Music of the United Arab Emirates
Encyclopedia
The music of the United Arab Emirates
stems from the Persian Gulf
khaleeji
tradition, and from Bedouin
folk music. Distinctive dance
songs from the area's fishermen are also well-known. Liwa
(or leiwah / leywah) is a type of music and dance performed mainly in communities which contain descendants of East Africans.
The country's most famous performers are Ahlam
(the first female pop star in the Persian Gulf), Abdel Moniem Al Saleh or Moniem (who is renowned for his songwriting, music production and singing, and for being the first Emirati musician to blend Indian, Spanish and Arabic music), Aithah Al-Menhali, and Al Wasmi. Other singers from the United Arab Emirates include Samar, Reem, Rouwaida, and Abdallah Belkhair.
. The majority of local artists play Rock
and Metal
music, but some bands playing alternative styles of music such as Ska
, Punk
, House music
and Experimental
have also emerged.
A cover band
scene is prevalent in both Abu Dhabi
and Dubai, with groups such as The Rockspiders, Flipside, The Meerkats and The Maplejacks performing regularly in various bars and clubs. Dubai's Blue Bar frequently hosts live jazz
perfomances, featuring artists such as Kamal Musallam, Tim Burnell, Rony and Elie Afif, and Blue Light Collective.
Local organizations such as the American University in Dubai
Sound Society, Dubai Lime, Blacksheep, Ignite Events, Metality UAE, Ampulance, Shouscene?, Metal Asylum, Rock Nation and Project E are key players in moving the music scene forward, in terms of organizing and promoting concerts and bands, as well as providing online discussion areas for local scenesters wishing to know more about upcoming events.
Various compilation albums showcasing UAE-based underground musicians have been released over the years, including: Ampulance volumes 1 (2006), 2 (2007) and 3 (2009), and UAE Metal Asylum volumes 1 (2010) and 2 (2011).
Local media actively promotes bands from within the UAE; radio stations such as Dubai 92 FM
and publications such as Time Out Dubai and Rolling Stone
Middle East
include features on local bands on a regular basis. The Dubai One TV show Twenty Something also contains a live performance segment showcasing local acts.
June 2008 saw the re-launch of AXON Stimulus, a creative company serving the underground arts scene in the UAE.
Cliché in a Box? - an urban underground art exhibition hosted by Cliché Magazine - showcased AXON's first album release. Entitled The Mutiny, by Obleek Mode (a lounge / experimental trio from Dubai), it effectively established the presence of electronic music in the UAE.
In 2010, a documentary film about the UAE music scene was released, entitled, The Sound of Live.
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
stems from the Persian Gulf
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.The Persian Gulf was the focus of the 1980–1988 Iran-Iraq War, in which each side attacked the other's oil tankers...
khaleeji
Khaleeji
Khaleeji , Arabic for "of the gulf", can refer to:* Gulf Arabic, a dialect of the Arabic language spoken around the shores of the Persian Gulf.* Anything associated with the Arab states of the Persian Gulf...
tradition, and from Bedouin
Bedouin
The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...
folk music. Distinctive dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
songs from the area's fishermen are also well-known. Liwa
Liwa (music)
Līwa is a traditional dance performed in the Arab states of the Persian Gulf, mainly in communities of descendants of East Africans from the Swahili Coast...
(or leiwah / leywah) is a type of music and dance performed mainly in communities which contain descendants of East Africans.
The country's most famous performers are Ahlam
Ahlam
Ahlam Ali Al Shāmsi , commonly known as Ahlam is a leading female singer from the UAE . She has 10 albums to her name, and is popular throughout the Middle East, particularly among Arab nations of the Persian Gulf.-Biography:...
(the first female pop star in the Persian Gulf), Abdel Moniem Al Saleh or Moniem (who is renowned for his songwriting, music production and singing, and for being the first Emirati musician to blend Indian, Spanish and Arabic music), Aithah Al-Menhali, and Al Wasmi. Other singers from the United Arab Emirates include Samar, Reem, Rouwaida, and Abdallah Belkhair.
Underground music in the UAE
The UAE houses a considerably lively underground music scene, consisting mostly of expatriates, concentrated in DubaiDubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
. The majority of local artists play Rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and Metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
music, but some bands playing alternative styles of music such as Ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
, Punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
, House music
House music
House music is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in Chicago, Illinois, United States in the early 1980s. It was initially popularized in mid-1980s discothèques catering to the African-American, Latino American, and gay communities; first in Chicago circa 1984, then in other...
and Experimental
Experimental music
Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...
have also emerged.
A cover band
Cover band
A cover band , is a band that plays mostly or exclusively cover songs. New or unknown bands often find the cover band format marketable for smaller gigs, and these bands may be known as a wedding band, party band and function band. A band whose covers consist mainly of songs that were chart hits is...
scene is prevalent in both Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi , literally Father of Gazelle, is the capital and the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates in terms of population and the largest of the seven member emirates of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western...
and Dubai, with groups such as The Rockspiders, Flipside, The Meerkats and The Maplejacks performing regularly in various bars and clubs. Dubai's Blue Bar frequently hosts live jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
perfomances, featuring artists such as Kamal Musallam, Tim Burnell, Rony and Elie Afif, and Blue Light Collective.
Local organizations such as the American University in Dubai
American University in Dubai
The American University in Dubai is a private, non-sectarian institution of higher learning in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, founded in 1995. AUD was founded in 1995 as a branch campus of the American InterContinental University in Atlanta, Georgia, but turned into a private, non-sectarian...
Sound Society, Dubai Lime, Blacksheep, Ignite Events, Metality UAE, Ampulance, Shouscene?, Metal Asylum, Rock Nation and Project E are key players in moving the music scene forward, in terms of organizing and promoting concerts and bands, as well as providing online discussion areas for local scenesters wishing to know more about upcoming events.
Various compilation albums showcasing UAE-based underground musicians have been released over the years, including: Ampulance volumes 1 (2006), 2 (2007) and 3 (2009), and UAE Metal Asylum volumes 1 (2010) and 2 (2011).
Local media actively promotes bands from within the UAE; radio stations such as Dubai 92 FM
Radio and television channels of Dubai
Dubai is the media hub for the Middle East region and is home to many television and radio channels.-Dubai Television:There are a few terrestrial television channels but most people choose from the hundreds of regional channels on offer via satellite or cable.Pay or subscription television in Dubai...
and publications such as Time Out Dubai and Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
include features on local bands on a regular basis. The Dubai One TV show Twenty Something also contains a live performance segment showcasing local acts.
June 2008 saw the re-launch of AXON Stimulus, a creative company serving the underground arts scene in the UAE.
Cliché in a Box? - an urban underground art exhibition hosted by Cliché Magazine - showcased AXON's first album release. Entitled The Mutiny, by Obleek Mode (a lounge / experimental trio from Dubai), it effectively established the presence of electronic music in the UAE.
In 2010, a documentary film about the UAE music scene was released, entitled, The Sound of Live.
Notable bands
Below is an alphabetical list of UAE-based artists who have released original material commercially:- Abri - Albums: Sunchild (2008), Blank Notes (2009)
- Absolace - Album: Resolve(d) (2010)
- Anuryzm - Album: Worm's Eye View (2011)
- Beat Antenna - EP: Half Now, Half Later (2009)
- Behold the Locus - EP: Behold the Locus (2011)
- Coat of Arms - Album: This is Manslaughter (2011), DVD: Nobody Knows (2011)
- Dahab - Albums: Spirit of Sinai (2009), Qabeela'h (2011)
- Jonas Desai - EP: Get me Out (2008), album: A Weight Off my Mind (2008)
- Desert HeatDesert Heat (hip hop)Desert Heat is an Arab hip hop group originating from the UAE . Formed in late 2002, Desert Heat consists of two Emirati brothers Salim Dahman known as ‘Illmiyah’ and Abdullah Dahman known as ‘Arableak’....
- Album: When the Desert Speaks (2008) - E.Y.E. - Album: Empty Yard Experiment (2011)
- FatinizaFatinizaFatiniza is a Colombian pop, rock, singer, songwriter, based in Dubai.- Biography :Fatiniza Gamarra Ponzon was born and raised in Colombian mountains of Bucaramanga, Colombia, and raised to the beat of Latin rhythms. As a girl she would scribble down lyrics and hum melodies, which have matured into...
- Album: Confusion (2010) - Gandhi's CookbookGandhi's CookbookGandhi's Cookbook were a ska punk/hardcore punk band based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. They split up in October 2010.-History:...
- EP: In the Cesspool of Culture (2008) - Gayathri - EP: Disengage (2009)
- Tim Hassall - Album: Oh Restless Heart (2010)
- Juliana Down - Albums: Cause and Affect (2006), Empires (2011)
- Moonshine - EP: Moonshine (2010)
- Kamal Musallam - Albums: On a Jordan River's Side (2003), Out of my City (2008), Lulu (2009), Songs for Seung-eun (2011)
- Nervecell - EP: Human Chaos (2004), Albums: Preaching Venom (2008), Psychogenocide (2011)
- Nikotin - EP: Short of Panodrama (2009)
- SandwashSandwashSandwash is the name of a groovecore band in the United Arab Emirates. Since its formation in 2002, the band has appeared on the cover of Time Out Dubai, received numerous airplays on UAE radio stations, been nominated in regional music award shows, and opened for various international acts,...
- Album: Master Blaster Hole (2010) - Sho?Sho?Sho? was a short-lived Dubai-based band, whose music could best be classified as a mixture of rock, alternative, punk and electronica. Made up of expatriates, they were active in the Dubai rock music scene for about eighteen months. They released one internet-only single, entitled Crash and one...
- EP: I Don't Wanna Go (2010) - Sun King - Album: Lotus (2008)
- Jay WudJay WudJay Wud is a Lebanese rock artist. Wud has supported Robert Plant from Led Zeppelin in Tunis 2006 and Aerosmith in Abu Dhabi 2009 with local bands The Kordz and Paulak. In 2010 Jay Wud released his self produced debut album NEW BLOOD which took Beirut and the region by storm...
- Album: New Blood (2010)