By 
MAYA JUPITER TALKS ABOUT UPCOMING “INSHALLAH” VIDEO AND THE INSPIRATION BEHIND THE SONG
“Inshallah” is a song I wrote when I was pregnant for the first time, with my daughter, Mandela.
I was visiting Sydney and broke the news to my Mother. Being Turkish, she kept knocking on the wooden kitchen table and saying “Mashallah” meaning “God Bless.” She was overjoyed.
Later on, I was with Aloe and we were talking about the meaning of Inshallah (God Willing) and Mashallah, he started singing the chorus and the song was born
It is a song filled with all my wishes, fears and hopes as a new Mother. I know it sounds crazy but I didn’t really fully grasp the miracle of pregnancy until I became pregnant. Then I kept yelling at people “do you know how crazy this is?!”
It’s the first time I truly felt powerless and full of worry. I called my Mother and I asked her, when does the worrying end? She laughed and said, “Never!”
Being pregnant, you have no control over your body and the development of new life. You can only wish and hope that things go smoothly. Then you worry about child birth, then you worry about the first 3 months of life and you check if they’re breathing every other day. Then you worry about them falling off the bed when they can roll over. It really is endless!
My Mother said to me, “Then you worry when they get their driver’s license and then when they move to another country!” Needless to say, I had to learn that I can’t control everything because some things are beyond our control.
In another part of the song, I imagine all the wonderful characteristics she’ll posses one day.
Will she be fair, unbiased and just?
A woman to be loved and a friend you can trust
who’s fighting for freedom and the voices unheard
I’m telling the whole world get ready for this girl!
powerful, kind, educated and funny
compassionate to strangers, generous with her money
It’s funny because now that she knows the lyrics, as a 3 year old she said to me “You didn’t know I’d be silly Mummy!”
“Inshallah” is produced by Quetzal Flores and features Qanoon and Oud played by world renowned musician from Jordan, Halim Al-khatib. I met Halim through a story tellers writing course I facilitated for Tiyya, an organisation dedicated to supporting refugees and displaced Americans.
It also features the vocals of Mia Xitlali and Sandino González-Flores.
Drums by Evan Cristo, Bass by Juan “El Unico” Perez, Keys by Quincy McCrary and Guitar by Quetzal Flores.
For the video, we wanted to showcase women and daughters around the world and show how no matter where we live we all want the same thing; for our children to be fed, to be safe, to have access to opportunity and to live in peace. I teamed up with an extremely talented collective, RogueMark Studios who created the beautiful visuals for the song. I came across their work at the J18 event at UCLA. Professor Ananya Roy had made a video with them titled 3 Truths About Trumpism and as soon as I saw their incredible creativity I knew I had to collaborate with them. The video is produced by Abby VanMuijen, Art by Eliza Reisfeld and Animation by Marisa Rafter.
“Inshallah” is a song dear to my heart and very special for my family and I hope that it becomes special for you too.
