Soul Searching: AHMIR
posted in: Features • Urban
This week’s Soul Searching artist is one that you may have heard of if you’ve spent any time on YouTube to browse new talent. AHMIR is an east coast-based group that has been taking the nation by storm thanks to their fantastic originals and covers posted on YouTube. Their tight four part harmonies make every song they sing really fun to listen to. Take a listen to their cover of The Climb and check out the interview with AHMIR below!
OS: How was the group formed? Where did you guys meet?
AHMIR: We all met in Boston while there for either scholastic or family/personal reasons. The group was formed slowly and over time. Big Mike and Mr. Jones knew each other first. . .then met their present manager Michael Cheung. Then they met KC through auditions and finally Big Mike scouted Sing-Sing at a gospel concert at the Berklee College of Music where he was a student.
OS: You guys do a lot of covers on YouTube. Which artists do you like covering the most?
AHMIR: No particular artist, but we LOVE covering artists that are outside of what is perceived to be our “genre” which is R&B. Some of these cross-genre covers have been our favorites and most successful on YouTube. AHMIR has covered Britany Spears, Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift, Lady Antebellum, The Jonas Brothers, Train and many more. What’s really cool is that some of these artists have actually seen our covers of their song and said how much they liked it! There’s a great video on YouTube of Miley Cyrus watching us sing “The Climb” where she says “They’re so freakin’ good… I got chills.” ( You can check out the video here.)
OS: AHMIR has been incredibly successful thus far. What is your definition of musical success? What are some stand out goals of yours where you would sit back and say We made it!?
AHMIR: Success probably has two sides for us. In one regard, we are already successful as we are able to share our music with the world because of the large fanbase we have established over the years and all the media and press coverage. The other half of that would be able to do it on a larger scale and also be able to live from the financial benefits and be able to afford to give back financially and otherwise to the world. That is really the type of success that we’re looking to achieve right now. So once we get to that point, we might be able to say “We made it,”,but right now we still feel like we’re in a battle and trying to win. Nevertheless, some of the achievements that we’re proud of are charting at Number 19 on Billboard with our debut single “Welcome To My Party,” touring through Germany, winning BET’s 106 & Park R&B group competition, being featured in Billboard magazine, being a finalist on NBC’s America’s Got Talent, appearing on FOX Morning News and CNN, performing live on stage with Universal Republic recording artist Owl City and becoming the Number 1 Most Popular R&B Group on YouTube with over 20 million views.
OS: Any plans for up and coming albums or major projects?
AHMIR: We plan on releasing a brand new single late 2010 or early 2011 and hopefully another album mid 2011 to early 2012. There are some great things that are happening behind the scenes and we believe that we will be in a position to make some truly amazing stuff happen in the near future.
Make sure to stay tuned for next week’s Soul Searching artist, and as always, please comment and let us know if you find someone you think would be great for us to feature!