Best Arabic Music

Charismatic, striking, and immensely talented, Amr Diab is considered one of the Arab world’s most popular singer-songwriters of all time. Diab has been producing albums since 1983, and achieved worldwide fame in 1988 with his wildly successful album Mayaal (Susceptible). Since that time, his fame and artistic output has continued unabated, enchanting fans throughout the Middle East, Europe, and South America. His music blends Western rhythms with Middle Eastern styles, and is often referred to as “Mediterranean Music.”

Amr Diab’s Early Life and Career

Diab was born Amr Abdel Basset Abdel Azeez on October 11, 1961 in Port Said, Egypt. He inherited his singing ability from his father, a porter for the Suez Canal Corporation, who also possessed a notable singing voice. He encouraged his son to dance and sing at street festivals at a very young age. Diab’s first performance took place on July 23, 1967 at the Festival of Port Said, where he visited the local broadcasting station and sang the Egyptian national anthem, “Biladi, Biladi, Biladi.” His efforts were noted by the Governor of Port Said, who awarded him a guitar.

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I grew up in Davis, California, where my parents were graduate students recently arrived from Egypt. There was a large community of Egyptian students at U.C. Davis in those days, all doing graduate studies in agricultural sciences of some kind. Most were on scholarship from the Egyptian government and had very little money, and we were no exception.

We lived in the university housing for married students, near Putah Creek. I remember it as a place with immense green lawns and playgrounds, and huge deciduous trees that dropped piles of orange and red leaves in winter.

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Outspoken. Blunt. Gritty. Rebellious. These adjectives have been used to describe American rap music - but they can also describe Algerian raï music, pronounced “rye” or “rah-EE” and translated as “opinion” or “point of view” (it is also colloquially used as an exclamation similar to “oh, yeah!”) In addition to being compared to rap, it has also been likened to African-American blues music and punk, as well as characterized as “good-time, party music”.

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Amr Diab, as you undoubtedly know, is the best selling Arabic musical artist/singer in the world. But what else would you like to know about him?

Born in Port Said, Egypt in 1961, Amr studied Arabic music at the Cairo Academy of Art. He recorded his first song, El Zaman, at the age of 23. His career really began to take off in the 1980’s, and by the 1990’s he had achieved a degree of superstardom previously unheard of for an Arabic singer.

I’m not the biggest Amr Diab fan in the world, but I know there’s a lot of interest, so I’m currently preparing a detailed biography and discography. I’m wondering if there’s anything in particular you’d like me to cover? How about it fans, any bit of information you’re dying to know about Amr Diab? Maybe I can turn it up.

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Instruments of Classical Arabic Music

Historically, the traditional Arabic music ensemble was known as the takht. You can see one such ensemble depicted in the image above. The takht was traditionally (but not always) a five piece ensemble consisting of the following instruments: the qanun, the oud, the riqq, the nay, and a type of spike fiddle called a kamanjah. In the late 1800’s the kamanjah was replaced by with the Western violin, which was known in the Arab world as the rababah.

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Arab Women Musicians of Pre-Islamic and Medieval Times

Have women played a role in the historical development of Arabic music? In recent history, of course, we have seen famous female singers like Umm Kulthum, but what about in ancient times? Did female singers or musicians make important contributions?

In fact, they did. For example, a woman names Ra’iqa was a famous pagan singer in pre-Islamic time. She taught Azza Al-Mailaa’ among other musicians. Arabic music and musicians’ accomplishments, including those of female musicians, preceded Islam by at least a millennium.

The following information is based on research on Arab women musicians by Wafaa’ Al-Natheema, founder and director of the Institute of Near Eastern and African Studies (ineas.org).

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Music and Songs for Arabic Weddings

Arabic weddings are often accompanied by very traditional or religious style music, often with dancing as well, such as the dabkah, a typical Arab folk dance that is practiced in many countries, with only slight variations. In the dabkah, the men generally drape their arms over one another’s shoulders and dance in a pattern.

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The Life and Music of Umm Kulthum

The Star of the East. The Diva of Arabic Song. The Voice and Face of Egypt. Who else could these titles describe but Umm Kulthum, possibly the most famous and influential Arabic singer of all time?

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The unique beats and rhythms of Arabic music

There’s no doubt that Arabic music has a very distinct sound, at least compared to Western music. I can hear a simple drumbeat, with no other musical or vocal accompaniment, and think, “That’s an Arabic music rhythm!” Or I could hear someone hum a tune, and without having heard the song before I could recognize it as a typically Arabic tune.

What is it about Arabic music that gives it such an exotic sound and makes it so different from Western music? Is it the instruments, the beat, the language?

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Abdel Halim Hafez, One of the Four Greats of Arabic Music

Abdel Halim Hafez is considered one of the four greats of Arabic song, along with Umm Kalthoum, Farid Al Attrach and Mohammed Abdel Wahab. Hafez was one of the most influential Egyptian musicians of the twentieth century, despite his fairly short career. He was most prominent during the 1950’s and 60’s. Today, more than thirty years after his death in 1977, his music is still played daily on the radio in Egypt and the Arab world.

Abdel Halim Hafez is sometimes known as el-Andaleeb el-Asmar, The Dark Nightingale, because of the combination of his dark skin and resonant voice. The nickname is perhaps doubly appropriate because of the difficult and painful life that he lived.

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