Alina K.
The #PeopleOfEmpower Series aims to shed light on mental well-being through the inclusion of influential individuals and leaders in the Arab Region.
Alina K is a Romanian – Lebanese singer born in Bucharest, Romania in 1984 and based in Dubai. Known for her elegant style and fluid voice, Alina discovered the exhilaration and joy of singing since childhood and has been paving her own path in the music scene since 2014.
She sings in English, French, and Romanian, and endowed with outstanding vocal capacities coming from an adventurous blend of traditional Arabic and western sounds.
Being a restless person by nature, Alina went through a lot of experiences that taught her to constantly move forward. She puts love and hope at the forefront of her music with a mission to empower females by singing about the daily struggles of a troubled humanity.
Through her music, Alina aims to deliver a message to inspire people in relationships with their loved ones. She also sings about life’s challenges and struggles and how to achieve goals no matter how hard it gets, creating a boiling pot of positive feelings and love.
The EMPWR team reached out to Alina, with a deep sense of curiosity around her story, and her mission empowering women, being one of the few ambassadors for the Arab Fashion Council.
Here’s how our conversation went with the talented Romanian!
Alina, How could you describe music to you?
Music to me is a passion, a power, and an inspiration in every way. It boosts my confidence and acts like a soulmate that sticks with me during my happy and sad times. It is a kind of therapy for me and to everyone who listens to it. It’s simply a part of me.
Could you talk a little bit more on the process of making music?
Many describe the process as therapeutic.
How does creating music make you feel?
Oh yes, it is extremely therapeutic!
I mean how can it not be when it comes from the soul!
The fact that you can express your fears, concerns, inspiration, and dreams through music is so fulfilling. Moreover, when you see the results and how music affects people by uplifting their morals or by simply inspiring them to pursue what they are most passionate about. It makes my heart want to dance and I feel very satisfied.
Before I go back to your first question about the process of making music, I just want to take the opportunity to thank my Producer Rayan Bailouni who helped me a lot at the beginning of my career in finding my voice, and let him know how grateful I am and will always be, for the support and the love he always shows me!
When creating a song or a single, it is very important as an artist to know who you are, what is the message behind your song and everything else will fall in place. It is very important to be transparent with whoever you work with and even your audience. A song will express our feelings and share our struggles. It is an experience and could also be an interpretation of a pleasant feeling, so it must be true. Also, choosing the right people to work with is extremely important to deliver at your best!
You’re an ambassador for the Arab Fashion Council!
How do they help empower women in the Middle East?
The Arab Fashion Council is founded by the genius Jacob Abrian, is the largest non-profit fashion authority in the world representing 22 Arab countries. Among their objectives are supporting Arab designers to achieve international recognition, promoting peace in the Middle East by boosting art and design and finally empowering women to establish sustainable careers by providing scholarships to study abroad!
Choosing an artist like myself as an ambassador amongst many other successful and powerful women in the Middle East is yet another way to empower women in the region. It is an amazing opportunity to inspire other women and help them achieve their goals and offer them a platform to showcase their work or talents and become the bridge that connects the East and the West via music and fashion.
What trends are you seeing in the Middle East with regards to Mental Health and Wellness? Do you find that it is easier to talk more comfortably about body image Insecurities and Emotional Traumas in 2019 than it was a few years ago?
Fashion and the way we dress is highly emotional, representing both how we see ourselves and the messages we wish to send out to others. Thankfully people in 2019 are no longer as fearful of sharing their struggles as before.
But here in the Middle East, we still need more courageous artists or so-called “Influencers” to shed more light on this matter and be more transparent.
Rejection, negative beliefs, being critical about your body or your failure, all these contribute to insecurities and cause emotional traumas. I, myself used to be so insecure and wasted time hating myself and my body especially because of external opinions. I viewed and judged myself through the prism of numbers. But with time I learned, like Neal Donald Walsh says, “so long as you’re still worried about what others think of you, you are owned by them. Only when you require no approval from outside yourself can you own yourself.”
I even shared these thoughts on social media because I knew a lot of people needed to hear it from someone else to realize that it so OK to be different, and it is OK to embrace your flaws. Also, in the music industry, some of the triggering factors of the problems we see include self-doubt, stress brought about by rejection and failure, and poor decision making based on bad advice.
I am proud and thankful for being able to overcome my fears because rarely do artists in the Middle East open up to the subject.
My advice to all those who are facing this situation is to forgive the past, practice self-approval, stop comparing yourself, your situation or lifestyle with others and trust yourself now!
Are you, planning to use your platforms for making a change in you believe in? If so, could you talk more about initiatives you, deeply care for?
I am already implementing this change through social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and more specifically through my music. By spreading awareness on positivity and love in all shapes and forms, by proving that nothing is impossible and that dreams can become a reality if you worked on them, and that age or time don’t define us, I aim to empower other women and teens and make them rise. Stay true, humble, and grateful.
This is what will make you strive!
Let the music be your weapon, the therapy of the soul, and the power that unites us.
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