For the past few weeks, I have realized how toxic the way we as Americans are living is.
A white person most likely will be diagnosed with a mental health problem at least every day, but a black person will not even have enough money to buy a healthcare plan that would allow them coverage for a quality professional psychologist.
Meanwhile, the best Women’s National Soccer (or Football depending where you live) Team in the world is paid less than one of the worst Men’s Soccer National Team in the world. In other words, the USA Men’s National Soccer Team players average $60k while USA Women’s National Soccer Team players average $40k.
This past Women’s World Cup, USA won the national title. This past Men’s World Cup, USA didn’t even make it to the beginning stages.
So why am I bringing this up? Well for one, it’s not to piss people off… That’s the last thing I want to do! I am bringing this up because that’s exactly what Simply Vika is trying to raise awareness for.
Vika is raising awareness for women empowerment, equality, and personal growth. These topics are certianly being focused on across America and even the world.
But in my opinion, it’s something that everyone should be working on EVERYDAY.
Vika grew up in a very musical family, and she felt it was always only a hobby. “But somewhere on the way, during my childhood and teenage years, I heard the phrase ‘singer is not a career’, and it got to me,” she says. When she was 22 years old, she realized how much it affected her as she came out of the army and started going down her own path. At first, she questioned if she even had a career passion, but then she realized how much music meant to her. “Music excites me, music helps me, music is my way to communicate with myself and the rest of the world,” Vika says.
“Right after I decided that I am going to make my dream come true, I realised that there is a lot of discrimination issues in our world, I started noticing more and more all the things that are wrong, from the smallest things like dynamics at a work place to larger things like harassments”. Vika says these things that she finds unjust is what inspires her music. She felt like she wanted to be one to help provoke a change in the world, and wanted to help make this world be a better place for everyone. She wants people to chase their dreams like she is, and not let other’s opinions to hold them back like it almost did to her.
Vika is in the beginning stages of her career, so it is hard to gauge what her fan base is like right now. She does know that most of the people that support her music are girls and women.
“We are all different in our unique special way, we all are people, and no matter what what race, gender or nationality we are coming from – we are equal, and we deserve to be treated that way.”
~Vika (6/8/2020)
Vika’s songs are very different compared to other songs I usually review, and I am actually happy about that because not only does it allow me to write about something that is very relevant to what’s going on in today’s USA news… But I am also broadening the Unedited music community as well!
Stigma stood out to me as a very poignant song that wanted to get a message apart, and it did very much that. I think that Vika’s voice is very straightforward in this song, and not to mention how important the song’s meaning is. If I didn’t find passion in music discovery, then this blog would never existed in my life. So I am happy to say that I also stand for following your dreams!
Her newest song I’m Trying will have to be my favorite because of how personal and vulnerable the song is. “It’s basically me pouring my heart out. I talk about how hard it is to succeed, how hard it is to stay creative while everyone talks about money all the time, about how hard it is to stay YOU in our society. So literally, it’s about me trying,” remarks Vika. It is indeed a very cruel and sometimes unforgiving world we all live in. But believing in yourself like Vika is everyday is something that always needs to come first before anything or anyone during your daily life.
“Many of my songs are very sarcastic and criticising society. I am here to tell people that if you want music as a career – do it, if you want to be an astronaut – do it, if you want to get married or if you don’t want to get married – do only what you feel is good for you.”
~Vika
When I asked what Vika has learnt about herself during quarantine, she told me “nothing I didn’t know already. But it proved to me that I am not a home person. I work the best when I’m busy. I need a crazy schedule to keep moving. Too much free time, I start losing it and I go crazy. My productivity is amazing when I have 0 free minutes on my schedule, so I’m waiting for one craziness to end so my personal one could start again.”
With that said, Vika is continuing to work hard on a project of songs “that (are) going to concentrate on all kinds of abuse and violence,” she says.
After the pandemic clears up enough, Vika is looking into volunteering more with local shelters and organizations to start “change from the inside, to physically help people, listen to their stories, be there for them, support them and help them build a better future. I want to start organizing fundraisers, collect donations and create more awareness,” she says.
These two pieces, her 6 songs she’s working on and the volunteer work she will be seeking out will be molded into what will be her next EP.
I would like to thank Simply Vika for staying in touch and waiting patiently for this article that was in the works for a few weeks.
You can listen to Vika on Spotify and SoundCloud, and follow her on Facebook and Instagram.
You can follow Unedited Music Blog on Facebook (@uneditedmb) and Instagram (@unedited_music_blog), and listen to other music reviewed on this blog on Spotify and SoundCloud.
I hope everyone has a wonderful rest of their week, and remember to stay safe and stay at home if your feeling sick! If you are protesting remember to do it peacefully, and know that I want your voice to be heard but wear a mask and remember hand sanitizer!
The Minimalistic Music Blog 