#arabicpop — Public Fediverse posts

Self-Titled Summer | Abdel Aziz El Mubarak (1987, Sudan)

Next in our new Self-Titled Summer series is number 372 on The List, submitted by platenworm. Here are the deets, as they say:

• Point(s) of origin: Abdel Aziz El Mubarak was born into a family of musicians in 1951 in Wad Madani, where he went on to study music at university and, by the mid-70s, had become a popular Sudanese singer (with a focus on love songs) and bandleader. His discographies on Discogs and Wikipedia do not match (and I’ve seen about three different release dates for this album), but this does not appear to be his first studio album. I believe he had already been touring internationally for around a decade by the time this album was released. Most if not all of the band members are also Sudanese.
• Tasting notes: Sudanese and Arabic pop with an almost jazz-/swing band base – lovely tenor vocals backed by a tight 10-piece band that includes accordion, saxophone, tabla, and 4 violins.
• Standout track: “Tarig Ash-shoag”, a 9.5-minute-long banger where both the vocals and saxophone really shine.
• RIP: Abdel Aziz El Mubarak left us in 2019.
• Websites: Wikipedia

Happy listening!

• Songlink: Abdel Aziz El Mubarak – Abdel Aziz El Mubarak
• Discogs: Abdel Aziz El Mubarak – Abdel Aziz El Mubarak

#1980s #AbdelAzizElMubarak #ArabicMusic #ArabicPop #music #musicDiscovery #selftitled #Sudan #SudanesePop

Noel Kharman (نويل خرمان) – Mouthakerti (مذكرتي) (2023, Palestine/Jordan)

Our next spotlight is on number 500 on The List, submitted by ado.

If you’re cooler than me, you may have already heard of Palestinian singer and songwriter Noel Kharman (نويل خرمان) from her popular mash-up videos (some going back to almost 10 years ago) where she blends a Western song (in English, Spanish, or French) with an Eastern song (in Arabic or Turkish), as her cover of Adele’s “Hello” mixed with Lebanese star Fairouz’s “Keefak Enta” and Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito” with Syrian musician Ahmad Al Maslawi’s “Akherran Galaha” have each gotten double-digit millions of views. Or, perhaps you caught wind of her via the music video for her first original track, “Ann Alawan“, sung from the perspective of her mother after they lost Kharman’s father; in the 3 years since the video was released, it has gotten 30 million views. As for me, putting on Kharman’s debut EP in order to write this spotlight was the very first I had ever heard of her. And I’m completely enchanted.

All the songs on Mouthakerti were co-written by Kharman, and are in Arabic. I haven’t been able to find English translations but thankfully each track has a video (either a lyric video or full music video), so it’s easy to pick up that these gorgeous songs are very personal, about life, love, and – as in the above-mentioned “Ann Alawan” – loss (…and, also, possibly falconry?). The tracklist below links to each respective video.

• “Wayyak” (وياك)
• “Ann Alawan” (آن الأوان)
• “Ya Lali” (يا لالي)
• “Makanak Khali” (مكانك خالي)
• “Enta Eli” (انت الي) (featuring Palestinian rapper BiGSaM)
• “Mamnounlak” (ممنونلك)
• “Ma Ktafa” (ما اكتفى)
• “Al Forga” (ألفرقه)

Kharman was born and raised in Haifa, but is now based out of Amman, Jordan. She just dropped a new single and video (with English subtitles) a couple months ago, “HAIFA” (حيفا), about her love and longing for her homeland. I believe it features her own grandmother singing at the end and, well, let’s just say tears have been shed.

Give this one a listen and keep an eye out for Kharman’s next release. She’s definitely one to watch.

• Songlink: Noel Kharman – Mouthakerti
• Discogs: Noel Kharman – Mouthakerti

#ArabicMusic #ArabicPop #BigSam #music #musicDiscovery #NoelKharman #Palestine #PalestinianMusic #pop