Photo Credits: Dini Syafiyah / @dinieycamx_

Multi-cultural producer and storyteller Kiyan Foroughi has collaborated with vocalist Rachelle Ruby and rapper Maisa One on “Beautiful Distraction,” the second single off of his upcoming debut concept album, “inner light. OUTER SPACE.” This track is a seductive collision of genres that leads you to give into desire. Beyond the music, Foroughi shows his support for accessible healthcare by investing in the organization Watsi. To learn more about Kiyan Foroughi and his upcoming album, read on.

Where are you based?
For the past 10 years: Singapore. By way of Paris, Dubai, Boston, New York, and London. Thanks to that, I speak four languages fluently and one broken (Japanese). I've never really belonged to one place so that taught me to bridge worlds. That's what I do in music, in tech, and in life.

What inspired you to start making music?
I've always been a fan… obsessive, even. Growing up, I studied A Tribe Called Quest, the Soulquarians collective, J Dilla, Nujabes, french rapper MC Solaar, Massive Attack. I could tell you everything about their process, their philosophy, their influence. But I never saw myself as a creator.

That changed during COVID. I produced an EP for my team at work with hip hop MC and producer Funky DL… just something to lift spirits after a brutal year of lockdowns. When it resonated, something cracked open. I realized: I'd been hiding behind limiting beliefs. So I stopped performing and started creating. Late nights in Logic Pro followed, and a few years later, I had a story to tell. And that’s “inner light. OUTER SPACE.”, a concept album about the longest journey we ever take: the one back towards ourselves.

How would you describe the kind of music you make? Are there any artists or cultures in particular that influence your sound?
Neo-soul RnB meets conscious hip-hop with an ambient thread running through it. Think Erykah Badu meeting Nujabes in space.

The influences come from everywhere: the Soulquarians, J Dilla, Rumi's poetry, Carl Jung's psychology, trip hop. I grew up French of Iranian origin in Paris and Dubai, so I've always lived between East and West, old and new. That duality shows up in the music: tradition meeting experimentation, soul meeting space.

Congratulations on your latest single "Beautiful Distraction" feat. Rachelle Ruby and Masia One! What is the story behind this song?
It's the seduction moment in the album. The protagonist encounters the Enchantress: someone who embodies desire, illusion, everything she thinks she wants. But the Enchantress isn't external. She's a mirror. The track explores that tension: desire versus purpose, the things we chase versus what we actually need.

Masia One plays the Enchantress perfectly. I heard her for the first time before I even started the album, and I knew she would be perfect for it. She's worked with Pharrell, RZA, she knows how to embody presence. She’s commanding, a great songwriter and toes the line between charming and nefarious so well. Rachelle Ruby is the voice inside saying "yes." Together, they create this push-pull energy that feels dangerous and magnetic.

"Beautiful Distraction" is a collision of hip-hop, R&B, and a bit of 80s synth wave. What inspired the idea to merge these genres for this song?
The 80s synth wave production mirrors the seduction: it's nostalgic, shimmering, a little retro-futuristic. It feels like falling into something beautiful that might not be real. The hip-hop and R&B ground it in soul and story.

I wanted it to feel cinematic. Like you're watching the protagonist walk into temptation with your heart racing.

Your upcoming album "inner light. OUTER SPACE" is set to release soon. Can you tell us a bit about what we can expect to hear from it? What is the story behind this album?
It's a mythology. A protagonist goes to space searching for answers: validation, purpose, meaning. Along the way, she meets guides, temptations, shadows of herself. By the end, she realizes: the journey was never about reaching the stars. It was about remembering she was always one in the first place.

The album has 10 tracks. Each one is a moment in the journey: hope, temptation, collapse, integration, homecoming. Collaborators include Substantial (Nujabes' most frequent collaborator), Masia One, singer songwriter George Azzi, Jude, and actor Darius Homayoun from Succession. The protagonist throughout is voiced by vocalist Rachelle Ruby, who is authentic, vulnerable and ethereal.

It's accessible, but layered. You can listen casually or dive deep. It's meant to meet you where you are.

The entire project is a journey through space aimed at discovery. What are some of the themes we can expect to see explored throughout the project?
Ego versus self. Desire versus purpose. The masks we wear for validation and approval. What it means to integrate your shadows (ego, anger, guilt) instead of fighting them. And ultimately: the journey back to who you were before you forgot.

There's a lot of Persian poet Rumi and psychotherapist Carl Jung woven through it, but it's not preachy.

You are using your new album as a message to promote mental health and internal self-worth. Can you talk about this a little bit?
We live in a world that tells you your worth is external: followers, titles, achievements, approval from others. The album challenges that. It asks: what if the destination was always internal? What if you stopped performing and just... were?

I went through my own version of this journey. Divorce, a business shutdown, seeking approval from external sources. I rebuilt from scratch the past few years. I had to drop the masks I was wearing and ask: who am I when no one's watching? That question became the album.

If someone listens and realizes they don't need to chase validation to feel whole, the album did its job.

What are some ways in which you weave culture into your music?
I'm Persian, so that’s how Rumi's fingerprints are all over this. The album's structure mirrors his philosophy: leave yourself to find yourself. I also pull from French hip-hop (MC Solaar's wordplay and storytelling), Japanese production aesthetics (Nujabes' soul, ambience and space), Black American musical traditions (neo-soul, boom-bap, jazz) and the UK (Bristol's trip hop sound).

I also think my dual life as a tech founder and music producer shows up in the work too. At Needle, I'm building systems that scale marketing and storytelling for our customers. In music, I'm building narratives that resonate. Both require: bridging worlds, curating collaborators, telling stories. The tools are different. The philosophy is the same.

Rachelle Ruby is Singaporean Chinese. Substantial is a Black American conscious rapper. Masia One is Canadian-Singaporean. George Azzi is originally from Lebanon. Darius Homayoun is an American of Persian origin as well. Our sound engineer Taiyo Shirai is American-Japanese. The album is a diaspora coming together to tell a universal story.

What do you hope listeners take away from your music?
That they were always enough. That the journey they're on isn't about arriving somewhere other than back to yourself. So it's about remembering who you were in the first place.

And maybe, if they're ready: permission to drop the masks.

Kiyan, you are an investor and former advisor at Watsi, an organization dedicated to making healthcare more accessible. Can you tell us more about this organization and your involvement? What inspired you to join?
Watsi crowd funds life-changing medical care for people who can't afford it, mainly in underserved regions. I got involved not only because I loved the mission and their approach which involved a lot of story telling. They use a lot of grounded, human imagery to tell the stories before, and after, of the people who you help fund life changing healthcare for.

Affordable healthcare seems to be becoming a bigger issue these days. What are your thoughts on this?
It's a crisis. It is systems and incentives gone wrong. In this case, capitalism and lobbyism pushed to the max. The fact that people in some of the richest countries on Earth have to choose between medical care and financial ruin is saddening.

Healthcare should be infrastructure, not commerce. The systems and the incentives for all the actors around it (pharma & insurance companies, politicians etc.) needs to change. Not to mention that the billionaire class paying a bit more taxes could put the funds in the coffers of these countries to provide affordable healthcare to its citizens.

What do you hope to see for the future of the music industry regarding representation?
I want to see people who don't fit the boxes get heard. I want diasporas telling their stories without diluting them for mainstream palatability. I want neo-soul and conscious hip-hop to stop being called "niche" just because it doesn't chase TikTok virality with soulless catchy hooks, or little viral dance moments.

Representation is less about who's in the room for me. It’s more about who gets to tell the story authentically.

What advice do you have for young individuals starting their career in the music industry?
Make the thing only you can make. Don't chase what's trending. Don't perform for validation. That doesn’t tend to end well. Look at what happened to Drake getting exposed by Kendrick Lamar.

And build systems that compound… whether that's your creative process, your collaborations, your audience. The people chasing quick wins burn out. The people doing the small things consistently and playing the long game tend to win. And build legacies.

Are there any upcoming projects you are currently working on that we should be on the lookout for?
The album drops February 27. Beyond that, all that I can say is that the “inner light. OUTER SPACE” story is not over. And… I'm just getting started.

It has been a crazy few years, and we expect at least three more. How have you been staying positive?
For sure, we're in for a rough ride. But I don't chase positive. I chase presence. Some days are heavy. Some days are light. I let them be what they are.

What keeps me grounded: being in tune with my heart's emotions, my mind's thoughts, my body's reactions… and letting my soul lead the way. Because the soul knows.

Also: creating, building, surrounding myself with people who see me, not the performance. And remembering that everything is temporary: the good, the bad, the noise.

What is your motto in life?
I have a few I’ve ingrained as habits over the years. Right now, it’s "Kill your ego when it's protecting your self-image. Use it when it's fuel for the scoreboard."

Know when to get out of your own way. Know when to step into your power. The difference is everything. And always tricky in practice.

To learn more about Kiyan Forought, please check out the links below:
Music:
Instagram: @kiyanforoughi

Instagram: @rachellerubyx

Spotify: Kiyan Foroughi

Spotify Pre-save link for the album “inner light. OUTER SPACE.”

YouTube: @kiyan_foroughi

Organizations:

Needle (my company): askneedle.com

Watsi: watsi.org