Malik Muhammad, also known as Musa Reems, is a senior business and entrepreneurship major and rapper from Austin. In 2017, he signed to Columbia’s AEMMP Hip-Hop Record Label practicum course. Now, Reems is preparing to unveil his second project on the AEMMP label and released a new promotional single Feb. 7. His next project, Lately I’ve been Sol Searching 2, will be released in March. 

Reems detailed his inspiration for the new project, spoke about life after signing to AEMMP, his passion for rhyming and more in an interview with The Chronicle.                                             

THE CHRONICLE: What was the inspiration behind your latest project

MUSA REEMS: I was working on this project called “Where The Sun Never Rises” already, so to tie in Lately I’ve Been Sol Searching, I spelled “soul” instead of S-O-U-L, S-O-L, which is sun in Latin, just to tie everything together to make it a three-part series. It’s on the theme of how Chicago is clouded in negativity and [shows] how it can be much more than that. When I wrote the first [song on] Lately I’ve Been Sol Searching, my aunty had just passed so I was trying to find my focus and get to a certain point in my life where I know who I am. With that being said, I laid down that first [track] and then that second one was diving even deeper into that [idea of] what Chicago is to me.

How has working with AEMMP Hip-Hop affected your career?

It’s been dope. It’s been great to work with the students. I’ve got a lot of new friends like my manager, Justin Thomas. Working with a lot of people like Dominique Jones who was my events coordinator last semester—this semester she’s in marketing—and then working with RTC, Alex Fruchter, [lecturer in the Business and Entrepreneurship Department and professor of the AEMMP Hip-Hop practicum] learning from him. The best thing I ever learned in life is that you don’t know everything, but you have to invest in yourself. I was always focused on investing in myself and having someone with the [other] roles is always dope to be around and get some insight from. 

What inspired your love for rhymes?

I want to rhyme as much as I want to breathe to be honest. Rhyming is life. I remember when I was in high school, I was always pretty quiet. I was the shy kid, but when I got to high school, I got culture shock. Chicago is very segregated, so when I was growing up, it was predominantly black and Hispanic kids. So when I got to high school, it was more of a mixture and I ended up going to Pitchfork in 2012. In eighth grade, I was also introduced to MF Doom so I would freestyle over Special Herbs.

When I got to high school, I kept that passion, and when I went to Pitchfork, I saw A$AP Rocky perform and that gave me the confidence to do it myself. I started working on beats first because I wanted my own production to have to rap over, so me and my homies would make beats on FL Studio. 

What would be the soundtrack to growing up on the West Side?

I grew up with Do Or Die, Twista, Lupe [Fiasco], [and] I’m definitely a big fan of Common. “Be” is a perfect album to me. I love that album, of all the albums I listen to, with [Kanye West’s] production on that plus [Common’s] rhymes puts me into a different state of mind. Chicago is so rich—it’s an amazing music scene.