The ReMINDers: A Husband and Wife Duo

Great music can only come from great love and, Masha’Allah, with Aja and Samir of The ReMINDers it is evident. Promoting spirituality and positivity the husband and wife duo have reigned supreme on the Muslim hip-hop scene with their album, ReCollect. After taking time off to spend with their budding family, fans will be happy to know that they are starting to record and perform again. Elan sat down with the couple to talk about their life, love and music.

How did you get your start in music?

Samir: We’ve both been artists for years now. We started out in Colorado doing smaller events and opening gigs for most of the artists coming through Colorado. After we released the album, ReCollect, we sent a copy to IMAN. Rami [Director of IMAN] happened to be the one who opened up the package and listened to it. He invited us to a retreat and community cafe. Our relationship grew from there. It really helped us to get more gigs out of state, different universities, different MSA events. That’s really when things started moving.

What were you doing prior to getting the album together?

Samir: Prior to that I was in a group with my brother-in-law, my sister’s husband. We put out two albums. After we put out the record we started to perform with a five piece band. That became really complicated so I started to work on a solo project. But then Aja and I just started working on more and more songs and it just came together.

Aja: We were both artists separately before we started working together. So of course, once we were married it became natural for us to record a project together. We would just record songs here and there. The album came together as just us living our life and coming up with songs that were reflective of our lives at the time. We put it all together, something that we were, Masha’Allah, proud of, and sent it out to different places.

How did you both meet?

Aja: We kind of had overlapping social circles. My father actually introduced me to him for the first time.

Samir: Not thinking this was going to come out of it.

Aja: No. He knew you were a good dude, though. So he introduced us to each other. And eventually our relationship just took a turn for romance.

Samir and Aja: We were just friends for years.

Aja: It’s kind of one of those things that Allah just plans it. You know? We didn’t have any forethought into anything that’s happening right now.

Samir: That’s why once we got married everything else just fell into place right away. Cause we knew each other so well.

Everywhere you go now you’re known as the husband-and-wife duo, how has that influenced your music, if at all?

Aja: No one even knew we were married until [later]. Like Rami and IMAN were so proud of the fact that we’re married. They wanted to tell everyone, “and they’re married.”

Samir: Yeah, to set an example. They put that on the event pamphlets even. It said…

Aja: “husband and wife duo”

Samir: It doesn’t say what kind of music it is. It doesn’t say where we’re from. It just says husband and wife duo. Which at the time, it was never something I had never even thought about. But we are a husband and wife duo. To me it’s like we’re a hip-hop group.

Aja: Yeah, it’s just like an after-after-after thought that we’re married. Cause we don’t sit around thinking like…

Samir and Aja: “we’re married.”

Do you think this will become a family thing?

Aja: Our daughters are like—stage monsters.

Samir: I think when people see us and know that we’re married [with a family] they appreciate it. I think they appreciate us more.

Aja: A lot of times in the music industry people feel like it’s better to present yourself independently than as a person that’s married with a family. A lot of artists now are forthcoming with their families or their wives. They don’t feel like it’s something that should be closeted anymore. Granted there are a lot of things you have to protect yourself from, you know, when it comes to being in the spotlight. So it’s important to us that we make du’a whenever we’re going to be in front of a large. Any kind of celebrity or fame can be a compromising position. So we don’t bring our children around too much. If we do they’re very protected doing other activities. But we’re very family orientated.

As a parent what do you see as a challenge for Muslim kids in America that was different from you growing up?

Aja: One thing that I see now is that kids have the world at their fingertips with the Internet but their experience is lacking. And they don’t really want to do much that’s not technological. Like growing up, Saturday at my house, we weren’t allowed to do anything or have anyone sleep over on Friday night, because at 9 o’clock my dad would say, “We’re leaving for the whole day.” I remember when I first met Samir, I was like “I have email” and he’s like “whatever I don’t even have internet.” (Samir: “I had no idea what that was…”) My daughter goes on the Internet now, she’s 4 years old, she knows what icons to click on for Sesame Street. I just wake up and she’s on there. I think that’s kind of creating a gap between parents and children. Kids are able to create a separate identity—whether it’s valid or not is up for debate. The fantasy for children is in creating something of themselves to other people, like when we were younger we would play dress up but you never tried to convince someone that you were really a princess. Now it’s like the kids, they create an identity and they really try and convince you that’s really what they’re like. So that’s the difference.

How does your faith play into your music?

Aja: I just feel we live what we believe, so that’s reflected in our music. We don’t have any target idea to do anything to anyone. We just want to increase the positivity around us with our voices. We don’t want to preach to anybody or recruit anybody. But if we can be a positive example for people and say something positive to enlighten or uplift somebody then that’s our journey. That’s what we should be doing. That’s what everyone should do.

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