Aima Baig has recently released a track Be Myself in collaboration with Shahbaz Shigri and emerging and talented artist Abdullah Siddiqui. Interestingly, the creative individuals have joined hands not just for a beautiful tune, but a song that sends out an important message to the youth.
Be Myself is the first step by Aima and Abdullah to explore the depth of body image issues and how significantly they alter one’s self-esteem. The lyrics dwell on themes of self-presentation and body dysmorphia and identity crisis where an individual views his or herself through someone else’s eyes and judge his value on unjust societal standards. Are you good looking, smart, desirable, have a perfect complexion, weight or height, job or financial status, everything is based on what others perceive to be right, which is highly toxic.
The beguiling lyrics goes like: “Bow down now at the alter of this bodyscape… Don’t you know there’s never an escape… Withering away in time and space… I’m never gonna be myself again as long as I be myself pretending all the time I’m feeling so sublime. I’m never gonna be myself again as long as I be myself pretending all the time I’m feeling so refined.”
The words capture the real essence of how people battle body image issues in their daily lives and how they are unnecessary comparisons, damaging the relationship between your body and self esteem. At its core, Be Myself is a song about how destructive it is to tie your worth to your appearance and how crucial it is to free yourself of these shackles. These destructive thoughts may slowly burn your soul, making it more difficult to reach a place of self-acceptance.
Talking about this song, Aima Baig said: “Be Myself is a song that is real. It connects to all of us on some level. I want people to know through my words that social standards will never define what their true potential is. For this song I have explored a genre that I really want to keep doing. I hope the audiences like it”.
Abdullah Siddiqui shared: “I wrote it from a very personal place, from a place of frustration with how self-worth is so attached to body image. I was ecstatic that this song resonated with Aima as well and she took a chance on it. So happy that we trusted Shahbaz to bring this feeling to life with the video — it looks exactly how the song feels.”
The video is well directed by Shahbaz Shigri and the visual effects are done by him as well. The visuals represent the thought-provoking theme of the song. Both Aima and Abdullah portray the turbulence each one of them is facing due to the unnatural and meaningless societal standards.
Shahbaz Shigiri talked about making the music video: “This music video was special to me in a lot of ways. It’s been almost three years since I went back behind the camera, and because I was working with such talented artists, both of whom I myself am a fan of, it was imperative that the video was worthy of the song. I think, I hope we achieved that.”
Be Myself indeed is a masterpiece tune that is made with an aim to help people self reflect on their true identities and embrace them, rather than hide behind a facade.
You can watch the full song here:
