Hamed Wardak And Valen Of Wicked: A Dual Identity
Hamed Wardak grew up a gifted child who showed promise of a unique intellectual prowess at a very
early age. With a short and varied professional life behind him, Hamed Wardak
has not only demonstrated intellectual courage, but chameleon-like agility of
thought combined with a focused, creative approach to his professional
assignments that commonly places Hamed one step ahead of the curve.
When Success Is Engrained From the Beginning
Hamed Wardak was born
the son of Defense Minister Abdul Rahim Wardak in Kabul,
Afghanistan, in 1977. He spent the better portion of his developmental years
between Pakistan and the United States.
Hamed Wardak graduated
valedictorian of his class at Georgetown University in 1997, earning a degree
in Government and Political Theory. Hamed Wardak was also the first student
from Georgetown University to receive the prestigious and historic Rhodes
Scholarship upon graduating.
Following his reliable
educational performance in the United
States, Hamed Wardak immediately return
to his native land of Afghanistan to help those that were in need during the
Afghan Civil War. After fighting the good fight for his country’s freedoms, Wardak
promptly returned to the USA and positioned himself quickly as a business
leader with global reach working for corporate heavyweights like Merrill Lynch
and Technologists Inc. Technologists, Inc. acted as a social architect and
contractor for the United States Government, constructing and sustaining
business development endeavors in connection with the US Department of Defense
and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Under Hamed
Wardak’s authority, Technologists, Inc. generated $44 million in design and
manufactured numerous international deals to benefit Afghanistan.
The Entrepreneurialism of Hamed Wardak
Absorbing many lessons
from the corporate world, Wardak saw a creative adventure at his fingertips.
Taking a sharp right turn from the corporate monologue, Wardak embraced his
entrepreneurial readiness and moved on to create his clothing line, Ludas
Athletics, specializing in athletic apparel. Hamed Wardak spent his days
planting and watering the seeds of his growing business, but when the
entrepreneur finished at the office for the day, Hamed Wardak did not quit
there. Wardak picked up his socially-attuned pen and began moonlighting as a
contributing editor for The Huffington Post.
Undercover Philanthropy
Furthermore, Ludas
Athletics was not your run of the mill apparel brand. Hamed Wardak
strategically built and used his new business as a platform to raise global
awareness of many philanthropic efforts that Wardak had begun to work and fight
for from a very early age. Hamed Wardak became an instrument of change for the
refugee population of the world, devoting not only his time and innovative
ideas to their plight but by reserving Ludas Athletics profits for the UN
refugee agency, UNHCR.
As far as philanthropy
is concerned, Wardak assists in easing the lives of suffering refugees
displaced from their homeland just as he was at a young age. Wardak also
devotes a portion of every week developing educational opportunities for the
underprivileged and underserved youth across the globe. This charitable work
consistently colors and refocuses Wardak, driving him to make the life-altering
professional choices that he has made.
When asked how to build
a successful business, Hamed Wardak emphasizes that it
is critical to find the best possible talent, no matter the enterprise.
Moreover, he believes the best possible talent should come equipped with a
giving heart ready to work hard in pursuit of both professional and
philanthropic achievements. Wardak believes many young people are moving into
the professional workforce today who have an army of highly-developed skills
and a giving, empathetic nature. Still, employers do not always take the time
or make an effort to seek them out.
What Keeps Hamed Wardak Motivated?
So much success at such
an early age begs the question: How does Hamad
Wardak keep himself motivated? He says
that doing well comes, in part, from feeling well and taking good care of
oneself both physically and from an emotional perspective. He follows a strict
physical regimen that includes early morning sessions at the gym that can run
up to three hours or more. Wardak also uses his passion for his work, the
techno/electronica music that Valen of Wicked creates every day to energize and
excite him.
Who is Valen of Wicked?
Today, Hamad Wardak produces cutting-edge
and culturally-focused techno music. The name of his performance alias is Valen
of Wicked. Valen of Wicked’s musical landscape is raw yet
painstakingly-created, angry yet thought-provoking, and full of the passion
that fuels its creator. “Valen” symbolizes the honor and courage of
Wardak’s character forged by the many challenges he has overcome in lif0e thus
far. “Wicked” taps into the darkness rooted inside all of us. In the case of Hamed Wardak or Valen of Wicked, this darkness begins to shine as he
channels it into a mesmerizingly authentic musical supply that can be heard
throughout the world in techno music venues from New York City to Rio, from
Ibiza to Hong Kong.
Creating high-quality
electronic music takes a broad skill set and a significant amount of
discipline. Hamed Wardak infuses those qualities along with fastidious self-control and hungry
determination that helped him succeed in the business pursuits of his early
years directly into his musical endeavors. With a youthful mastery of the
software applications, sound production technique, and a deep understanding of
the techno music panorama, Hamed Wardak, now Valen of Wicked, is, once again,
has set himself ahead of the curve. Hamed’s hard work and focus are paving the
way for Wicked to quickly becoming a staple within the electronic and
international music niche.
Meaning and enthusiasm
There are purpose and
meaning behind the
music created by Valen of Wicked. Wardak
sees music as being key to communication between different cultures, and, when
he mixes down the right beats, he is speaking a universal language.
Additionally, Hamed Wardak believes that music can be an intricate part of any
individual’s healing process, whether their pain is physical, spiritual, or a
mixed hybrid. Valen of Wicked isn’t about merely entertaining; it’s about
bringing people together and sustaining the soul.
The Hamed Wardak Blog
Hamed Wardak’s newest
pet project is a blog space that he only took on recently. Hamed Wardak Speaks,
or The Hamed Wardak Blog focuses mainly on his new musical craft. Hamed and his
team of writers curate all of the content on the site. The blog focuses on a
unique and ever-changing electronica sound from every region of the globe.
Wardak keeps a close eye on the present techno beat and how that is displaying
itself.
There is a new entry on
Wardaks’ blog about the Iceland Airwaves Festival. Icelanders hold this annual
event in Reykjavik and have since 1999.
Iceland is a country
with a population of only 350,000, so it may seem like an unusual place for an
event that attracts the very latest and dynamic of the techno world, but that
is the case. The country has a history of musical activism that dates back to
the 1980s when alternative Icelandic acts like the Sugarcubes protested
corporate destruction of the environment in the name of profit, imperialism,
and social inequalities through groundbreaking art.
Currently, there is
tremendous unease in Iceland as traditional industries such as fishing and
agriculture are losing jobs to automation. There is also a spirit of hope that
the country can persevere through this time of change by focusing on attracting
more tourists to their beautiful country.
The Iceland
Airwaves Festival stands as a central
symbol of this national resilience, and it is attracting more and more visitors
from outside the country, especially from Europe and the United States.
Visitors come to the festival to hear techno acts and find themselves attracted
to the rugged beauty of Iceland’s rugged landscape. The Reykjavik local
government works with the festival’s organizers to create the best possible
experience for all.
When Will We See Valen of Wicked on Stage in Reykjavik
Perhaps very soon, Valen
of Wicked will get his chance to pay homage to this great country’s fight for
their homeland. Hamed Wardak certainly knows a thing or two about that
specifically harrowing fight.