When Metro last talked to Massari three years ago, he was regaling us about what would make a perfect date. His included a steak dinner, rose petals on the bed and Boyz II Men playing in the background. These days, it would consist of popcorn, a movie and snuggling on the couch with sweat pants on.
It’s an unlikely answer from, all appearances to the contrary, a deceptively uncomplicated and driven man.
Upon listening to the release of sophomore effort Forever Massari, released last Tuesday in Canada and slated for international audiences today, one would suspect the Beirut-via-Ottawa R&B artist to be obsessed with pizzazz, and the desire to lay down a driving, edgy club beat.
It’s certainly seems to be the case with lead-off single Body Body, wherein Massari (born Sari Abboud) samples 1987 dance track Push It by Salt N’ Pepa.
But the latest release is just one aspect of the empire for which he wants to be known, one which includes a clothing line, charity work and a signature cologne by this time next year.
“My goal for this album is my goal for everything else I want to do — global domination,” he said.
“I have a philosophy of ‘expect nothing, get everything’ and I’m hoping for the best. I haven’t stopped working since my first album (2006’s Massari, which went gold in Canada), although that work has been in different areas. I’m making sure people know that was the groundwork for what I’m doing now. I have my hands in everything and I like it that way.”
A grand plan lies beneath the infamously chin-strapped exterior — a beard style he left behind after attending too many Halloween parties full of people dressed as him — one that Massari has, up to this point, been executing with modest success, growing from independent artist to major-label-backed Canadian star with some international notice.
Besides the fact he can sing in three languages (English, French and Arabic) and has rarely met an old school beat he didn’t like, Massari, whose name translates to “money” from Middle Eastern slang, credits flashy designer clothing, jewelry and cars as a huge chunk of the appeal. Tools for the greater goal of leaving something to remember, he says.
“Well, I don’t half-ass anything,” he laughs. “These are all tools to accomplish my mission. To be successful in the business, you have to have these things, but of course none of it is real, or the real you. Money doesn’t dictate my life, the work and the results do.”
When I leave this world, I’ll leave with nothing. And, God willing, it will be my deeds, accomplishments and actions that will count for something. We’ll remember people who were feared, for all the wrong reasons, but we remember people who were loved even more. That’s what I care about.”
