May Abdel Aziz is a woman who prides herself on wearing many hats. A singer with a passion for teaching, May is well known for her big heart and a heavenly voice. She wants to make the world a better place through her music and acts of kindness. We got up close and personal with maverick May.
Tell us a little bit about yourself…
I’m May, turning 30 on the 21st of October and I’m really excited about it! I studied Mass Communications at AUC and then I studied child psychology at UCLA in the US. Singing and teaching are the things I love the most in life. I teach children in Egypt and other African countries the importance of music and its messages.
When did you know that you wanted to sing?
I’ve always loved singing. When I was young I would listen to cassette tapes and sing along. I also used to sing to my friends in college. My first performance took place at an open mic event in 2010, hosted by the beautiful Mariam El Owesni who introduced the idea of open mic in Egypt. I sang Halo by Beyoncé which is a song that I really love till this moment. Later on, I made a song called Beautiful Mohammed which was at that time a response to an insulting film that was about prophet Mohammed (PBUH) and it was how I expressed my sadness and concern through music and reached out to people to tell them the truth about such a beautiful, kind and peaceful man. The song just spread like wildfire; people were sharing it all over the world and I’ve had people contacting me from different countries asking me about Islam. I was also flown into Lebanon to talk about the song in a TV show and that’s when I experienced the notion of delivering an important message through a powerful song.
What inspires and excites you?
Pretty much everything! My number one inspiration is my family; my father, mother and two brothers. They are the ones who developed my thoughts about life. They are always beside me helping me to understand life and become who I am.
I also have so many role models like Maya Angelou, the amazing poet as well as the late Dr. Mostafa Mahmoud who really inspired me with his views on theology and the modern world.
Also, my favorite musician is the singer Tori Kelly.
Another love of mine are animals, especially great white sharks, chimpanzees and cats. I have three cats; one of them is a rescue cat. Rescuing animals is an inspiration to me because it helps voiceless creatures and makes you kind. And since I love chimpanzees I love Jane Goodall who is a chimpanzee advocate and rescuer.
On the other hand, I’m a social person but I love my alone time and my solitude, it helps me connect and be in tune with my thoughts and it really helps me grow.
What are the best aspects of being a singer/teacher?
Being a teacher makes you able to transfer your thoughts and knowledge to someone else and to see the kids understanding what I have taught them and transfer it to others too is the most rewarding feeling ever. As for singing, whenever I’m singing a song that carries a certain message and make eye contact with a person from the audience and feel a connection like you are able to touch people and see it instantly is an amazing feeling. Also the feeling of peacefulness, when you sleep at night knowing that you’re doing good things.
Share with us a touching moment in your teaching journey?
My brother’s mother-in-law was such an amazing person, and Lina my brother’s wife wouldn’t let go of her mother’s things when she passed away. I tried to convince her to give away things for people in need but it was emotionally difficult for Lina. Until one day I told her that I was going to Uganda and that she would be happy donating her mother’s clothes and seeing how happy people can be to have them and she was finally convinced. So, when I went there and the students were responding positively and answering correctly I got out the things and gave them to the kids, the teachers, and the kids’ mothers, and I just cannot describe enough the happiness on their faces. I sent Lina pictures to show her and she was very touched and was crying of happiness. She couldn’t believe how her mother’s things were meant to go this place and have such a wonderful purpose.
What is your greatest achievement?
My greatest achievement is being able to manage all these things at the same time. I believe we are all multitalented individuals and that our brain is genius, we shouldn’t only do one thing. So I take pride in being a teacher and a singer and that I also paint sometimes and play tennis. Also, I’m always open to learning and experiencing new things such as taking sewing classes!
What was the most challenging moment in your journey so far?
The most challenging thing in this journey would be cyber bullying, when people give you negative and insulting comments that aren’t constructive at all. I remember an incident where a friend of mine was organizing a workshop about how to be a respectful human being and I posted about it. Some people’s responses were very insulting and abusive that it led me to shut down my social media accounts for three days. This taught me how not to take things personally and that people’s opinion of you doesn’t define you. So it’s a huge challenge to those who chose to be public figures, to be able to affect people without letting all the negativity get to them.
What do you want to accomplish in the future?
I have started a movement called acts of kindness to spread kindness and positivity all over the world and it started last February. I reached out to my fans and people volunteered to participate and so we grouped together and went into the streets and distributed papers that had simple messages written on them such as “good morning” and “laugh” and the papers would have candies, chocolates or flowers with them. This became so popular and more and more people started to show up. In the future I would like to spread this movement all over the world and have teams do that in different countries. Also, I want to be an international singer and be well known for the things I do.
What are your other passions?
I love being around animals, as they give me such a peaceful feeling, I finally saw a chimpanzee recently, and I want to plan a shark cage diving for my 30th birthday. I also love dinosaurs so I enjoy going to natural history museums and see what life was like millions of years ago. I love sunsets, painting, sending and receiving gifts and I also love playing tennis, which I’m pretty good at.
Who do you consider your biggest supporter?
I would say my biggest support is God and sadly, for so many people, the idea of having a connection with God comes out to fear and it shouldn’t be like that, God is beautiful and merciful. Second is my family, they mean everything to me. And of course my good and close friends who are very supportive and they’ve been there for me through thick and thin.
Any message you would like to send out to the world?
It’s very easy to be negative and distribute hate and get affected by people’s opinion but we should always be full of positivity and kindness, explore and understand our talents and tolerate the world and each other. It is very important to always show love and solidarity.
To all the men out there: I believe you go through so much and that you are under so many pressures to excel at everything, but you also have your weaknesses that need to be let out sometimes.
To all the women especially in the Middle East: Its true that we go through so much, but we have also reached good places in life so we should stay strong and always empower each other!
To the young generation: Be aware of your thoughts and ideas and be protective of them, don’t be impressionable and get affected by the things around you easily.
