If you haven’t already heard of Khalifa Santo, then I’m about to make your day.
The Abu Dhabi-based music producer, beat-maker and all around remix-genius has been playing around with music since 2017. He blew up this year in March, and now, with 73.7k followers on Instagram and 43.9k subscribers on Youtube, it’s safe to say that Khalifa is going *places*.
The underground producer remixes some of your favourite old school Arab artists with the most recent hip-hop songs that are topping-charts. And I won’t even lie, I prefer most of his remixes better than the original songs.
I mean, can you even imagine vibing to Umm Kulthum or Fairouz feat Drake or Dababy?
It’s ICONIC.
For those (like me,) who adore both genres of music, Khalifa’s beats are more than just innovation. It’s so refreshing to see a regional talent combine music from our culture to the music that’s constantly playing on our radios nowadays. His work is a perfect synergy of the old school Arabic music we grew up to, and the hip-hop hits that we love to rap to.
It’s the best of both worlds.
Cosmo ME spoke to Khalifa about all things music, from a song that’ll always get him dancing, to how long it takes for him to create his remix-masterpieces (hint: it takes a *hot* minute)…
Cosmo ME: How did you first get into music?
Khalifa: “It all began back in late 2017, i bought a MacBook for university and there was “GarageBand”, I started messing around with it not knowing what this and that does, it was hard & I had no intent in learning. But then I started making some (trash,) I continued to learn more and more, and the rest is history.”
C: How did you feel when you saw your posts going viral?
K: “March 31, when I posted that “Umm Kulthum & Dababy” video I didn’t think it’ll reach that amount of views or bring people’s attention, I just posted it as a another ‘normal’ video. I suddenly gained over 8,000 followers in less than 24 hours, it was overwhelming & it made me extremely happy. I thought to myself, it’s time to shine now – my followers are like family to me, they’ve always been supportive, they mean the most to me & I love them with all my heart.”
C: What’s your all-time favourite Arabic song?
K: “يا حلوكم” by “فرقة ميامي”, the nostalgia & the beautiful music I grew listening to were all by them, unlike most Arabic music, you rarely hear a song that isn’t about love.”
C: All-time favourite Hip-Hop or R&B song?
K: “New Level by A$AP Ferg & Future, it’s a song that makes you feel like you’re in a movie scene with your enemies surrounding you watching you win.”
C: A song that’ll always get you dancing?
K: “Anybody by Burna Boy, you can never hear an Afrobeat and not move a muscle, it could be your eyebrows dancing.”
C: What two artists do you wish you could remix IRL (dead or alive)?
K: Definitely Drake and Kendrick Lamar, two icons in one song – you have yourself a classic.”
C: Where do you see your music career going in 5 years?
K: “Hopefully in the big league, I’ve got to have patience and I have to stay humble to reach my goals. I’m building things step-by-step, I can’t rush my way up or my steps will collapse midway.”
C: How long does it usually take you to make your remixes/beats?
K: “Back in the day, when I was still a beginner, making the whole project used to take me 30-50 mins, but now it usually takes me 8 hours and the most I’ve spent on a project is 11 hours. If you listen to my old music & my latest, you’ll spot the difference straight away.”
C: What inspires you?
K: The joy of music, the joy of making it, the feedback, and most importantly the voice you have in the society when you’re known as an artist. Because nowadays music tells stories, like any crisis that’s happening in the world can be expressed in a song. We live in a time where some celebrities make more sense than politicians.”
*Mic drop*