M.I.A. is ready to take on the scene with her fourth highly-anticipated new album. The singer is on top with her collaboration with Madonna and this new track. The video treatment for “Bad Girls” was filmed in Morocco and is inspired by the Arab Spring. Lovely, we wonder if she is calling her new album after her child or a sibling…
Category Archives: Arabia
Omar Afuni covers Beyonce’s “Best Thing I Never Had”
2This is a nice amped-up version of Beyonce’s ballad and second single from 4, “Best Thing I Never Had.”
Legendary: “I Wanna be Your Lady” by Hinda Hicks
1Back in the day, there were no Moroccan producers like RedOne or many Arabs in the pop music limelight. Granted, there still isn’t. But back in the day Hinda Hicks was one of the only ones. She rose to fame with made-for-the-US soul hits that did well in R&B unfriendly environments like the UK charts. Her brand of smooth speaks of an era when making pretty music sans overproduction and glamorization was quite cool. Too bad she didn’t make it past all of the obstacles. When Nelly Furtado came out we though Hinda has comeback with a vengence, but was just a resemblance. Word in is that she has a new album titled Journey’s coming out this fall.
Syrian singer Omar Souleyman remixes Bjork’s single “Crystalline”
1We are both excited and irked for this collaboration. Excited because its a new project, a fresh sound and it has an Arabic flavor. Irked because we know this sound to well to give it experimental credibility and also because the lyrics that we just heard on the video probably have nothing to do with the concept of the song “Crystalline.” Still, we are glad it happened. This is for J.
First Listen: “Alive” by Omar Afuni
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High off of the heels of his last album Resurrected, Omar Afuni has debuted a new track on the internet by the name of “Alive.” Click below to listen to it.
Video Premiere: “I Want Her But I Don’t Want Her” by Zahed Sultan
3Zahed Sultan has debuted his second video for the single “I Want Her But I Don’t Want Her” from his album Hi Fear, Lo Love, which is available on iTunes right now. In his second music video “I Want Her But I Don’t Want Her,” Zahed delves deeper into his creative psyche to explore a dark fantastical world where art meets life. Shot in High Definition and layered with animated sketches, Zahed playfully grooves on screen to a sound that is uniquely his own.
Omar Afuni does acoustic version of “200 BPM”
1Omar Afuni covers Lady Gaga’s “Edge Of Glory” acapella!
1Lady Gaga covers Harper’s Bazaar Arabia!
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Erykah Badu wears Gulf-inspired attire!
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It looks like Erykah Badu did some local shopping recently when she visited Dubai for a concert and took it back home with her. She wore this to one of her Coachella appearances. What do you think?
First Listen: “We R Arabian (Bambis Adventure Mash up)” by Ke$ha!
1Horrid!
Free Download: “Resurrected” by Omar Afuni
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We have to say we are very fond of Omar Afuni’s debut album Resurrected. It is a great mix of pop-conscious beats and dance anthems. It’s very much worth the download and is completely free for now! So head over to Omar Afuni’s official website and download it now!
Legendary: “Empires (Bring Me Men)” by Lamya
2In 2002, we picked up Lamya‘s debut Learning From Falling without even listening to a single. Why? First, we heard that she is of Omani decent and doing pop music. Second, the artwork was hot. We listened to her release many times and liked a couple of tracks including this one. She just crossed our mind today and we decided to research her. Well, Lamya has passed away for a sudden heart attack in 2009. The causes are unknown and she was almost finished with her sophomore CD. Sad news. Let’s hope we hear it someday.
Omar Afuni covers Katy Perry’s “ET”
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Nelly Furtado to donate money from Gaddafi concert to charity!
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Nelly Furtado has tweeted about a concert that she had performed in Italy for Gaddafi‘s “clan” in which she made a million dollars. She said the leader gave her a million American dollars to perform a 45 minute set. Now, she is ashamed of this “blood money” that she made in 2007 and wants to donate it to charity. Well, that’s cute and all but all it would have taken for her to grasp what kind of totalitarian dictator he is is some googling. Why is it now that she decided it was the wrong thing to do. Know your oppressors.
Björk is working with Syrian singer Omar Souleyman!
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Bjork is not one to stay to one or two genres for her releases, but this time around her pick for a collaborator is an unlikely musician from this part of the world. The Icelandic singer has opted to work with Syrian singer Omar Souleyman, Pitchfork has confirmed. Apparently, this will be “the first ever major Western pop release to feature Syrian dabke and Iraqi choubi music.”
Don’t Quote Me, Vol. 497
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“A civilization which leaves so large a number of its participants unsatisfied and drives them into revolt neither has nor deserves the prospect of a lasting existence.”
Omar Afuni performs “Hold it Against Me / Heaven On Earth” Britney Spears mash-up
1Don’t Quote Me, Vol. 495
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“Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want rain without thunder and lightning.”
- Fredrick Douglass
Don’t Quote Me, Vol. 494
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“Coming out, all the way out, is offered more and more as the political solution to our oppression.”
- Jane Rule
