By Ashleigh S. Wilkerson, June 28, 2020
Recording Artist Zo Morese returns to Vibe2Vibe with State Assembly Candidate, Mahfuzul Islam to talk about their way of using their voices to reach the community.
The two joined forces after Zo Morese was asked to create a song within one week for District 24 in New York. Morese said that this was his first time creating about political matters, but the process ran smoothly. Islam wanted to be original and fun. He also wanted to find a way to include everyone in his efforts to be heard and to make a change.
“The pressure is on,” said Morese. “I’ve never done something like this, but I got a lot of people who live in that area. It was just kind of cool. Alright I want to do it. I was stressing all week about making this song, but it just magically happened.”
Tori Indeed raved about Morese’s work ethic and appreciation of his vision. She said that she was excited and wanted to know more in regards to what inspired the pair’s collaboration.
“The whole idea behind it was because we were going through covid and we can’t have town hall,” said Islam. “The idea of having the music is bringing the town hall to the people. It’s something that will catch people’s attention, get the message across, and the people will come up to us and still have that interaction.”
Islam emphasized that although he’s running for State assembly, he wanted to be personal and able to relate to the community. He knew this would be a great way to get his point across.
“Exactly as you said,” said Islam. “I’m just a normal person. At the end of the day I’m a regular person trying to pursue something that will bring this idea of politics down to the people.”
Islam was teaching sociology and economics at New Jersey City University. During that time he worked with stay-at-home mothers and new immigrants. He said his goal and skills as an organizer, was to get these individuals into careers within higher education.
“At the end of the day what I hope will happen, and the change I hope that will come is that the whole power is not limited to the person in office,” said Islam. “The hope is that this seat will serve and be assessable to everyone.”
Islam also wanted listeners and viewers to know that politics are not limited to voting, and that’s why he also included a touch of music.
“Mahfuzul stands for something positive and he really is what he speaks about,” said Morese. “He really is with the people. He really cares about the community. He does whatever it takes, and he’s down to earth.”
Morese said that the repetition of standout lines tends to gain attention. He also emphasized the level of time and participation from Mufuzual. He said that he loved the experience and looks forward to future collaborations.
“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a song to come out of a campaign,” said Mahfuzal. “It’s exciting, you want to have fun while you’re doing it. Everyone is happy and excited. That’s kind of the nature of doing all of this.”
Want to know more about the music video, campaign, and what else Zo Morese is working on? Be sure to catch the entire recap only on Vibe2VibeTV.
Ashleigh S. Wilkerson LLC 