M.M.Mmmm (MENA.Musical.Moods)

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

If you live with a MENA SO then this may sound very familiar to you. It is very pretty. It also comes with an English translation!

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Mozart like you've never seen before with Arab and Western fusion!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCCJhJNRbE8&feature=related

The title of this one says something like "Arab music, screw foreigners". To understand this reference you'd have to know the Melody Music campaign with the comedy commercials that refer to "screw english".

From a comment Radwa S. posted about this video:

Mozart l'égyptien or Mozart in Egypt is a project of mixing Mozart'smusic with traditional arabic tunes. This resulted in the album Mozart in Egypt in 1998, followed by the second album... Now two orchestras are playing the different music pieces together. It has the advantage of making both Mozart's and arabic music known worldwide

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Right now in Egypt they are making fun of this artist Tamer Hosny for working with Shaggy on this project saying you don't have to work with a guy that has a jerk reputation to get the image of being a jerk. There are jokes in the media about his style from his red pants, to his bow tie with checkered shirt, to the dog tags he's wearing, to his lofty ideal that he can fix the world with a smile. The story behind the tough guy dog tags is that Tamer was caught trying to fraud the Egyptian Military paperwork to get out of his service. He served a year in military detention. Then shortly after his release Mubarak was stepping down and the Army was making a bluff to the Egyptian people by saying lets celebrate the revolution so they had the same guy Tamer Hosny sing for the party.

Edited March 11, 2012 by ॐ

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

An Islamic Masterpiece for an East Asian Muslim Wedding. Really freaking awesome!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_1riM-xmnfQ

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

I came across this on the US Embassy Cairo facebook page. It's a competition called, "Sing Egyptian Women". Below in quotes is the description about it.

Through a broad marketing contest in both Egyptian and international markets, the "Sing Egyptian Woman, Let the World Hear You" initiative aims to promote women's voices in society through a diverse group of inspiring Egyptian female singers.

Beginning in December, hundreds of women in Cairo, Alexandria, the Nile Delta and Upper Egypt participated in workshops encouraging women to use their voice in public. Dozens applied online to a Facebook competition that asked Egyptians to vote for the most inspiring singers.

By late January, the top 41 participants in that competition south votes from across Egypt to propel them to the next round. To assist them, all 41 joined a team of American and Egyptian musicians, music industry experts and social media trainers throughout February in workshops to develop and deliver expressive, high-impact songs. The participants also learned how to create high-quality videos to most effectively broadcast a message to a large audience.

The top 16 finalists performed their songs on March 3 in a Cairo concert that launched a five-week round of promotion for their songs and messages of empowerment as they seek public support. Fans from across Egypt and the world will vote throughout March for their favorite singer. Each week, the top half of the contestants will advance to the next round until a winner is chosen. The top eight were announced at 8 p.m. on March 12 and were joined by an additional two surprise judges' picks to advance to the next round.

The top four, plus one judge's pick, were announced on March 19. The top two will be announced on March 26 and the winner on April 5. Vote totals reset at zero in each round.

All 16 women in the nationwide competition will join a top American female singer for an expert-level workshop and concert in Cairo on April 5. The top vote-getter, to be announced at this marquee concert, will win a trip to New York City to record in an American music studio.

There is one week and four days left to vote. Here are the contestants.

I will post the other two contestants in a second as I've reached the limit for this post. If you click the "Sing Egyptian Women" link you will be taken to the voting page on facebook.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Here are the last two.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Two of my new favorite songs. The first one comes from the latest Kmart commercials for the holidays. It's the full version of the song.

Like this post if you like these songs and share your favorite songs lately.

[RFQ 110]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8Hgp150Eno&feature=related

Thoughts of the day in this older song ^ Edited November 23, 2012 by RFQ

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Such a sweet song RFQ!

Here is a song from a good Egyptian musician and rapper. He's also a movie editor and actor and he does his own producing sometimes. He's one of two young super star in Egypt now competing in the market.

This song includes English subtitles but doesn't include all the details. You'll have to select the CC button at the bottom of the video for the English subtitles to start playing.

The music video tells a story about drug use in Egypt. I think sometimes people need to realize that it takes all kinds in this world, and that even in Egypt there is a seedy side, and not everyone is a pious Muslim, or moderate, or even radical. They have Christians, and liberals Muslims, and non-practicing even. Egypt has seen thousands of years of history pass through it's nation and has all kind of cultures visiting it, living there and influencing it. While there are cultural norms or standards there isn't one kind of general stereotypical Egyptian person to describe it all.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

The hologram technology that was used to bring Tupac back on the stage recently has been applied in Egypt this Jan. 2013. A performance was given at the Citadel in Cairo where they produced a hologram of the famous Egyptian singer Umm Kulthum.

The hologram of Kawkab al Sharq Um Kulthum (The Star of The East Amazing) was resurrected after 40 years and appeared to be alive giving a full 6 minutes of performance for the first segment and then disappeared into a spray of glittering stars on stage.

This is the first real hologram live on stage in the Middle East.

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

This is an independent artist who started doing more productions and becoming known after the revolution started. He's described as a businessman who likes to show the country and daily life of the Egyptian people and sing more folk music. I think this music video gives a good example of his work. The video has English subtitles.

Edited January 13, 2013 by Dr. A ♥ O

[kristen_maroc 126]

I love this: fusion at its finest!

Not new though! (Don't let the first 10 seconds put you off!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiSod8-qyRE

Mazagan ya labass

Oops! I love that one but meant to post this one: Mazagan (w/Outlandish) Ayli Ayli. This is more fusion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wKKuVtma1I

Also, I ADORE OUTLANDISH.

Edited January 14, 2013 by kristen_maroc

[Cathi 5,617]

love this song, love this group, reminds me so much of Jordan

http://youtu.be/pmuZxDsO7J4

Edited January 14, 2013 by mimolicious

[Dr. A ♥ O 203]

Awesome! I love those songs you all shared. It's so neat to get to see these insights from other countries.

Today is the anniversary of the start of the revolution in Egypt. Otherwise known as "The Day of Rage" protest. An Egyptian band I like, Wust el Bald, shared this music video on their facebook fan page today in remembrance.

[PalestineMyHeart 1,897]

Outlandish is awesome, and that Um Kalthoum was fantastic !

Here is a nice one for Palestine, by a couple of (*I think*) Moroccan rappers who call themselves Code Rouge, featuring a Tunisian singer named Amel Mathlouthi: