ABIR on ‘First Quarter’ and The Game of Love

For ABIR, love isn’t just an emotion—it’s a game. The Moroccan-American artist is rolling out her upcoming album The Game in a way that mirrors the highs and lows of love itself. Instead of dropping a full project all at once, she’s breaking it into three EPs, each representing a different stage of a relationship, before bringing everything together in the final album.

With First Quarter—the first EP in the series—out on April 25th, ABIR has also released Made 4 U, a heartfelt single that sets the tone for what’s to come. “It came from a real moment—just feeling like someone was placed in my life for a reason,” she told me. “The song is a reminder that love really is written.”

Known for her seamless fusion of R&B, pop, and Moroccan influences, ABIR has always pushed the boundaries of sound while staying deeply connected to her roots. We sat down to talk about her creative process, the emotional rollercoaster of love, and the ever-evolving journey of defining her own sound.

Love as a Game

When I asked ABIR what inspired the idea of structuring The Game like an actual game, she immediately said.

“I’ve always seen love as a game,” she said. “It’s beautiful and passionate but also unpredictable and frustrating, and I wanted the rollout to mirror that. Breaking it up into three EPs before the full album lets people sit with each phase before they get the full story.”

First Quarter is the spark—the intoxicating high of something new, when everything feels exciting but also slightly uncertain. Each track taps into different aspects of that early stage: the thrill, the hesitation, the walls we put up when something feels too good to be true.

As we talked about the upcoming phases, ABIR broke it down further. Second Quarter will explore doubt and questions, while Third Quarter brings the turbulence—the moments when it feels like you might be losing yourself, the relationship, or even the fight altogether. “And then The Game, the full album, is where everything comes together. You’ll have to wait and see how it all plays out,” she teased.

Despite the conceptual structure, ABIR insisted the process wasn’t overly calculated. “I was just in a space where I wanted to write about things I don’t usually dive into—love and relationships. As the songs started coming together, I noticed a pattern: some captured the highs, others the lows, and some were in between. My manager and I started thinking, how can we make this more meaningful? Not just another love project, but something layered—something that really reflects the emotional shifts we all go through.”

Building a Sound That Feels Like Home

We also talked about her sound—how she continues to evolve while staying connected to her Moroccan roots.

“It gave me range,” she said when I asked about the cultural influences in her music. Born in Fez, Morocco, before moving to Virginia as a child, she grew up in a household where Arabic melodies as well as Beyonce and Etta James music filled the air. “I never fit into one box, and I love that.”

But blending Arabic and Western sounds wasn’t something that happened overnight. “It’s something I always dreamt of doing, but I didn’t fully lean into it until 2019. It took research, experimentation, and a lot of trial and error.”

That fusion of cultures can be heard in her melodies, vocal delivery, and production choices, but it’s also in her approach to storytelling. “Umm Kulthum taught me about emotion, Etta James taught me about soul, Beyoncé taught me about precision. It’s all in how I approach a song—I want every note and lyric to have purpose.”

On First Quarter, the result is a project that feels both nostalgic and fresh, pulling inspiration from early 2000s R&B while still pushing into new territory. “I wanted this to be something you could blast in your car but also cry to at 2 a.m. Variety!!!” she laughed.

Evolution & The Road Ahead

When we talked about her evolution as an artist, ABIR reflected on how each project has been its own world.

“Every project is like a new world for me. What feels like my forever sound one year might not resonate the same the next,” she admitted. “With The Game, I feel like I’ve finally stopped trying to prove anything. I’m just telling the truth and letting the music speak.”

A standout track from First Quarter is Something Real, which she described as the song that set the tone for the entire project. “It came from a place of wanting to be vulnerable but also confronting how hard that actually is,” she shared. “That balance between confidence and fear—it’s something I think a lot of people can relate to.”

As for what’s next, ABIR is keeping things open-ended. She hopes to bring a few artists on for remixes when the full album drops and is excited about diving into more creative projects as the rollout continues. “Nothing is set in stone yet, but I know there’s so much more I want to do.”

With First Quarter marking the beginning of The Game, ABIR is setting the stage for what promises to be an immersive, deeply personal exploration of love’s highs and lows. And if this first chapter is any indication, the full album will be worth the wait.