Music has been an integral part of my life; from classical and popular music to rock, you will find an entire gamut on my Spotify playlist. Whenever I feel sad or happy, worried or excited, I put on my favorite track to either calm myself down or lift myself. I don’t know about you, but music has this innate quality that allows people to get in touch with their inner and complicated emotions. It's as if various musical scores are synthesizing the hard-to-articulate thoughts into bite-sized, easily digestible nuggets.   Given my music appreciation, one might think that I listen to or at least know more about hip-hop, mainly due to the global influence of hip-hop culture on music styles, fashion, technology, art, entertainment, language, dance, education, politics, media, and more, but unfortunately, I don’t know much. To satiate my thirst for learning, talk about hip-hop, and discuss food and music in general, we have Zainab Hasnain, a DJ, music producer, and writer based in Brooklyn, New York, who previously worked at Spotify. Born in Pakistan and raised in the states, she plays weekly gigs and headlines shows, including recently DJing for actor Riz Ahmed in Brooklyn. She also writes for many music journals and magazines, interviewing up-and-coming artists in NYC’s hip-hop scene and new artists from around the country. She’s been DJing under the moniker ZEEMUFFIN for over ten years. Join the conversation: Instagram @immigrantlypod | Twitter @immigrantly_pod |  Please share the love and leave us a review to help more people find us! Host & Executive Producer: Saadia Khan I Content Writer: Saadia Khan & Ziya Jaffrey I Editorial Review: Yudi Liu  I Sound Designer & Editor: Haziq Ahmad Farid I Immigrantly Theme Music: Evan Ray Suzuki I Other Music: Epidemic Sounds