Description of Middle Eastern Pop
Middle Eastern popular music, like the traditional music of the region, centers around the singer. Maintaining an uneasy balance between the musical traditions of the region and the influx of Western popular styles, the superstar vocalists of the Middle East draw from an eclectic array of influences. Lebanese chanteuse Fairuz incorporates elements of classical, Flamenco, and Rumba into her music; the lyrics maintain a link with Arabic traditions. Palestinian popular music takes the opposite approach, retaining traditional instrumentation and adding lyrics which often deal with modern themes such as the struggle for statehood. The genre with the most widespread appeal, however, is the Egyptian pop style known as "Al-jil" or "generation music." Over electronic beats, heartthrob singer-icons deliver bubbly melodies supported by synthesizers and squadrons of backing vocalists. Other styles of Egyptian music, such as shaabi, maintain a stronger link to traditions, centering on improvised vocals rooted in Arabic classical music.
Top Middle Eastern Pop Tracks
Middle Eastern Pop Key Albums
World/Reggae
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Middle East
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Middle Eastern Pop
Middle Eastern Pop Key Artists
Amr Diab
He's spicy, he's a good
singer, and he's one of
Egypt's favorite musicians.
What else can a pop star ask
for? Diab's a true talent: h...
Googoosh
Iranian singer Googoosh
mixes the traditional with
occasional international
touches. She's garnered
comparisons to Fairuz. Th...
Ofra Haza
Israel's first international
pop star, Haza was one of
the first divas of Worldbeat
to emerge in the 1980s.
Ragheb Alama
Popular Lebanese pop
vocalist whose music is a
danceable mixture of
traditional rhythms and
heavily synthesized effec...
Sawt el Atlas
This ten-piece band
combines Latin rhythms, rai
and funk in their music,
which is sung in both
French and Arabic. Sawt...