Let Sakima be your Internet guide

Bringing the queer experience to pop.

Sakima makes killer pop songs, and at the same time, he’s on a mission: normalising gay narratives within popular music. Tired of queer relationships and experiences being majorly underrepresented, he decided to share his own stories and insecurities with the world. Dropping his debut EP Fascimile back in May 2017, Sakima explained that it was “the first time that I’ve truly been around people in the music industry who just accept me for who I am as a person and as an artist”. The EP explored exactly what he felt the industry was missing, and made the pop songs he’d want to hear: Sakima explained that Fascimile is “so important to me and…I believe [it’s] important to popular music”.

Since, he’s dropped another major EP Ricky, and made waves with the catchy ‘Show Me’ and the notorious ‘Daddy’. Singing about sex, the songs are obviously provocative, but just in the  playful way that mainstream straight artists already are; only Sakima is quite a bit more innovative, self-aware, and intimate. Naturally weaving dialogues of sexuality into his floor-filling sounds, it’s already all about fun and breaking down people’s barriers, and he’s only just getting started. So let Sakima be your Internet guide…

What would you like to see more of online? 

I think there’s such a wealth of content online it’s not so much about more types of media, but less tinkering from platforms such as Instagram on how we access content.

What about less of?

I’d specifically like to see less algorithms.  I think we live in a new age of online culture where things are being curated for us more and more, and we are losing the experience of ‘surfing the web’ where you come across some deep dark tumblr or stumble across a random artist.  I think this idea of automation can be dangerous especially for the arts.  

What or who is the best account you follow? The worst?

I follow a lot of accounts of people who just express themselves in a more interdisciplinary way.  Some of my faves are @aaronjames._  @franzszony  @candyken69  and @empty.pools  (he is probably my number 1fave account).  In terms of bad shit, I don’t follow anything I’m ashamed of.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve read about yourself online?

I’ve sort of pushed the bar with my art and sexuality pretty high with some of my videos and pics online, so it’s hard to find something in abstract that’s super crazy.  I get a lot of people assuming I’m as sexualised in my personal life as I am online, which leads to many an unsolicited dick pic. Brands aren’t people!

What’s your favourite meme?

One thousand percent has to be the cake that says ‘sorry I slept with your dad’.

What’s your earliest memory of the Internet?

Waiting like 400 years to download a picture of Justin Timberlake topless.

Is the Internet a good or bad thing for music?

It’s 99 percent a good thing, without it I’d not make any money from my art, but the downside (which is so minor) is over saturation, you have to fight so much harder to get your voice heard, but that can still be a good thing because it weeds out the people who live and breath music from the fakes.  

How many followers represent success?

I always say just making something and uploading it online is a success in it’s own right, delivering your own personal vision.  Even if only one person sees it that’s still you having a direct cause and effect.  I don’t think anyone is exempt from having wanted a big following at some point in their life, but as we slowly learn the signs between fake and real followers I think more and more people appreciate numbers less and engagement more.  Better to have ten followers who regularly engage with your art than to have 1000 who aren’t even real.  

Finally…what’s going on in your life?

I’m focusing hard on music, crafting something totally new for myself artistically in the form of a longer project, maybe an album or a mixtape/playlist type vibe.  I’m using the internet much more aggressively to inform my art via other peoples online personas and narratives, but when that project finally starts to see light is an unknown right now, all I can say is it’s called ‘Project Peach’. 

Listen to Sakima’s latest track ‘Show Me’ here and follow him on Instagram here

words
Kitty Robson
main image
via @sakimamusic