0:02

[Singing Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO]

0:11

>> Wali: What’s going on everybody

0:13

it’s your boy Wali Shah 
and you are tuned into MAD.

0:15

[Transition Music]

0:22

In the beginning when I told my parents 
that I was passionate about music,

0:25

and rap specifically,

0:26

there was a lot of backlash because

0:28

one they didn’t quite understand it and 

0:30

two they had very high 
expectations of their children.

0:32

And reasonably so, they came to 
this country with very little

0:35

and they want their children to
do well.

0:37

So when they sat me down and 
said look Wali we want you to be

0:39

a lawyer or a doctor it’s because 
they didn’t want me to struggle the 

0:42

same way that they struggled.

0:44

So for them it was almost like

0:46

I was wasting the sacrifice

0:48

that they had made coming to Canada.

0:50

I also knew the conversation had to be a two-way street

0:53

so that way I was acknowledging what they had done for me but  

0:56

also wanted them to acknowledge that

0:58

I had a very strong passion

1:00

that I wasn’t ready to give up on

1:01

because I knew I was talented and I  

1:03

didn’t want to waste that talent doing something that maybe

1:05

I wouldn’t have enjoyed down the line.

1:07

And when I broke it down to my parents in a very honest way

1:10

they started to understand.

1:11

I was the first real poet out of Mississauga

1:15

to do it at the level that I have been blessed enough to do it now,

1:18

right, and being the first one

1:19

to really break that mold and do it has really set the tone

1:22

for the next generation of young artists

1:23

that want to do poetry and rap music 
within Mississauga.

1:26

I want to do this because  

1:28

there’s other kids who know exactly what this feels like

1:31

and have a talent and don’t have the opportunity

1:34

or avenue to share it.

1:36

There was not
a lot of resources for me at that time

1:38

right I didn’t know where to start.

1:40

I was the oldest kid 
to an immigrant family that just

1:43

was looking for a way out

1:45

and I doubted myself a lot because 
of it.

1:47

I didn’t think I was going to be successful.

1:49

I thought that I was wasting my time and maybe I really should just focus on my  

1:52

academics and

1:54

push 100 percent into that and so that

1:56

self-doubt held
me back quite a bit when I first started.

2:00

And

2:00

in a lot of ways I didn’t feel good enough.   

2:02

I was scared to show my talent, I was scared to audition

2:05

for talent shows, look for opportunities.   

2:07

Like,
I put a barrier in front of myself when there

2:11

wasn’t even an obstacle to begin with.  

2:13

Right, I
created one for myself and so I just think if

2:16

I had done that earlier – if I had been more 
open with myself earlier – which I think a  

2:20

lot of people watching this can relate to.  

2:22

Just focus on what you believe and if you are good

2:25

and if you will work hard and make an opportunity for yourself

2:28

it doesn’t matter what those people say.

2:30

In fact, what they say should serve for 
you to follow that dream even more

2:34

diligently.

2:36

[Music]

2:43

[Rapping Yeah! by Usher]

3:19

>> Wali: For the majority of my life I’ve been in Mississauga,

3:22

uh with the exception of a few years being in Toronto.

3:24

I’ve never been back uh

3:27

to Pakistan

3:28

as a grown-up.

3:29

I went when I was a kid.

3:31

I remember seeing a lot of a lot 
of struggle,

3:34

a lot of poverty, a lot of people

3:37

um you know living in subpar conditions.  

3:40

And that
kind of stuck with me because it was so

3:42

disturbing living in Canada and going back and seeing that.

3:45

Um,

3:45

but it definitely made me appreciate my life um a lot more

3:49

as someone who was an immigrant

3:51

because sometimes you think you know

3:53

we got it really tough because we’re we’re an immigrant family

3:55

and things are really hard but, 

3:56

uh, you know it’s a lot tougher for people back home.

3:59

My parents always tried to instill

4:02

a greater respect for my culture and my 
language

4:04

and so part of me wants to

4:07

experiment writing in Urdu and then you know hopefully

4:09

getting a chance to perform back in Pakistan.

4:11

The real issue with being an artist

4:14

is finding
your niche and I’ve been very fortunate to

4:17

have found slam poetry, spoken word poetry,   

4:19

as my niche because it’s given me the opportunity to

4:22

uh really be one of the very few South Asian 

4:26

poets in Canada.

4:28

And when you are in such a specific niche

4:32

and people like what you do,

4:34

you’re always going to get booked

4:36

because you don’t have a lot of competition.

4:37

Whereas if I wanted to be   

4:39

a rapper

4:40

there’s a million rappers out of Toronto that want to be the next Drake.

4:42

Prior to the coronavirus outbreak I was spending

4:46

a lot of time

4:47

on the writing

4:49

and creating the content for
artists.

4:51

Now I’m still doing that but I’m

4:54

putting a significant amount of time into the business development

4:57

because I have to adapt

4:58

to you know an increasingly online world.

5:02

Obviously being an artist you, you lose a lot of work.

5:05

You’re trying to adapt to a world that is

5:08

just shifting very very rapidly to exclusively online content.

5:12

It’s been hard but I’ve also taken the 
initiative to take this time to

5:17

write more often because I do have more time.

5:20

Whereas [inaudible] I don’t 
have bookings but

5:22

I had a really big year before corona happened.

5:25

You know, I was on tour all over 
Canada

5:28

performing for tens of thousands of people. 

5:30

I got the chance to perform for President Barack Obama

5:33

and there was a lot of really cool things happening

5:35

and because it just quickly,

5:37

like suddenly, just came to a complete standstill

5:40

it has been like a bit of a…I’m figuring myself out now you know,

5:44

reinventing myself now.

5:49

[Rapping In da Club by 50 Cent]

6:06

>> Wali: You know it’s been a lot different

6:08

and it’s been a difficult and challenging
experience for everyone

6:11

whether you’re on the artist side

6:12

or on the production side.

6:15

It’s still been so amazing to be able to see how we’ve all come together

6:18

and made it an amazing final product. 
  

6:21

So I’m really grateful to be a part of BMM.

6:23

Thinking about some of the headliners 
that we got this year, I performed for  

6:27

the Meet Bros and then did this massive show that got you know millions of views   

6:32

like that is huge to be a part of.

6:34

Seeing other artists grow because of this platform and seeing how,

6:37

how big this platform has gotten

6:39

uh in just a matter of a few years is really cool to be a part of.

6:42

And I’m really proud of the team for 
getting it.

6:45

This opportunity is such a big blessing you know

6:47

and it kept me sane throughout COVID to be honest because there was so much  

6:51

craziness happening that

6:53

you know just getting a chance to, you know, have an outlet and  

6:55

still have one big thing on, on the go that I was still working on kind of kept me

6:59

grounded for a while.  

7:01

This festival was good for me because I reunited with people that

7:04

I really loved and enjoyed working with. 

7:07

And I got the chance to really push myself  

7:09

and challenge myself to work in an environment that was

7:13

that was very different, challenging and pushed

7:15

me to be a better artist and push me to

7:17

learn more about myself and rediscover and reinvent myself.

7:25

[Mundian to Bach Ke by Punjabi MC played with freestyle rapping]

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