Spotlight On... Intibint

Last week, Glasgow-based, Yemeni artist Intibint released her latest single Ymn Alsa3eed, a two-and-a-half minute track exploring the various oppressions experienced by Yemenis. Entirely sung in Yemeni Arabic, Intibint's almost-spoken word vocals mesmerise as they scurry, emotion-packed, almost hypnagogic over enticing, yet almost claustrophobic electronic and trip-hop-indebted beats. With the single having been out now for a week, we catch up with Intibint to find out more about the single, the importance of community and why it's necessary to use the creation of art as activism.

First of all, it would be great to know a little bit more about yourself and your backstory – where did you grow up, what made you make the decision to move to Glasgow and who/what inspires your music-making?
My name is Intibint which translates to ‘you’re a girl’ in Arabic, and I'm a singer, songwriter, producer and visual artist. I was born in London, in a place called Acton, into a Yemeni immigrant family and spent a few of my very early years there before my family and I moved back to my home city Sana’a in Yemen. I spent my primary school and high school years there attending the Yemen Modern School where I made some of my best childhood memories.

Before Glasgow I was living in London and the lifestyle there didn’t match where I was at with my music. I wanted to live somewhere where I could focus on creating, and have time and space to really immerse myself in my art, and London was a bit too fast-paced for me to do that. I’ll be honest, I complain a lot about being in Glasgow (mainly the weather *cry*), but as an artist it’s perfect for me.

While you were studying for your masters at SOAS in London, you returned to songwriting and performing after a long break. What was it that took you away from music in the first place, and what brought you back?
Growing up in a Yemeni Muslim family, there are specific ideas of what a girl or woman should and shouldn’t do, and music is definitely one of the big no’s, this experience is the inspiration behind my moniker. In Yemeni culture, it’s seen as disrespectful for women to take up space or to be loud or outspoken. I know this sounds bad, but culture is culture and it wasn’t about my family wanting bad for me, it was just what they knew. For this reason it was difficult for me to pursue music and I was heavily discouraged at home whenever I showed any interest in wanting to be a musician. And as much as I didn’t want to, I decided to accept this as my reality and aside from listening to it, stopped showing interest in music altogether.

By the time I was finishing up my master's dissertation at SOAS, I don’t know if it was the stress that made me feel like I’d had enough or what, but I decided that pleasing others wasn’t worth it and I was going to have to go for it and hope that my family will just get on board eventually. At first, it was really difficult, to be honest, but eventually they did. Now they’re really supportive! They actually all loved my latest song, Ymn Alsa3eed! My dad posted it on his Instagram story, which was lovely.

I’d love to know more about Ymn Alsa3eed, which you wrote and produced yourself. What’s the song about and what was the process like for its creation?
The song is about our struggle as Yemenis; it touches upon the various oppression we have faced and our deep desire for justice. As I wrote the song I felt that the words resonated with the struggles of people from Palestine, Sudan, Lebanon, Congo and many other oppressed peoples.

Yemen started being brutally bombed by Saudi Arabia (with weapons provided by the UK and US) in 2015 until 2022, and then the UK, US and Israel began air strike campaigns in 2024 until last month. The war waged by Saudi Arabia took the lives of over 377,000 people according to the CAAT (2023), destroyed schools, hospitals and essential infrastructure like ports which meant aid and medicine were scarce, so this led to the outbreak of diseases as well as the starvation of millions of people.

I actually thought of the first line of the song [which translates to: 'They destroyed us, called us liars, burned us, and displaced us / Before our eyes put our people in prisons'] whilst I was at a Palestine protest near the end of 2024 and then noted it down. A few weeks later, I made the beat and started recording.

What can you tell us about the single’s accompanying music video, edited by yourself and filmed by Undram Munkhbatt and Humera Mena?
I filmed the video with two of my Glasgow besties! And we decided to hit up some of Glasgow’s arms factories to highlight their complicity in the wars happening in Yemen, Palestine and possibly other places. Govan has several arms companies, namely Thales and BAE. This is also the area where in July 2024 Glasgow police brutally attacked peaceful protesters who were protesting the production of weapons at the Thales arms factory.

It also included footage that I gathered from my Instagram followers – I put a call out asking for people to send in any videos they’ve taken at protests and was overwhelmed by the amount of videos [they sent], I couldn’t use all of them. It was nice to see that I have a like-minded community. I have videos in there from all over – Sana'a (Yemen), Taiz (Yemen), New York, California, Slovakia and more.

Image: Intibint by Miriam Ali

Turning political views into beautiful art can be a daunting prospect for some artists – why is it important for you to use your art as activism and what advice would you give you to other artists hoping to use their art and music in this way?
The impact of the Yemen war has been the most difficult experience my family and I have ever been through. On a personal level, I can’t really switch off from the political, especially in the last 15 months where the issue of Palestine has finally received the attention it always deserved. It’s been like a constant reminder of our situation as Yemenis and, as most artists do, we make music or art about what’s going on inside us. There’s a quote by Nina Simone that says: “It's an artist's duty to reflect the times in which we live.” In terms of advice, I would encourage artists to think about the Nina Simone quote first and foremost; it might be you’re experiencing oppression or you’re living a very privileged life, either way, there’s a lot to unpack.

Secondly, I would say, take time to learn about systems in the world, about your history, the issues effecting you and your community, even if it means taking breaks from creating. I'll give you a cheat code: all the struggles of people in the world are connected! But remember to take it one step at a time and be kind to yourself in the process. There's so much to learn and the more you learn the scarier it is because there are some seriously horrendous things happening in the world.

Reach out to people around you, do not do this alone, community is KEY. Through conversations with others and taking time to learn for yourself, you will be able to understand better what your position is in this world and how best you can help, or what message is important for you to get out there. Eventually, it will naturally embed itself into your work as an artist, and you’ll feel more confident in using your art for activism.

Lastly, I would encourage artists and everyone to remember the power that they hold, how much their voice and actions can make change in the world. If we didn’t have power, the government, Meta, the police and other entities wouldn’t be continuously working overtime to silence us. Steve Biko said: “The most potent weapon of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.” As artists we can take a lot from that, in the sense that what we create has the power to make change, so why not use that power?

Finally, what does the rest of the year look like for you?
I want to make more music and more art and put it out in to the world! I want to do more gigs! I want to have fun and I want to do more things that cause trouble for the bourgeoisie!!!

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Ymn Alsa3eed is out now

Follow Intibint on Instagram @intibint