THE WEAPON

RULETA URBANA
The weapon


Quebec, Canada : This was definitely one of my favorite interviews, first beacuse the guy I was interviwing was smoking hot and second because he was very talented and interesting.
The sleeveless t-shirt he was wearing revealed his strong dark-skinned arms, and his cap shaded his eyes, but I could still see through his long eyelashes that framed the most captivaiting gaze. His brown eyes were enigmatic, challenging and had a touch of hypnotic tenderness. When I see my photos and videos of him, I don't see the same guy that I met, which drives me to the conclusion that what makes him so irresistible is his outstanding personality, the one he has been forging in a fight for life and happiness.
Imran is the result of his Pakistani father's desire to stay longer in the United Kingdom after his visa expired. Through his father's search for the nationality, he met a beautiful Welsh girl with with milky-white skin that contrasted with his own. Imran got his eyes from his father, which explains how he made her fall in love so quickly. The marriage did not last long, but long enough to create two small boys.
The two boys learned to cope with the consequences of divorce and from a very early age Imran and his brother found themselves going from one house to another, changing schools all the time and suffering racial discrimination for their different skin colour.
Imran's older brother always took care of him as well as he could, as a consequence of his mother's absence, and bad treat by their grandmother who do not accept having half Pakistani grandchildren.
One of the things for which Imran thanks his brother the most is for having taught him how to hit others in self defence and knock out teeth. That knowledge and attitude is what kept him alive during his life in the poor neighbohoods of Wales, where people count the days they survive drugs, alcohol and gangs.
Imran's refuge was always the music, where he found a distraction, and was through music his brain developed in a healthy enviroment, away from the insults of his grandmother.
It was music that brought Imran and his brother together.
When they were children, they put together some drums made of boxes, pans and sticks.
While one of them would look through the window to check that their grandmother was not coming home, the other would practice on their makeshift drums. They knew that she was always looking for any excuse to be mean to them.
The two brothers’ interest in music grew and they soon found themselves playing real drums in one of their neighbours’ garages. Suddenly they had a group of four playing rock covers. They were good, and local clubs began to ask them to play.
Imran was only 13 at that stage, and he was living a rock star life with his brother and friend who were over 20. The group did not last too long; two of the members died due to drug abuse. After that Imran’s brother stoped playing and Imran - being a teenager - decided that kind of life is not what he wanted.
Imran believed in happiness and knew he deserved it, so he decided to fight for it with the best weapon he had, creativity. During his life music had always transported him to other places in his mind and this time his music took him to a real different place in this world. Imran has since been on international stages as a hip-hop mc and beatboxer. His songs’ lyrics have a message of peace, and their beats are irresistible.
Now Imran works with kids at poor schools and in youth prisons teaching them music. He has great dreams; such as creating new kinds of music and dance. Imran won his own battle with creativity and talent and now he shares his experience with other people who are in the same situation he survived.
This Welshman of dark skin and magnetic personality has two special places in my heart, one for being so handsome and another for been so talented.