19 June

I spent today listening to Arabic music. Here's some highlights.

- Lm3allem by Saad Lamjarred, a Moroccan pop singer, although he doesn't sound very Moroccan in this song. If an Arab made "Gangnam Style", it'd look something like this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Fwf45pIAtM

- Ghorbah by Torabyeh. Torabyeh's a Palestinian rap group in Amman. They have a very angry, anti-Israel tone, but I like their beats. They gained some notoriety when Netanhayu's Likud party in Israel used this song without their permission in a political anti-Left ad, associating Torabyeh with ISIS. Fortunately, copyright law won and Likud took down the ad.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zGnGeiMun8

- لازم نتغير (We have to change) by Shadia Mansour ft. Omar Offendum, "First Lady of Arabic Hip Hop", British-Palestinian rapper. Her raps ooze with Palestinian identity and pride. When she raps, she seems to emphasize the uniquely Arabic sounds in her words.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LcLqP-GOj0

- Hamdulilah by The Narcicyst ft. Shadia Mansour. Not Arabic (except for words here and there and the chorus) but still Arab. The Narcicyst is an Iraqi-Canadian rapper who raps about Arab subjects.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hawvyznuFiU

- Amman by Emsallam Hdaib. I honestly have no clue what Emsallam raps about, because they're way too fast for me to understand. It doesn't stop him from being my favorite Jordanian rapper.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDmaDUC-1E0

- Zangbila by A-Wa. A-Wa's an interesting group. A-Wa is a group of three sisters who grew up in rural Southern Israel of Yemeni descent. They sing Yemeni folk songs in a modern musical context. Their hit "Habib Galbi" was the first time an Arabic song by Mizrahi Jews made the top of the charts in Israel. But I've posted here a live performance of a different song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EgYZjqjWaQ&feature=youtu.be&list=UU8kduMT0mmjqS5pb_sBF9yA

- A3tini naya wa ghani by Feirouz. The impression I get is that Feirouz is like the Frank Sinatra of the Arab World. She sang scores of classic songs that resonate with Arabs today, and she has a lyrical, mellow, melodic voice. She's celebrated as an icon of Lebanon, and a huge influence in modern Arabic music as a whole.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsmqDSj7uDQ