the listener will be able to engage with it effortlessly. When you can attain flow state with whatever you're doing in life, you're gonna be excellent. And for me, freestyling is my flow state.
LUNA: You say that you make music for the soul and that music is healing. How has music been healing for you?
ANEES: Music helps me reconcile this human experience. This life is confusing; life is a dichotomy. There's so many emotions that color our life. For me, I'm so hyper-aware of myself and music is a way of expressing that, getting it off of my chest and putting it out there in a way where — thank God — other people can relate to it, because I think it's so important. It's so important to be able to connect with other people. Every day I’m healing, and music is a beautiful way to do that.
LUNA: Your song “Sun and Moon” has become very popular and helped you make a name for yourself — tell me about this.
ANEES: I wrote it about my wife, the person that I love the most. I was really humbled to see that the universe really received it in abundance. I also learned that the rest of the world interpreted the song however they wanted to — it’s a song simply about love.
LUNA: You’re releasing your debut album later this year! What can we expect and look forward to?
ANEES: It's called Summer Camp. I named it this because I grew up every summer going away for two weeks. My summer camp experience was where I learned to love myself, where I learned how to feel free in my own skin and [learned] what love should look like. I want to give that experience of summer camp musically to the world. “Leave Me” will be on it, “Sun and Moon” will be on it. Other songs will be on it that tell the story of what summer camp means to me. It'll probably drop at the end of this year, and if not, it'll be a nice New Year's gift to my fans.
LUNA: Exciting! Lastly, where do you envision yourself in the future as an artist?
ANEES: Soon, I start my second tour. So I envision myself hitting 20 cities in the next month. After the tour I’ll drop my album, then only God knows. I really try not to think too much of the past or the or the future because the only moment we can live in is the present.
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