Time for something different. I'm a white dude, approaching middle age, of Jewish origin. And I love Arabic pop music. In this thread, I want to introduce you to it, show you what I like about it, even get you hooked. Ready to step out? #arabicmusic

Let’s start with certainly the king of Arab pop, and arguably the queen, Amr Diab and Nancy Ajram. Now approaching 60, though you wouldn’t believe it from his PR photos, @amrdiab is a great starting point because he’s spent a career blending Arabic and Western pop.

For instance, here’s his 2018 hit co-produced with American DJ @marshmellomusic, Bayen Habeit/In Love.

At the other end of the spectrum, Diab’s oldest hits are so deeply embedded in the canon they’ve been reinterpreted multiple times by other singers. Personally, I’m more a fan of his middle-career work, and particularly the album el-Lilaldy (2008)...

There’s a lot to pick from that album, but my personal favorite is Khaliq Ma’aya (Stay With Me). That piano intro, the beat that picks up at 0:22, the yearning in his voice that follows.

@NancyAjram is another Arab pop star with global reach. I think her 2004 hit Ah wo Nos (Yes and a Half - i.e., “I mean it!”) was the song that first roped me into Arab pop with its catchy refrain.

Ajram maintains a reputation as one of the most wholesome of Arabic pop stars - a reputation which she cemented in her 2007 children’s album, Shakbhat Shakhabit (Scribbled Doodles). Not really the audience for this thread, but here’s the title track:

As an example of her more recent work, here’s Hassa Beek (I feel you) (2017) which isn’t my favorite of her works, but is pleasant enough, and has a video that starts with 90 seconds of pure Hollywood glamor:

Speaking of Hollywood, there are echoes of American music in much of Arabic pop. One of the more subtle introduces Pascale Machaalani’s Enta Betrouh (loosely “You Leave”). Listen to ten seconds of this old Marky Mark backing track first:

And now listen to the opening of Enta Betrouh (2008)

You leave, leave.
My soul is stuck on you
Where can I find you ?
And you leave, leave.
Ask about the people who love you
They would never forget you
And you leave, leave
You have my soul crazy for you
Tell me whose fault is it
My eyes can't sleep...
And you leave, leave.

Sometimes the US influence is more obvious, perhaps never more than in Haifa Wehbe's Hawwa (He’s) (2018) in which the Lebanese singer goes out of her way to sound Country. To me it comes across as forced, but I include it as an example of a crossover.

Haifa is one of the sultrier Arab pop stars& one of the more controversial; her track record includes a revoked title as Miss Lebanon runner-up, an airplane crashing into her car, bans on singing (Algeria) & acting (Egypt), and provoking outrage by posing in a hijab and lingerie.

The @HaifaWehbe song that first got my attention was 2006’s Boos il Wawa (Kiss the Booboo) for which the official video provides the flimsiest of G-rated excuses for an audio track that sounds closer to R.

Speaking of drama, Carol Samaha started her career as an actress, and in addition to her musical career has been a soap opera star. I think it shows. Her song Mabrouk la Albi (Congratulations to my Heart (2018)) is perhaps the most dramatic of any song I know.

Those thrilling strings. That stirring violin. The abrupt transitions between calmness and the storm. Beethoven would be proud of @CAROLE_SAMAHA.

I triumphed over you.
I came back to the self that I lost...
I triumphed over you...

Congratulations to my heart, whose destiny left yours,
Congratulations to my eyes, when you are no longer tender.

But the song that first got me into Samaha is the much more saccharine, mass-market, Ali ya Ali (2009) whose pulsing electronic beat makes me turn up the stereo and open the windows whenever it cycles through my phone.

We lived and saw a story
Sweeter and more beautiful than dreams
Tomorrow we will be a novel
My heart is with you, Ali.

That leads to, for my money, one of the greatest of Arab female voices, and certainly the most romantic, Elissa ( @elissakh). Here’s an example: Khod Balak (Take Care) (2008)

Take care of me, this is not the way to treat me
Remember the days that I took care of you...
There were things missing from you & I filled them
And the things which weren't great in you I saw as beautiful...
Who, other than me, would keep her soul for you even if you left her?

Speaking of romantic, Iraqi singer @KadimAlSahirORG's Ha Habibi (Oh my love (1995)), though less accessible to a non-Arabic speaking audience, makes a strong bid for one of the most romantic Arabic pop songs, & has some of my favorite lyrics in the genre:

Who angered you? - You! Who's angry?
I swear to God the whole world is angry & nothing is holding.
My love, smile, calm your nerves, keep your head in my hands
And take a good kiss from me...
I'll count from one to ten.
One...Ten!
Now come and kiss me.

Of course, there’s more to Arab pop than romance. There are some pulsating pop tunes with rhythms and melodies as catchy as anything you’ll find in the American charts. Here, for instance, is Mahmoud al Esseily’s Malayeen (Millions) (2019).

I love that darbuka drumbeat at 1:18 that builds up to the main melody. Gives it that twist that makes what could be a chart topper anywhere on the planet uniquely Arabic.

And speaking of the darbuka, it gives its name, and beat, to the #dabke, a Palestinian and levantine dance (typically at weddings) of which there are many interpretations in Arabic pop. One of my favorites is Alawah (2008) by Melhem Zein.

It may not be particularly accessible - dabke is less influenced by Western music than much of Arabic pop - but still, I dare you to turn up the sound and try not to move.

There can also be a quirky side to Arab pop. I’m sure it’s a coincidence, but two of the quirkiest singers out there right now come from the Maghreb (i.e. North Africa): Saad Lamjarred and Balti. Here’s Lamjarred’s Lm3allem (For a Teacher):

Yes, that view counter does say over 780 million views. @saadlamjarred1’s eye-catching visuals compliment a style that draws on Arabic melodies, R&B beats, and his own quirky nature.

French-Tunisian singer Balti is similarly unique. Much of his work is rap-based, but Bouheli (2018) has more of a garage feel to it, particularly when that bass drops at 1:15.

At about the same timepoint, Egyptian singer Zee Zee Adel’s delightful Ebset Nafsek (Make Yourself Simple) (2018) doesn’t drop the bass- but the song certainly transforms itself from a start as an Edith Piaf-like chanson into something much more exciting.

I could go on, but I hope I’ve whetted your appetite, or at least shown why Arabic pop has a breadth and depth of talent and complexity that makes it worth exploring more. It’s a genre often stereotyped in the West and dismissed as ‘habibi music’, but it’s much more. #ArabicMusic

And I didn’t even touch on @TamerHosny, @fadel_chaker, Sherine, @yara_lb , @raghebalama, all of whom are great, and nor have I even touched on more classical singers like #Fayrouz or #Dalida. Go look them up. I promise it’ll be worth your time.

And if you’re not tempted to do so - if you close this thread and never come back to Arab pop, then, in the words of @Hassanelshafei, I only have one question for you: 8albiq wen - where’s your heart?