Isaac Dunbar Takes Our Pop Quiz
office gave Isaac an impromptu pop quiz where there are no wrong answers... except, of course, the wrong ones.
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office gave Isaac an impromptu pop quiz where there are no wrong answers... except, of course, the wrong ones.
office had the opportunity to catch up with the multifaceted extraordinaire, and introduce Neemz and what she’s all about. Through practiced gratitude, never taking no for an answer, and wholeheartedly believing in yourself and your talent, there is no one stopping you. And just like Neemz says, there is no Plan B, but only Plan A!
Continue reading below for our exclusive interview.
So how are you doing today? What have you been up to lately?
I released my first project, "It's Above Me," it's been a long time in the making, honestly. But you know, with patience and especially when you're more than just the sounds, I had something for the vision of it, I just wanted to execute a lot of the ideas for it versus having to just put out the music. So it took some time to just, you know, realize which songs with what kind of vision we're trying to execute. So for the past few months, when I was releasing "Awake," "Plan A," "Lifethativebeenlivin'," each one had a little rollout of its own because it was more so storytelling. My team has been linking up a lot when I was in New York and we were there shooting some visualizers and stuff that's also coming up on the way. Each one had its own kind of vibe, but more so curating it to kind of just bring some of the feelings to life. I've also been recording a lot of my music behind the scenes, that's probably not going to come out for another few months or so. But honestly, it's just been a lot of photography, performances, shoots, and videos. Everything has been amazing because it's kind of like an endless vision. The story doesn't have a limit, you can always keep creating, because the topic is just so relatable.
Well, congrats! Because I know, just from Instagram and stuff, you've been working on it for a while. So is there a different process for you when it comes to creating this EP versus when you're just releasing a single?
Yes, I mean, it's not really that much of a difference, but I think each song that was released as a single was powerful. For example, if you're on a shoot, there'll be a picture there, and you're like "No, this has to have its own moment versus these can be a set together." That's kind of how it felt. So like when I dropped my singles each song had its own moment. So for "Runnin' Thru the City" I didn't have a manager at the time. That was my first single and then maybe a month and a half later I met Melody, my manager, and then from there it was more so she was like "Okay, what are you planning to do with the next song?" I released "Lifethativebeenlivin'," and I was telling her this is how it makes me feel, these are the ideas I have in my mind, all this stuff. At the time I was like "Let's just drop the project, the project is ready." She's an outside perspective and when you're not the artist that created the art sometimes you see things differently. So she kind of guided me in that sense, but for "Lifethativebeenlivin'," we rolled it out with a music video too. The whole project is about being above the fears and being above a lot of the things that make you feel certain low points. When I dropped "Plan A," it was more so about going to get it, the mission is right there. There's no other way besides getting to this work, making this journey of mine. If I just had dropped the project and just kind of told the story, it wouldn't have been as impactful as letting it breathe a little bit.
Kind of going back on you creating visuals for all your own songs, the visuals for "Damaged Feelings" were so hard. What was the inspiration behind it and directing it as well?
So "Damaged Feelings" was the first music video that I actually wanted to sit down and really create a treatment. That treatment took me, I want to say, a month and a half not because it took me that long to make but because I didn't want to force the task. At that time of month, I was doing the IDK program at Harvard and just doing a bunch of other things in the meantime, and I felt like there was just too much going on whilst I was trying to focus on the treatment. So after I was done with the program, even though I had started the treatment, it was like two slides. And I was like, "Okay, no, I have to sit down and take my time." And basically ask myself, "what does the song really mean to me? And what does it make me feel?" You've seen the Joker movie? And how it highlighted a lot of mental health, but also at the same time how people always kind of take your spirits and shed it into a format where you feel like they just took so much out of you, and at the end of the day, you feel like you're just hurt. You're crazy. You're chaotic, you're insane because everything that you're saying might not be felt on the other end. And you felt a lot of things around you shifting you when you were trying to do work for yourself with good intention and pure intention. Some people who didn't feel so secure about themselves would project onto you like "oh, this is a competition between us, or so and so's doing better than me. What is she up to?" All this stuff was just coming at me in a time and space from that song. So I wanted to highlight it in a video where I needed to embody a role. I need to embody my emotions and wear my emotions on my sleeve, so that whole entire time when I was creating the treatment, I was watching a lot of performative dance and a lot of movies that related to a lot of deep feelings.
I played around with my makeup, so I would highlight my bags because my bags kind of are something that I was not always insecure about, but it kind of bothered me. Every time if I was crying at night, or if I was super you know exhausted from not being able to sleep with insomnia, my bags would really show, and it just kind of always was part of my character. When it came to actually shooting the video, I watched a lot of music videos, took screenshots, and placed them in a treatment. I want people to feel certain emotions that I couldn't really amplify or write. I was like, "Okay, watch this video, tell me how you feel, okay?" You felt goosebumps or you felt like this, or you felt like more power or whatever, I want all those emotions to be highlighted in those music videos. So I wrote a whole treatment, and I sent it to my videographer, Rico, she watched it, and we sat down. It took, you know, a couple of times, but it came to life when it came down to actually shooting it. The way I came back came about, the people with the bodysuits were I wanted them to be like shadows. So like, when Kim Kardashian came up with the whole thing, I was already making that. But I kind of embodied that these figures in my life don't have to be seen, you don't have to know who this person is, who these malicious people are. Those people hurt you because, at the same time, it wasn't just about highlighting people, but highlighting yourself, and how sometimes we could be our worst enemies. That's why at the beginning of the video, they're almost around me trying to take my spirit away, and then at the end, I kind of embed with them. It's basically accepting your flaws, accepting those people in your life, because they're not going to be gone. You just have to accept it and just be able to coexist with it.
So you're also extremely driven and I'm a proud believer that there's no plan B, but only plan A. So can you explain to us what this means for you?
So plan A, honestly is about everything that I want to do. I wear multiple hats, but I execute everything with a lot of passion. And so if someone were to be like, "Oh, Neemz, we want you to model for this campaign or Neemz, we want you to do this." So when I first started with anything artistic, it was photography. You know, I would just take pictures of people and like, it was in high school and in college. In college, I would just go around campus and be like, "Oh my god, I'd love to shoot you." And then after some time, I started working and one of my co-workers, Mark Elzey, wanted to shoot me. He was like, "Yo, let's hang out, let's go to the museum or whatever and shoot." He was like "Neemz, I realized every time I came to shoot you, you kept on looking away. If you really want to be a model you have to be comfortable in your skin." So I really took myself, those words, and I went to the mirror and I started looking at myself in the mirror and practicing and practicing. So then I started you know, doing more modeling stuff and got more confident in myself. So I was juggling the photography and the modeling aspect the whole entire year of 2019. I was just getting gig after gig. I came to a point where I went to KidSuper and I modeled for him for his fashion collection. That was like a big moment for me but it was also a big moment for me to realize that anything I set my mind upon, I will get, so like there's only one plan in life. And that's just a plan to be. So things adjust and adapt, or push you off your tracks, you have to just go with the flow. If you are constantly stuck to "oh my god, I have to only do one thing," you could also block your own blessings.
What's kind of been the craziest moment of your career so far?
The craziest moment is just seeing how many people listen to my music. I'm just always super grateful. But my manager has worked in the industry for a minute now, so when she would be like, "Neemz, you hit this much in this many months, like, I don't think you understand." She's just basically highlighting a lot of things that I didn't see as, like, "oh my god." But she'd be like, "I don't think you understand. This is not normal for somebody like you to have." And for me, I keep finding gratitude always and keeping myself grounded. But at the same time, seeing how hype she is made me feel like, "okay, this is working." But you know, I'm glad that I'm in a space where I don't know what it means, or I don't know how amazing it is. It's humbling to see that people like "Hey Neemz, like, I really fuck with your songs." It just makes me feel special just because these aren't just songs. I think that was the most amazing part, but at the same time, you know, performing. The biggest highlight was when I opened up for IDK and Rico Nasty. They told me the night before so for them to give me that opportunity, I was really shocked. But it was like, as soon as you hit the stage with all the nerves, and you walked off and people came up to you like random people I've never even met before were in the crowd like, "oh my god, you inspired me." And I was like, "that's crazy."
You know, once it starts it doesn't stop.
I think what's great is that you just have to keep that spirit in you that every time somebody does like you, feel impacted by even anything that you do, whether you style their shot, or whatever, be excited to receive that love. Because it's not every day that you do receive that love, you know, and people, no matter if it's even 10 million people giving you love, like, it still feels overwhelming, but in the best way possible, you know?
So, you know, I gotta bring it back to Boston, we gotta talk about Boston, you know, I have to. So you're extremely proud of your heritage, where you come from, and where you live. So how do both of these things inspire you on your journey?
Honestly, it inspires me a lot. I don't constantly say, "Oh, I'm Palestinian, or from Boston." But like, I'm gonna say it when people ask me. I'm Palestinian, and everyone knows what's going on in Palestine. So when people asked me about the scarf that I wear, it's a Palestinian scarf. I lived in Massachusetts, and I lived in Jordan overseas for five years, and I came back. So when I came back, I lived in Weston. Now I live in Waltham. So it's like, you know, bouncing back and forth. You never really had a set community. But it felt like when there was an art community building in Boston, it felt like we were a powerful movement like you just go to these functions, and you're like, "Oh, my God," like, you meet all these people. And we just created our own community, whether you were from Massachusetts or not. We've created so much, and I feel like, even in the past year, during quarantine, people have tapped in so much into themselves. So I think even people were just taking that in, healing from certain experiences, and even healing with everybody together, it made it feel so much more powerful. For the longest time, we've been pushing and pushing. When one person is going up, and everyone wants to push them up even further. Once that person opens the door, the next door opens. Just like New York has its own community, and LA has its own art community, Boston is finally making a community of its own. We come to Boston to celebrate, we're going to the function in Boston, or we're going to that concert in Boston for our own Boston artists. A lot of your homies are in the audience, or a lot of your homies are right beside you on the shoot working together. Even when I did the Nike campaign, like seeing Malakhai shooting and then Cas on the BTS. And it's just crazy, because it's like, "wow, our community is so great because everybody's just pushing themselves forward." But we're coming together on a bigger scale, you know, so we're always gonna be proud.
When I first met all of you guys, and just from my own outside standpoint, like the group of creatives in Boston, I've never met a more welcoming, more supportive community. There's no competition, but if you're winning, I'm winning. Your supporters are like "okay, Neemz is winning and that's a win for all of us."
Which is crazy because even seeing it in the comments now as my base grows, people are like, "Yo, you're doing so much for the city." It's such a nice thing to see. Because it's like, we're not just doing it's not a solo journey. Everybody who's talented in the city is going to get a chance to be great. When Bia was making headlines, I was like, "Yeah Bia!" And then Coi Leray's out here, and everyone's like, "Yo, Boston, Boston." These big people from outside of here, that have been overlooking Boston are gonna be like, "Yo, what is actually in Massachusetts? I want to see and tap into what's in there."
The path that you're taking is not easy whatsoever and there are plenty of road bumps that you face, I'm sure. What's something that keeps you going when the inevitable feelings of doubt come up?
That's honestly such a great question. Because a lot of the time people don't recognize hurdles that people put in front of you, or if it's mental hurdles or family hurdles. The biggest thing that keeps me moving is honestly remembering the blessings that I have, which is like, "Okay, well, let me remind myself of what I have accomplished." Whether it was I got up from my bed or looking at my progress. When you continue to remind yourself of the progress, I think you never lose sight of what you can be because you already understand now that the process is always going to be difficult. It would be so dumb for me to believe that I'm never going to like hit some type of hurdle that's going to make me feel like I can't do this anymore, right? Like, we've all been in the state where it's like, "oh my god, like, is this the space for me?" And sometimes when you feel like you are about to be hanging by a thread, it's very crucial to remind yourself of what you've done, and how you've been able to actually get yourself moving. And I think, for me, to count my blessings always. Okay, well, I have a family. I'm blessed to have even done these opportunities. I'm blessed to even be passionate about these points and always kind of reminding myself to talk to myself nicely. Yes, the road has been kind of iffy this past month, but you know what, this is just a temporary time. This is just a temporary feeling. So when you constantly are able to set affirmations for yourself, it really shifts your mentality, especially when it comes down to the winter. Like, you just feel like you want to hide and just shell away and like, "Oh my god, the world hates me. I feel super sad." It's easy to fall into that like I fall into that all the time. But I like to just take myself day by day especially when I'm still working a part-time job. It's like, you just have to kind of remind yourself, like, take things day by day and like even hour by hour sometimes like you know, something will throw you off mentally. And I've been also tapping into these meditative podcasts. Say you started your day great and then someone gives you bad news. Instead of focusing your energy on that, tell yourself, "Okay, let me just check in around 5 pm, and right now I'm going to be present." When you start to find a routine for yourself to kind of constantly be like, "Okay, I'm doing the best that I can, I'm going to focus on this negative thing later," because when later comes along, you're not even thinking about it anymore.
If you could only rock one pair of shoes for the rest of your life, what would it be?
I've honestly been into boots these days. But I feel like a boot-slash sneaker-like something with a platform. You know, those snow boots, but very much on a level of giving me a little bit of height. Sometimes I like to stand out from the crowd. Like, sometimes I like to feel like I'm walking out as a dinosaur into the city.
What can we see more of from Neemz in the future?
I'm definitely gonna be getting more music. I've been waiting to drop a project just to introduce myself and my sound. And I'm excited to just tap in with a lot more because this is a visionary journey. I would consider myself a visionary because I'm not going to just give you just music, I'm going to give you something along the side of music to make you either feel and experience or be able to just be like "wow like this is a piece of art." So alongside the music, you're going to be getting an experience, which I can't really say much about but you know, there's always something.
Awads new single drops today, be sure to check it out wherever you can.
What makes Remi’s sound so individualistic is her ultramodern blending of pop, trap, and R&B, while she also pays homage to the celebrated pop stars of her generation. Although Barbie is conflated with an artificial exterior, Remi conveys through her bubbly personality that all of her music is grounded in her genuine roots.
office sat down with Remi below to discuss emblematic 2000s-era fashion, film, her new music video, and more.
So, you started modeling for Fenty and Jeffrey Campbell, and I wanted to know what the shift was, where you decided to venture into music?
I’ve made music ever since I was little. I taught myself piano. I would write songs, but only for myself. I couldn't quite get the confidence to put my work out there. But when I started modeling, it started giving me more confidence to have my face in the camera, so that kind of tied in with the music. I was like, 'Oh, you know, why not? Why don't I just try and put out my art.'
I also wanted to talk about your style — we'll get into your new music video too — but I know the whole vibe of the video is Y2K-inspired and I kind of get that through your style too. We're around the same age. You're 21 right?
Yes.
So we're pretty much the same — 90s-ish kids. But I wanted to talk about that because we kind of grew up with that style and now it's all coming back. Do you think that that's where it comes from, for you, or is that just what you naturally gravitate towards in your personal style?
I think, and I think you can agree, we kind of grew up seeing these iconic looks like JLo, Gwen, all of that. So I was super influenced by that. I also love thrifting.
Me too.
I curate for the store I work in, which is LAAMS. I run the vintage rack, so I'm always looking for the Y2K looks. Even like Devin Aoki in Fast and Furious — I was just inspired a lot by pop culture. So that's where that came from.
So if you had to pick one movie that is big fashion inspo for you, what would you say?
That's a good question. Let me have a think. I mean, Clueless. But then I love — I don't know if you've seen the movie with Aaliyah where she's a vampire. "Queen of the Dams." The fashion in that was cool too. Because I like to do the pop, eccentric, colorful Y2K, but then I also like to do more 70s, retro kind of looks. That's where my two styles tend to meet.
I feel like those were just such powerful eras in fashion, but it does definitely tie into stuff we liked growing up. Something else I grew up with was a lot of R&B and that early 2000s type of sound. I hear a lot of that in your music, but you also have that modern pop fusion. So who are your musical inspirations or people that you grew up listening to?
Well, I love Gwen, Aaliyah — she's one of my favorites; she's an R&B queen. Nelly Furtado — all of those early 2000s females that just had the hits. Gwen's old videos, like "What You Waiting For," where she's Alice in Wonderland; all of that was so inspiring to me. But I also love Doja Cat, Ariana Grande, SZA, Kali Uchis — all of those powerful females. That's where the more modern-day pop comes in. I try to make it like a fusion of both.
You definitely get that through your music. Also — love that you mentioned Ariana Grande. Cause she's an icon.
Yes! She's so influential too.
So I want to get into the music video for your new single, “No Escape,” because it looked so chic. What was the creative vision behind it?
I worked with this amazing director, Agusta. She's super talented. I had the idea of it being Barbie-themed, but also having a retro feel to it because I love that. Like, you know, old Jane Fonda workout videos. I don't know if you ever saw the American Horror Story season set in the 1980s?
I loved that one!
I loved that too. So I came to Agusta with that idea and then we brainstormed a lot together. I had that idea of being Barbie because the song starts off with "picture perfect." So to me, I thought of, you know, a retro housewife; almost too perfect. The stylist I worked with just got the vision and it all came together.
Why did you decide to work with Agusta for the video; did you guys already have a relationship?
Well, I've always followed her. I've been a huge fan of hers, always. Every time she posted I was like, 'Wow.' But I didn't actually realize she was a director. I saw it in her bio and I thought, 'Oh my God, maybe it's far-fetched if I hit her up — it probably won't happen.' And then I did and it was pretty much the next day we were planning — it actually happened within two weeks. So, yeah, I was so happy. I just love her. She has the eye that I want. I don't see that much CGI work in the way she does it, you know? It feels like she can just put you into a whole other world.
Exactly. You both created a whole universe with Uzumaki's art. Were you two friends as well before you worked on this together?
Yes, we were. I actually met Uzumaki through LAAMS; it's an art compound in the Lower East Side. She was doing an installation there, so she would be there all the time. When I first met her, I kind of fangirled and I was like, 'Can I take a picture of you?' Because I take film photos. We just hit it off and became instantly close. Then Agusta and I were working, and I thought, 'You know, it could be so cool to incorporate her.' Because having multiple female artists work on one project is so fulfilling to me. I'm all about it. She was down and it worked out super well. We took pictures from Uzumaki's past installations, and then Agusta CGI'd me into them and made them come to life.
The fits from the video were so iconic. Can you tell me a little more about them and which was your favorite?
So, the first scene we shot was the workout scene. There was the Barbie me, who was the instructor, and then there were two 'regular' mes with my regular red hair, on the side as my workout buddies. So for each look I put together, I worked with Adam Selman. He does a lot of workout gear and he let me pull some stuff from him. I put together retro workout-type outfits, and then Mateo, who is the stylist, made my vision reality. It's funny because I kept telling him what I wanted, and on the day, he came with so much stuff; it was almost overwhelming. But it worked out so well because initially we were only supposed to have one look for the whole 'dollhouse.' We ended up having a look for each room in the dollhouse. So yeah, thinking about my favorite look, it was either the blue fur hat and bra set, which is really cute. And then there was a pantsuit set, which, I was channeling the Barbie that works, you know? She's not a stay-at-home Barbie.
She's the Boss Barbie.
Yes. So I love that look too. And there were these underwire glasses that were diamante with nothing else. Just the underwire. It was so fire.
You talked about different rooms in the video, so was each one a whole different vibe?
Yeah, there was even a bathroom. Agusta and I had worked with a set designer named Jimmy. So they bought a dollhouse, like a Barbie dollhouse off of a children's website, and then Jimmy spruced it up. He added little Chanel bottles, he spray-painted the walls — they completely revamped it. So yeah, there's a bathtub scene, there's a bed scene. The bed scene's very retro, like in a robe, you know? Each one just happened to come together perfectly. There was a look for every room. It's also really fun for me to channel a character. So I was just trying to really get into that mood. Like, I'm not Remi, I'm Barbie Remi.
I saw on Instagram that you're not always behind the camera, but you also spend time taking the photos. Is that something that you're super passionate about on the side?
Well, I only really started in 2020, so it's been about a year of taking photos, but it immediately became something I love to do because I felt like I had so much experience on the other side. And then I started shooting my girlfriends because I'm constantly around such beautiful, inspiring people. Jeffrey Campbell actually said to me, 'Hey, if we send you five pairs of shoes, can you shoot them?' So I put together — in the matter of like a week and a half — I got five different models, five different spots, and shot some stuff for them. It was so much fun. It kind of helps, having that vision, to create my music videos and to decide how I want my shoots to come out [too]. So yeah, I really like taking photos; it's a hobby, but it's also very much so a passion. Even for my last single, we had an installation at LAAMS, so I set up a photo booth. I like to do that — where I set a backdrop and I take people's portraits.
Now that “Spacey” and “No Escape” are here, are there any future plans for an EP?
There definitely are. I have maybe one or two singles lined up after this and then my plan is definitely to have the EP, hopefully, by the beginning of next year.
Remi's new music video, "No Escape" can be viewed below.