Armenian celebrity artist Super Sako tells us about his latest collaboration with Mohamed Ramadan
"I have two very good friends-their names are Mo and Murad -they are Moroccan,and they invited me for King’s Day in Morocco...honouring his Highness, Mohammed VI."
"As soon as me and Mohamed Ramadan met, the energy was there and we were like"yo we need to do a song together!”
Tell us about your upbringing and how you got into music?
Well I was born in Armenia and I come from a musical family -my father was a piano and accordion player, my mom was a singer and my two sisters were also pianists. That being said, they never gave me a chance to get a musical education. When I grew up, I just took it up on my own because I really loved music and it was in my blood. I just started my own career. I had a vision of me belonging to the stage, so I just took that vision and ran with it.
Please tell us more details about how your collaboration with Mohamed Ramadan came to life?
I have two very good friends-their names are Mo and Murad -they are Moroccan, and they invited me for King’s Day in Morocco. King’s Day is a great event honoring his Highness, Mohammed VI. And we all went to Morocco and Mo introduced me to Mohamed Ramadan who was invited there amongst other celebrities. As soon as me and Mohamed met,the energy was there and we were like " yo we need to do a song together!” And that is where the idea was born. When I sent him the instrumental track of “Tik Tok”, he automatically loved it. He sent me a voice note and he said, "hey this is great “and 2 -3 days later I had the song from him-he had recorded everything and sent it back to me. So, I really got excited and because of his excitement, I got excited even more! So, we did the song and planned the release.
Unfortunately, due to the coronavirus, we couldn’t get together to shoot the video ,so he shot his part in Egypt and I did my part in Los Angeles. And the director is also a very talented director- Hussein- he put everything together so nicely. And I believe it succeeded!
Every artist dreams to launch a new song on a screen in New York's Time Square! How did you and Mohamed Ramadan do it?
Regarding the song’s name, Tik Tok, I guess Tik Tok wanted to partner with Mohamed for a while and since we made a song called Tik Tok, it was perfect timing, so they jumped on board. And they did the collaboration and put support behind it. Mohamed’s team and Tik Tok just came to the table and wanted to put together something big and surprising.
Unfortunately, we are in this pandemic era where there are not a lot of people out on the street, in the clubs and restaurants to party under the song but I believe the song became an instant hit.
Having millions of views is not new to your YouTube channel, but how did Tik Tok compare to your previous songs by getting over 8 million views in less than a week?
You know-it’s really a hit and miss with music. You can put something out and people won’t react to it. I believe the song is an instant hit and I am not used to every song achieving such numbers like this- I think it’s a genuinely hit and that’s why it’s doing well.
What are the bigger challenges as an American artist with Middle Eastern background?
The challenges are "you have to kind of always have to prove yourself" and you can’t just sort of walk in somewhere and be accepted from the get go. There is so much competition thinking of all of the awards such as the Grammy awards and who you are competing against. You really have to show what you are capable of doing.
What advice would you offer to youth in the community aspiring to pursue a career in the arts?
My main thing is that I really advice is to never give up on your dream. IF YOU see yourself doing it, then you can do it. There is nothing in the world that can stop you, giving up has never been an option and you just keep trying until you make it.
What message do you have for your fans?
Be kind, be true to yourself and always believe in karma. That’s it!