Around the end of last year, I put out the first edition of “Farqqua Iris,” a compilation of collaborations with various artists with the intent of raising money to provide financial support to those in Gaza. An extremely large portion of the population in Gaza hasn’t eaten in days. Fresh water is also very scarce. What little food is available is unreasonably expensive. These people have had their homes and lives stripped from them, and go through unimaginable suffering every single day. Many risk their lives just to get a bag of flour.

Today, I am extremely happy to announce the beginning of the second edition of Faqqua Iris, with the release of “Blessed.” This song began as a rework of the song “portraits of tracy” by noelle.  Noelle is one of my fav smaller artists doing their thing rn and I’m extremely grateful he allowed me to repurpose one of his tracks.

There’s a few different version of this song within the Bandcamp release. One features a text-to-speech reading of the sermon on the mount, the inspiration for the title “Blessed.” This version was inspired by the anger I feel when people utilize religion to justify what has taken place in Gaza. I feel that the sermon is extremely applicable to those suffering in Gaza under the occupation. Outside of religious contexts, the sermon can be interpreted as Jesus speaking to those affected by the presence of the Roman Empire in the Middle East. Kinda weird that there’s a similar authoritarian presence today. Kinda weird that the Romans killed Jesus because they saw him as a threat to their authority. Kinda reminds me of how another regime handles things. But anyway, hoping that using a bible verse can in some way undermine the weaponization of religion to justify something so inhumane.

It’s just hard for me to comprehend how so much suffering can exist in the universe, and I really want to believe that some sort of blessings await those who are currently suffering, those who have suffered, those who have been martyred.

I feel that all artists and creatives should create for Palestine, should use their talents to make something that is intended to help people. I urge all artists to do so.

All money these songs generate will be used to help those in Gaza.