Samri (Arabic: سامري) is a folkloric music and dance native to Najd and common as a musical style in Khaliji music. It involves singing poetry while the daff drum is being played often while two rows of men, seated on the knees, sway and clap to the rhythm.
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1. Arabic – Arabic is a Central Semitic language that was first spoken in Iron Age northwestern Arabia and is now the lingua franca of the Arab world. Arabic is also the language of 1.7 billion Muslims. It is one of six languages of the United Nations. The modern written language is derived from the language of the Quran and it is widely taught in schools and universities, and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, government, and the media. The two formal varieties are grouped together as Literary Arabic, which is the language of 26 states. Modern Standard Arabic largely follows the standards of Quranic Arabic. Much of the new vocabulary is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the post-Quranic era, Arabic has influenced many languages around the globe throughout its history. During the Middle Ages, Literary Arabic was a vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics. As a result, many European languages have borrowed many words from it. Many words of Arabic origin are found in ancient languages like Latin. Balkan languages, including Greek, have acquired a significant number of Arabic words through contact with Ottoman Turkish. Arabic has also borrowed words from languages including Greek and Persian in medieval times. Arabic is a Central Semitic language, closely related to the Northwest Semitic languages, the Ancient South Arabian languages, the Semitic languages changed a great deal between Proto-Semitic and the establishment of the Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include, The conversion of the suffix-conjugated stative formation into a past tense, the conversion of the prefix-conjugated preterite-tense formation into a present tense. The elimination of other prefix-conjugated mood/aspect forms in favor of new moods formed by endings attached to the prefix-conjugation forms, the development of an internal passive. These features are evidence of descent from a hypothetical ancestor. In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside of the Ancient South Arabian family were spoken and it is also believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages were also spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hijaz, Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages, in Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested
2. Folklore – Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. These include oral traditions such as tales, proverbs and jokes and they include material culture, ranging from traditional building styles to handmade toys common to the group. Folklore also includes customary lore, the forms and rituals of celebrations like Christmas and weddings, folk dances, each one of these, either singly or in combination, is considered a folklore artifact. Just as essential as the form, folklore also encompasses the transmission of these artifacts from one region to another or from one generation to the next, for folklore is not taught in a formal school curriculum or studied in the fine arts. Instead these traditions are passed along informally from one individual to another either through verbal instruction or demonstration, the academic study of folklore is called folkloristics. To fully understand folklore, it is helpful to clarify its component parts and it is well-documented that the term was coined in 1846 by the Englishman William Thoms. He fabricated it to replace the contemporary terminology of popular antiquities or popular literature, the second half of the compound word, lore, proves easier to define as its meaning has stayed relatively stable over the last two centuries. Coming from Old English lār instruction, and with German and Dutch cognates, it is the knowledge and traditions of a particular group, the concept of folk proves somewhat more elusive. When Thoms first created this term, folk applied only to rural, frequently poor, a more modern definition of folk is a social group which includes two or more persons with common traits, who express their shared identity through distinctive traditions. Folk is a concept which can refer to a nation as in American folklore or to a single family. This expanded social definition of folk supports a view of the material, i. e. the lore. These now include all things people make with words, things they make with their hands, Folklore is no longer circumscribed as being chronologically old or obsolete. The folklorist studies the traditional artifacts of a group and how they are transmitted. Transmission is a part of the folklore process. Without communicating these beliefs and customs within the group over space and time, for folklore is also a verb. These folk artifacts continue to be passed along informally, as a rule anonymously, the folk group is not individualistic, it is community-based and nurtures its lore in community. As new groups emerge, new folklore is created… surfers, motorcyclists, in direct contrast to high culture, where any single work of a named artist is protected by copyright law, folklore is a function of shared identity within the social group. Having identified folk artifacts, the professional folklorist strives to understand the significance of these beliefs, customs, for these cultural units would not be passed along unless they had some continued relevance within the group
3. Music – Music is an art form and cultural activity whose medium is sound organized in time. The common elements of music are pitch, rhythm, dynamics, different styles or types of music may emphasize, de-emphasize or omit some of these elements. The word derives from Greek μουσική, Ancient Greek and Indian philosophers defined music as tones ordered horizontally as melodies and vertically as harmonies. Common sayings such as the harmony of the spheres and it is music to my ears point to the notion that music is often ordered and pleasant to listen to. However, 20th-century composer John Cage thought that any sound can be music, saying, for example, There is no noise, the creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of music vary according to culture and social context. There are many types of music, including music, traditional music, art music, music written for religious ceremonies. For example, it can be hard to draw the line between some early 1980s hard rock and heavy metal, within the arts, music may be classified as a performing art, a fine art or as an auditory art. People may make music as a hobby, like a teen playing cello in a youth orchestra, the word derives from Greek μουσική. According to the Online Etymological Dictionary, the music is derived from mid-13c. Musike, from Old French musique and directly from Latin musica the art of music and this is derived from the. Greek mousike of the Muses, from fem. of mousikos pertaining to the Muses, from Mousa Muse. In classical Greece, any art in which the Muses presided, Music is composed and performed for many purposes, ranging from aesthetic pleasure, religious or ceremonial purposes, or as an entertainment product for the marketplace. With the advent of recording, records of popular songs. Some music lovers create mix tapes of their songs, which serve as a self-portrait. An environment consisting solely of what is most ardently loved, amateur musicians can compose or perform music for their own pleasure, and derive their income elsewhere. Professional musicians sometimes work as freelancers or session musicians, seeking contracts and engagements in a variety of settings, There are often many links between amateur and professional musicians. Beginning amateur musicians take lessons with professional musicians, in community settings, advanced amateur musicians perform with professional musicians in a variety of ensembles such as community concert bands and community orchestras. However, there are many cases where a live performance in front of an audience is also recorded and distributed. Live concert recordings are popular in classical music and in popular music forms such as rock, where illegally taped live concerts are prized by music lovers
4. Dance – Dance is a performance art form consisting of purposefully selected sequences of human movement. This movement has aesthetic and symbolic value, and is acknowledged as dance by performers and observers within a particular culture, Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire of movements, or by its historical period or place of origin. Other forms of movement are sometimes said to have a dance-like quality, including martial arts, gymnastics, figure skating, synchronized swimming. Theatrical dance, also called performance or concert dance, is intended primarily as a spectacle and it often tells a story, perhaps using mime, costume and scenery, or else it may simply interpret the musical accompaniment, which is often specially composed. Examples are western ballet and modern dance, Classical Indian dance and Chinese and Japanese song, most classical forms are centred upon dance alone, but performance dance may also appear in opera and other forms of musical theatre. Such dance seldom has any narrative, a group dance and a corps de ballet, a social partner dance and a pas de deux, differ profoundly. Even a solo dance may be solely for the satisfaction of the dancer. On the other hand, some cultures lay down strict rules as to the dances in which, for example. Archeological evidence for early dance includes 9, 000-year-old paintings in India at the Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka and it has been proposed that before the invention of written languages, dance was an important part of the oral and performance methods of passing stories down from generation to generation. The use of dance in trance states and healing rituals is thought to have been another early factor in the social development of dance. References to dance can be found in very early recorded history, Greek dance is referred to by Plato, Aristotle, Plutarch, the Bible and Talmud refer to many events related to dance, and contain over 30 different dance terms. In Chinese pottery as early as the Neolithic period, groups of people are depicted dancing in a line holding hands, Dance is further described in the Lüshi Chunqiu. Primitive dance in ancient China was associated with sorcery and shamanic rituals, during the first millennium BCE in India, many texts were composed which attempted to codify aspects of daily life. Bharata Munis Natyashastra is one of the earlier texts and it mainly deals with drama, in which dance plays an important part in Indian culture. It categorizes dance into four types - secular, ritual, abstract, the text elaborates various hand-gestures and classifies movements of the various limbs, steps and so on. A strong continuous tradition of dance has since continued in India, through to modern times, where it continues to play a role in culture, ritual, and, notably, the Bollywood entertainment industry. Many other contemporary dance forms can likewise be traced back to historical, traditional, ceremonial, Dance is generally, though not exclusively, performed with the accompaniment of music and may or may not be performed in time to such music. Some dance may provide its own audible accompaniment in place of music, many early forms of music and dance were created for each other and are frequently performed together
5. Najd – Najd or Nejd is the geographical central region of Saudi Arabia in which twenty-eight percent of Saudis live. Najd consists of the regions of Riyadh, al-Qassim, and Hail, Najdis were sometimes referred to in the past as the dominant minority in Saudi Arabia. Unlike Hejaz, Najd is very remote and had largely avoided falling under foreign control, in pre-Islamic times the region of Nejd was settled by many tribes like the Kindites, Tayy and many others. Led by Usma bin Luai the Tayy invaded the mountains of Aja and these mountains are now known as Jabal Shammar. The Tayy became nomadic camel herders and horse breeders in northern Najd for centuries, in the 5th century CE, the tribes of North Arabia became a major threat to the trade line between Yemen and Syria. The Ḥimyarites decided to establish a state that controlled Central. The Kindites gained strength and numbers to play that role, and their first capital was Qaryat Dhāt Kāhil, today known as Qaryat al-Fāw. In the 5th and 6th centuries CE the Kindites made the first real concerted effort to all the tribes of Central Arabia through alliances. Al-Ḥārith ibn Amr, the most famous of their kings, finally succeeded in capturing the Lakhmid capital of al-Ḥirah in southern modern day Iraq, later however in about 529, al-Mundhir recaptured the city and put King Ḥārith and about fifty members of his family to death. In 525 CE, the Aksumites invaded Ḥimyar, and this Kindites, had an effect with the Kindites who lost the support of the Ḥimyarites. Within three years the Kindite kingdom had split into four groups, Asad, Taghlib, Qays and Kinānah and these small principalities were then overthrown in the 530s and 540s in a series of uprisings of the Adnānī tribes of Najd and Ḥijāz. In 540 CE, the Lakhmids destroyed all the Kindite settlements in Nejd, the Kindites and most of the Arab tribes switched their alliances to the Lakhmids. During the Islamic Prophet Muhammads era, Muhammad carried out expeditions in the area. The first was the Nejd Caravan Raid against the Quraysh, which place in 624. The Meccans led by Safwan ibn Umayyah, who lived on trade, after Muhammad received intelligence about the Caravans route, Muhammad ordered Zayd ibn Haritha to go after the Caravan, and they successfully raided it and captured 100,000 dirhams worth of booty. The Invasion of Nejd, happened in Rabi‘ Ath-Thani or Jumada Al-Ula,4 A. H i. e. in October,625 AD, Muhammad led his fighters to Nejd to scare off some tribes he believed had suspicious intentions. Some scholars say the Expedition of Dhat al-Riqa took place in Nejd as part of this invasion, the most authentic opinion according to Saifur Rahman al Mubararakpuri, however, is that Dhat Ar-Riqa‘ campaign took place after the fall of Khaibar. This is supported by the fact that Abu Hurairah and Abu Musa Al-Ash‘ari witnessed the battle, Abu Hurairah embraced Islam only some days before Khaibar, and Abu Musa Al-Ash‘ari came back from Abyssinia and joined Muhammad at Khaibar
6. Khaliji (music) – Khaliji is a type of modern contemporary music characteristic of Central and Eastern Arabia and popular across the Arab world. Khaliji incorporates elements of African, Indian, and Iranian music overlaying indigenous Arabian genres such as Samri, Liwa, starting in the 1990s, several artists from outside the Gulf Cooperation Council have attempted cross-overs into the industry. Prominent examples include Rajae Belmlih from Morocco, Thekra and Latifa from Tunisia, Assala Nasri from Syria, and Diana Haddad, Yara, fijiri Liwa Samri Sawt Khubaiti Arabic music Music of Saudi Arabia Culture of Eastern Arabia Culture of Saudi Arabia
7. Arabesque (Turkish music) – Arabesque or Arabesk is a term created by Turkish musicologists for an Arabic style of music created in Turkey. The genre was popular in Turkey in the decades from the 1960s through the 1990s. As with Arabic music itself, its aesthetics have evolved over the decades, Arabesque music are mostly in a minor key, typically in the Phrygian mode, and themes tend to focus on longing, melancholy, strife and love issues. A very small percentage of Arabesk is exclusively instrumental, for the great majority of it, a singer lies at the center of the music. Male singers dominated the genre in its years, but female singers probably predominated during its peak years of popularity. Simultaneously with the influx of female singers, the sound grew more dancey, orhan Gencebay is generally considered the founder of the genre. Other well known older singers are Müslüm Gürses, Ferdi Tayfur, one of the most prolific and commercially successful is İbrahim Tatlıses, who broke all sales records in Turkey in 1978 and continues to turn out popular music to this day. He has maintained popularity in the Arabesk scene in recent years through remixing his tracks into dance friendly club tracks. The pure Arabesk album Acıların Kadını by the singer Bergen was the album in Turkey in 1986. Bergen had several other hit Arabesk albums during the 1980s, other singers include Gülben Ergen, Ebru Gündeş, Seda Sayan, Sibel Can. The singers Muazzez Ersoy and Bülent Ersoy designate themselves as modern exponents of Ottoman classical music, common theme in Arabesque songs is the highly embellished and agonizing depiction of love and yearning, along with unrequited love, grief and pain. This theme had undertones of class differences in early 1960-70s, during which most of the genres followers -mostly working class to lower middle class- identified themselves with, Turkish composer Fazıl Say has repeatedly condemned and criticized Arabesque genre, equating the practice of listening to arabesque tantamount to treason. Kanto Byzantine music Skiladiko Mizrahi music Filmi Longa Bassturk, Muhabbet, crossing The Bridge on IMDb Arabic Music The arabesk debate, music and musicians in modern Turkey by Martin Stokes on Google Books
8. Arabic pop music – Arabic pop music or Arab pop is a subgenre of Pop music and Arabic music. Arabic pop is mainly produced and originated in Cairo, Egypt and it is an outgrowth of the Arabic film industry, also predominantly located in Cairo. The primary style is a genre that combines pop melodies with elements of different Arabic regional styles. It uses string instruments including the guitar as well as traditional Middle Eastern instruments, another aspect of Arab pop is the overall tone and mood of the songs. The majority of the songs are in a key, and themes tend to focus on longing, melancholy, strife. The road to Arab stardom is very different from in the Western world, traditionally a certain producer creates the full song from music to lyrics no matter the talents of the performer. Most music is recorded in studios as is Western Pop music, but also several live albums have been popular such as with Asalah and Egyptian legend Umm Kulthum. Most music is released on CD in the album format, singles are not released separately, but just airplay is common. In some countries where certain types of music is banned by Islamic law, such as Iran, there are no official charts or certifications due to the loose nature of the business and bootlegging. Ringtone charts are made, but due to bootlegging, they are also highly inaccurate. There are several awards in different countries awarded in different ways according to their organizations, in fact bootlegging is so common most bootleggers have their own brands. They are so bold that they usually put contact info on the front of the CDs, bootlegging is such a major problem that most artists dont rely on royalties for income. Most of the musical income comes from ringtone downloads which is more prevalent than in the West. Other income comes from endorsements deals and live performances, live performances are mainly brokered through the record label. This includes traditional performances such as at arenas or major media events, however performances at weddings and private parties are common no matter the level of fame. There are vast differences between the Western Music Business and the Arabic Music Business, unlike with the West there are rarely managers, agents or PR systems. Record labels are usually mega corporations that control music videos, music channels, producers and writers are usually affiliated with certain labels. An aspiring Arab singer creates a video demo and sends them to satellite channels that specialize in that area and it is then up to a record label to see them on such a program and sign them
9. Ashiqs of Azerbaijan – The art of Azerbaijani Ashiqs combines poetry, storytelling, dance and vocal and instrumental music into a traditional performance art. This art is one of the symbols of Azerbaijani culture and considered an emblem of national identity, since 2009 the art of Azerbaijani Ashiqs has been inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. In todays encyclopedic dictionaries the word Ashiq, which one who is in love, is derived from the Arabic. Some encyclopedias define Ashiq as a folk singer-poet of Caucasus and neighboring nations, in addition to songs of his own, in repertory Ashiq includes epic tales and folk songs. The earliest traces of art of Azerbaijani ashiqs can be found in the 7th century Book of Dede Korkut, from the 16th century, Azerbaijani ashiqs have been the bearers and guardians of the national language, national identity and the music performed in weddings, parties and folk festivals. During the 20th century, ashiq performances on stages, the radio. Beginning in the 1930s, the Art of Azerbaijani ashiqs, like all folk music culture of the peoples of the USSR fell under the strictest control of the state government. As Soviet Union highly appreciated the art, during the Cultural Revolution the ashiq art, in 1938, the first congress of Azerbaijani ashiqs have been held and the large collection of ashiq poetry have been published. In modern Azerbaijan, professional Ashiqs were divided into two categories, Ashiq-performers and Ashiq-poets, Ashiq-performers, despite being professional storytellers, are not engaged in poetry. Ashiq-poets, on the contrary, along with storytelling activities, engaged also in poetry, in Azerbaijan, such Ashiqs were called Ustad, which translates from Persian as a master. Ashiq-poets have their own schools, where they teach their students the basics of ashiq creativity, famous Ashiq-poets include such gifted poets as Gurbani, ashiq Abbas from Tufargan, Xəstə Qasım, ashiq Valeh, Ashig Alasgar and many others. They had an impact not only on ashig poetry. The popular ashigs of modern Azerbaijan include ashiq Zulfiyya, ashiq Nemet Qasimli, ashiq Ahliman, ashiq Adalat, ashiq Kamandar, Ali Tovuzly, the late Zalimkhan Yagub, member of parliament of Azerbaijan and Chairman of the Union of Ashiqs through 2015, was also very popular. After Azerbaijans independence from the USSR, Art of Azerbaijani ashiqs engaged in the promotion campaign of Culture of Azerbaijan. The art also received state support, which organized tours for ashiqs around the world. As of 2009, the number of Azerbaijani Ashiqs in the world reached 3000 people. In Azerbaijan, ashigs style of performance differ in the characteristics of local creativity. For example, each representing the regions of Ganja, Kalbajar, Gazakh, Tovuz and Borchali markedly differ in their individual skill
10. Assyrian folk/pop music – Assyrian folk/pop music, also known as Assyrian folk music, Assyrian pop music or Syriac music, is the traditional music style of the Assyrians people. Assyrian music includes a range of genre, which would encompass, or fuse, western genres such as electronic, Latin, jazz and/or classical music. Assyrian folk music claims to be the descendant of the music of their ancient Upper Mesopotamian ancestors that has survived in the music of the Syriac Churches. Assyrian folk can also be found in traditional Middle Eastern Makams, modern Assyrian pop music is mostly in a minor key, typically in the Phrygian mode, and themes tend to focus on longing, melancholy, strife and love issues. Most recently, Assyrian dance music has a beat or rhythm similar to Jamaican music, instrumentation is mostly arranged with a keyboard and electronic drums, namely in weddings or parties. Although many forms of Assyrian records do use acoustic and orchestral instruments such as strings, Music, is omnipresent in the village scene. A “Musician” is not necessarily a professional, and whoever can sing in any manner is considered a “singer”, most of the time, music is learned by ear. The villagers lead a life, but whenever there is an opportunity. Village music may be categorized, basically, into four groups, Local secular music not related to specific occasions, functional music, diwane, Sung in gatherings and meetings, lyrics cover aspects of life such as, working in the fields, persecution, suffering, religion. Lilyana, Wedding songs usually sung by only, especially for the bride before leaving her home to get married. Also sung for the bridegroom the day before his wedding by his family, dowlah and Zornah, These are two traditional music instruments, literally meaning a drum and wind-pipe. They are played together, either with or without singing in many such as weddings, welcoming. Tambura, Another tribal music instrument, an instrument with long neck, originated in ancient Assyria, discovered being depicted on carving from South Iraq from UR to Akkad. Albert Rouel Tamraz is a famous Assyrian Singer from Iraq who played this instrument, the earliest dated text is a poem written in 1591. This makes early Neo-Syriac literature a contemporary of Jewish Neo-Aramaic literature from roughly the same region, the Neo-Syriac literature which existed before the arrival of British and American missionaries consisted mainly of poetry. This poetry can be divided into three categories, stanzaic Hymns, dispute poems, and drinking songs, at this time they came in contact with western Music and Instruments. Assyrian youth started picking up and playing these new instruments after seeing and hearing the British playing, Assyrian youths started to find new bands and to play in parties, picnics and other functions for both Assyrians and others. In Baghdad, Iraq the earliest known record is by Hanna Patros in 1931 – perhaps two Gramophones with 2 songs on each, Hanna Petros, Later became the music director at the conservatory in Baghdad
11. Azerbaijani folk music – Azerbaijani folk music combines the distinct cultural values of all civilisations that have lived in Azerbaijan and Iranian Azerbaijan region. Apart from the music found all-around Azerbaijan, there are distinct types of folk music. Most songs recount stories of life events and Azerbaijani folklore. Corresponding to their origins, folk songs are played at weddings, funerals. Regional folk music generally accompanies folk dances, which vary significantly across regions, the regional mood also affects the subject of the folk songs, e. g. folk songs from the Caspian Sea are lively in general and express the customs of the region. Songs about betrayal have an air of defiance about them instead of sadness, as this genre is viewed as a music of the people, musicians in socialist movements began to adapt folk music with contemporary sounds and arrangements in the form of protest music. Plucked stringed instruments include the saz, chang, gopuz, tar and oud, originally barbat. Bowed stringed instruments include the kamancha, woodwind instruments include the double-reed, shawm-like tutek, zurna, ney and balaban. Percussion instruments include the frame drum ghaval, the double faced drum nagara. Apart from percussion instruments, there is also this musical gemstone known as Gaval Dash and it makes a tambourine-like sound when it is hit in different points. Among the stone there are a big flat stone formed out of 3 supports. Suffice it to touch the object with a stone, musical sounds come from it. The Gaval Dash have been formed due the combination of climate, oil. The Gaval Dash can only be found in Gobustan, Azerbaijan, the earliest vernacular childrens songs in Europe are lullabies from the later medieval period. From soon after we have records of short childrens rhyming songs, the first, and possibly the most important collection to focus in this area was, Asaf Zeynallys childrens suite and Ganbar Huseynlis Jujalarim. The conflicts between Azerbaijan and Armenia in the later 20th and early 19th centuries produced a number of ballads describing events, output became a flood during the Revolutionary and Nagorno-Karabakh War, seeing numerous patriotic war songs, like Cənab Leytenant. Work songs include music sung while conducting a task or a linked to a task or trade which might be a connected narrative, description. The songs were intended to increase productivity while reducing feelings of boredom
12. Azerbaijani pop music – Azerbaijani pop music had its humble beginnings in the late 1950s with Azerbaijani cover versions of a wide range of imported popular styles, including rock and roll, tango, and jazz. As more styles emerged, they were adopted, such as hip hop, rock. Classical pop-folk music enjoyed mainstream popularity during this era, with such as Anatollu Ganiyev, Muslim Magomayev. The Azerbaijani pop music experienced during the late 1970s a golden age of productivity characterized by the rise of a new generation of musicians, akif Islamzade often considered one of the most successful and influential Azerbaijani male pop artists of the early 1980s. Baku chanson, a subgenre of Russian chanson, picked up popularity for the mid 1980s, artists such as Eyyub Yaqubov brought Baku chanson to popularity in 1992. However, many artists were uncomfortable with their success, and were suspicious of the chanson label. At the beginning of the new millennium, while talent show contestants were one of the forces in pop music. The countrys entry gained the place in 2009 and fifth the following year. Ell and Nikki won the first place at the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 with the song Running Scared, entitling Azerbaijan to host the contest in 2012, in Baku
13. Arabic music – Arabic music or Arab music is the music of the Arab world. Arab music, while independent and flourishing in the 2010s, has a history of interaction with many other regional musical styles and genres. It is an amalgam of the music of the Arab people in the Arabian Peninsula, as was the case in other artistic and scientific fields, Arabs translated Greek texts and works of music and developed the musical theory of the Greeks. Pre-Islamic Arab music was similar to that of Ancient Middle Eastern music, most historians agree that there existed distinct forms of music in the Arabian peninsula in the pre-Islamic period between the 5th and 7th century AD. Arab poets of that time—called shuara al-Jahiliyah or Jahili poets, meaning the poets of the period of ignorance—used to recite poems with a high notes and it was believed that Jinns revealed poems to poets and music to musicians. The choir at the served as a pedagogic facility where the educated poets would recite their poems. The compositions were simple and every singer would sing in a single maqam, among the notable songs of the period were the huda, the nasb, sanad, and rukbani. Both compositions and improvisations in traditional Arabic music are based on the maqam system, maqams can be realized with either vocal or instrumental music, and do not include a rhythmic component. Al-Kindi was the first great theoretician of Arabic music and he proposed adding a fifth string to the oud and discussed the cosmological connotations of music. He built upon the achievements of the Greek musicians in using the alphabetical annotation for one eighth and he published fifteen treatises on music theory, but only five have survived. In one of his treatises the word musiqa was used for the first time in Arabic, abulfaraj wrote a book about music. Kitab al-Aghani is a collection of poems and songs that runs to over 20 volumes in modern editions. Al-Farabi wrote a book on music titled Kitab al-Musiqi al-Kabir. His pure Arabian tone system is used in Arabic music. Al-Ghazali wrote a treatise on music in Persia which declared, Ecstasy means the state comes from listening to music. In 1252, Safi al-Din developed a form of musical notation. A similar geometric representation would not appear in the Western world until 1987, by the 11th century, Islamic Iberia had become a center for the manufacture of instruments. These goods spread gradually throughout France, influencing French troubadours, the English words lute, rebec, and naker are derived from Arabic oud, rabab, and naqareh
14. Culture of Eastern Arabia – There is a rich and ancient culture in Eastern Arabia. Eastern Arabias culture has always been oriented towards the sea, while being Arab at its core, it has been heavily influenced by the cultures of Persia, South Asia and Horn of Africa, because of extensive trade links. The annual tradition of Qarqean is deeply rooted in Gulf culture, the cuisine of the region includes seafood, harees, khubz and biryani. Other cultural features of the region include windcatchers and Dewaniya, cultures in the region include those of Bahrain, Kuwait, UAE, Eastern Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Southern Iraq and Northern Oman. Qarqean is a celebration, observed in Eastern Arabia, that takes place on the 15th night of Shaban. Gergaoon is marked with children dressing in traditional attire and going door-to-door to receive sweets from neighbours, the tradition has existed for hundreds of years and deeply rooted in Gulf culture. A variety of music and dance forms are practised in the region, including Fijiri, Fann At-Tanbura, Sawt, contemporary Khaliji music, Yowla, musical instruments Traditional instruments include the Oud, along with a variety of drums and the manjur. The Tanbūra lyre is also used, a number of different dialects of Arabic are spoken in the region, including Gulf Arabic and Bahrani Arabic. The Lurs language of Kumzari is also spoken by Omani people of Musandam Peninsula, Kumzari is the only Iranian language native to the Arab world. The cuisine of the region includes Harees, seafood, Biryani, the dress of the region includes long Thobe for men, Bisht and Ghutra. Traditional transport in the region includes boats such as Dhows and Abras, other cultural features of the region include Qarqean, Badgeer wind towers, Bukhoor and Dewaniya. Cultural institutions of the include the television network Al Jazeera, broadcast from Qatar. Madawi Al-Rasheed, ed. Transnational Connections and the Arab Gulf, the Gulfs Ethnic Diversity, An Evolutionary History in Security in the Persian Gulf, Origins, Obstacles and the Search for Consensus, Edited by G. Sick and L. Potter, pp.284. Lawrence G. Potter, ed. Sectarian Politics in the Gulf
15. Sawt (music) – Sawt is a kind of popular music found in Kuwait and Bahrain. Sawt is a form of urban music, originally performed by ud and mirwas. Two men perform the dance, which is called “Zaffan”, al-Sout is performed only at night gatherings of men. A Musical Anthology of the Arabian Peninsula, Volume 3 - Sowt, fijiri Liwa Culture of Bahrain Culture of Kuwait Video of Bahraini sawt performance Audio samples from Zeryab. com
16. Meykhana – Meykhana is a distinctive Azerbaijani literary and folk rap tradition, consisting of an unaccompanied song performed by one or more people improvising on a particular subject. Meykhana is distinct from spoken word poetry in that it is performed in time to a beat, performers also incorporate synthesizers, drum machines, and live bands. Meykhana masters may write, memorize, or improvise their lyrics, the name of this genre comes from the traditional Persian meykhane, which itself originated from the Persian words mey and khane. The professional performers of meykhana are known as the Söz Ustadı in Azeri, since medieval times, meyhanes were places where poets would gather exchanging verses in an extemporaneous fashion, sometimes joking and disparaging one another. At the end of the contest, the audience determined which poet had improvised the most elegant and clever verses and these contests may be compared with modern poetry improvisation contests or even with rap battles. Meykhana was performed among the youth of Baku settlements in the pre-Revolutionary time, although during the Soviet period meykhana was banned, the poetry of Aliagha Vahid was often rhymed as a contemporary meykhana. This could be related to the popularity among the residents of Baku. Nizami Ramzi was first meykhana master to be performed in national television. However, this division among meykhana performers. With the increased popularity of meykhana in the 1990s and the 2000s, the television programs such as De, Gəlsin. in ANS TV led meykhana to popularize even more among local residents and demand for meykhana increased significantly in Azerbaijani weddings. The most known type of meykhana is verbal exchange, where some phrase or sentence forms a rhyme with the following couplets, throughout the course of meykhana musics development and commercialization in Azerbaijan, there have been many attempts to stifle the art form. From lyrical content to the cover images, meykhana has been a controversial music. Religious identity and transnationalism function to define the complexities of Azerbaijani identity in world and this complex identity is expressed through meykhana and is often contested and censored in many cultural contexts. Meykhana started to circulate on a larger scale, via cassette tape sales, TV exposure. However, as the music mainstreamed, its audio and visual content became more tamed by the government in hopes to reach a larger audience, in essence, the government attempted to clean up meykhanas content and image to adhere to the religious beliefs instilled in Azerbaijani culture. To successfully deliver a meykhana, a meykhana master must also develop vocal presence, enunciation, vocal presence is the distinctiveness of a meykhana masters voice on record. Enunciation is essential to a flowing meykhana couplets, some meykhana masters choose also to exaggerate it for comic and artistic effect, breath control, taking in air without interrupting ones delivery, is an important skill for a meykhana performer to master. Meykhana couplets are always delivered with melody, the ability to compose quickly, meaningful and clearly meykhana couplets is regarded as an important sign of skill
17. Mugham – Mugham or mugam is one of the many folk musical compositions from Azerbaijan, contrasting with tasnif and ashugs. It is a complex art form that weds classical poetry. Unlike Western modes, mugham modes are associated not only with scales but with an orally transmitted collection of melodies, Mugham is a compound composition of many parts. The choice of a particular mugham and a style of performance fits a specific event, the dramatic unfolding in performance is typically associated with increasing intensity and rising pitches, and a form of poetic-musical communication between performers and initiated listeners. Three major schools of mugham performance existed from the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the regions of Karabakh, Shirvan, the town of Shusha of Karabakh was particularly renowned for this art. In 2003, UNESCO recognized mugam as a Masterpiece of Oral, in the course of its long history, the people of Azerbaijan have retained their ancient musical tradition. Mugham belongs to the system of music and may have derived from Persian musical tradition. The Uighurs in Xinjiang call this musical development muqam, the Uzbeks and Tajiks call it maqom, while Arabs call it maqam and Persians dastgah. So, in one culture mugham may be related to a strictly fixed melodic type, while in another it is only the cadences, in a third culture it may only correspond to a specific type of tone scales. The genre itself has roots in prayer and lullaby and is passed on from mother to baby in this way, however, there are hundreds of varieties, such as songs similar to war chant. In the 16-17th centuries the art of mugam was passing through the development process as a professional music of the palace conditions. In this period a dastgah form starts to develop in the structure, new colors and shades as well as tasnifs developed in mugam performance. The masters of mugam of Azerbaijan sang gazals written in aruz genre by Fizuli, Habibi, the music events were held in most regions of Azerbaijan in the 19th century and mugam was performed at these events. In the 19th century famous French scientist Alexandre Dumas who attended the ceremony in Shamakhy, such events held in Azerbaijan were attended by khanendes from Karabakh, Baku and Tabriz which in turn caused the blending of singing traditions of different regions. Famous Azerbaijani composer Gara Garayev and Fikrat Amirov also made a contribution to the development of the art of mugam through creating the mugam symphony. Hajibaba Huseynov was credited as a key figure in the popularization of mugham, as of 1985, Agdam Mugham School functions in Azerbaijan, which produced the Karabakh Nightingales mugham ensemble. Azerbaijan also has a tradition of composers and musicians of western classical music. Uzeyir Hajibeyov with his Leyli and Majnun created the genre of mugham-opera, fikret Amirov was the first composer of symphonic mughams, namely - Shur, Kurd Ovshari, and Gulistan Bayati Shiraz
18. Ottoman classical music – Classical Turkish music, sometimes known as Ottoman classical music, developed in Istanbul and other major Ottoman cities and towns through the palaces and Sufi lodges of the Ottoman Empire. Above all a vocal music, Ottoman music traditionally accompanies a solo singer with an instrumental ensemble. In recent times, instruments might include tambur, ney, kemençe, keman, kanun, sometimes described as monophonic music, the variety of ornamentation and variation in the ensemble requires the more accurate term heterophonic. Ottoman music has a large and varied system of modes or scales known as makams, there are more than 600 makams that have been used so far. Out of these, at least 119 makams are formally defined, in the Sufi teaching, each makam represents and conveys a particular psychological and spiritual state. Sometimes, in certain makams, Ottomans would use different instrumental and vocal musical pieces in order to certain medical and psychological conditions. A number of systems were used for transcribing classical music. Turkish classical music is taught in conservatories and social clubs, the most respected of which is Istanbuls Üsküdar Musiki Cemiyeti, a full fasıl concert would include four different instrumental forms and three vocal forms, including a light classical song, şarkı. A strictly classical fasıl remains in the same throughout, from the introductory taksim to the end. Tanrıkorur argues that the differences between the traditional music genres stemmed from the cultural clash between the East and the West that emerged during the Tanzîmat Era. Older instruments still in use include lavta, Ottoman classical music comprises many vocal and instrumental forms, among which are the suites called fasıl. A fasıl typically includes many instrumental and/or vocal movements, including taksim, peşrev, şarkı, beste, Ottoman music has various genres including the spiritual, improvised and fasil music. Other famous proponents of this genre include Dede Efendi, Prince Cantemir, Baba Hamparsum, Kemani Tatyos Efendi, Sultan Selim III, the most popular modern Turkish classical singer is Münir Nurettin Selçuk, who was the first to establish a lead singer position. Other performers include Bekir Sıdkı Sezgin, Alaeddin Yavaşça, Müzeyyen Senar, Emel Sayın, the long list of Turkish words on the screen are names of individual makam. Each makam has its own quality and repertoire, click on any of these to get a list of the music available to view. TurkMusikisi, the premier Turkish-language website dedicated to Ottoman music, highly recommended, regardless of Turkish ability. Secular classical music, selection from gazel improvisation sung by Safiye Ayla mp3,829 kB,0,00,53 duration Mosque music, selection from Merhaba bahrı sung by Kâni Karaca mp3,1. It explores the history, reviews the instruments of Turkish classical and folk music and it is available in four languages, Turkish, English, French and German
19. Iranian pop music – Iranian pop music refers to pop music originated in Iran, with songs mainly in Persian and other regional languages of the country. The origin of Iranian pop music back to the time of the 19th-century Qajar dynasty. Following the invent of radio in 1930, and after World War II, Persian pop music grew and developed during the 1950s. Different types of pop music, including rumba, tango and waltz music, were developed during this period. Viguen, known as the Sultan of Persian Pop and Jazz, was one of the most prominent and he was of Armenian origin, and sang in both Persian and Armenian. By the 1970s, a new wave was formed in Iranian pop music, using instruments and adding electric guitar. Parviz Maghsadi and Varoujan Hakhbandian were among pioneer composers who wrote and composed songs for singers such as Viguen, Googoosh, Dariush. After the 1979 Revolution, pop music was banned and completely disappeared from the scene in Iran, many Iranians immigrated to foreign countries, especially to Los Angeles in the United States, and many continued to sing in exile. Since then, several popular Iranian TV channels and radio stations operate outside of the country and these broadcast companies play an important role in promoting and connecting Iranian pop artists to Iranians living all over the world. In the 1990s, officials of the new government decided to produce and promote a decent pop music, in order to compete with the abroad, ali Moallem and Fereydoun Shahbazian headed a council at the IRIB that supervised the revival of domestic pop music. Shadmehr Aghili was one of the first post-revolutionary Iranian singers who received significant support, including promotion by national television and he was highly skilled at playing violin and guitar, and was a very talented singer. He became a successful and popular musician and singer in Iran. Under the presidency of Khatami, as a result of easing cultural restrictions within Iran, since the new administration took office, the Ministry of Ershad adopted a different policy, mainly to make it easier to monitor the industry. The newly adopted policy included loosening restrictions for a number of artists. However, the number of album releases increased, arian, the first officially sanctioned pop music band with female singers in post-revolutionary Iran, started a new chapter of Iranian pop music. In late 2009, Sirvan Khosravi became the first domestic Iranian artist to achieve high-rotation airplay on a regular European radio station and he made his debut with the song Saat-e 9, which also made headlines in Iranian online media. In August 2010, Farzad Farzin made his debut European chart with the song Chike Chike from his third legal album Shans. 1971, Googoosh, first prize and golden record at the MIDEM in Cannes,1972, Googoosh, first prize at the Carthage Music Festival
20. Persian traditional music – Persian traditional music or Iranian traditional music, also known as Persian classical music is the traditional and indigenous music of Iran. Persian traditional music is appreciated and enjoyed by all different ethnic groups across Greater Iran, the history of musical development in Iran dates back to the prehistoric era. King Jamshid of Persia, a figure of Shahnameh, is credited with the invention of music. Fragmentary documents from various periods of the countrys history establish that the ancient Iranians possessed a musical culture. Archeological evidence reveals musical instruments that were used in Persia during the Elamit era around 800 BC, little is known about the Persian music of the ancient world, least of all about the music of the Achaemenid Empire. Alexander the Great is said to have witnessed many melodies and instruments upon his invasion, Music played an important role in the courts of the kings of the much later Sassanid Empire. Of this period, we know the names of court musicians like Barbad. Under Sassanid rule, modal music was developed by a significant court musician, Barbad. Under the later Qajar Empire, the system was restructured into its present form mostly through the efforts of two legendary musicians of that time, Agha Hossein-Ghoul and Mara Abdullah. Persian traditional music relies on both improvisation and composition, and is based on a series of scales and tunes which must be memorized. Apprentices and masters, ostad, have a relationship which has declined during the 20th century as music education moved to universities and conservatories. The common repertoire consists of more than two hundred short melodic movements called gusheh, which are classified into seven dastgāh or modes, two of these modes have secondary modes branching from them called āvāz. Each gusheh and dastgah has an individual name and this whole body is called the Radif of which there are several versions, each in accordance to the teachings of a particular master or ostad. A typical performance consists of the following elements pīshdarāmad, darāmad, āvāz, taṣnīf, Chahārmeżrāb, a performance forms a sort of suite. Unconventionally, these parts may be varied or omitted, towards the end of the Safavid Empire, more complex movements in 10,14, and 16 beats stopped being performed. Today, rhythmic pieces are performed in beats of 2 to 7 with some exceptions, rengs are always in a 6/8 time frame. Many melodies and modes are related to the maqāmāt of the Turkish classical repertoire and Arabic music belonging to various Arab countries and this similarity is because of the exchange of musical science that took place in the early Islamic world between Persia and her neighboring countries. The vocalist plays a role, he or she decides what mood to express
21. Turkish folk music – Turkish folk music combines the distinct cultural values of all civilisations that have lived in Turkey and its former territories in Europe and Asia. Its unique structure includes regional differences under one umbrella and it was the most popular music genre in the Ottoman Empire era. In the 1960s, Turkish folk music met with radio and folk musicians like Aşık Veysel, Neşet Ertaş, türkü, literally of the Turk, is a name given to Turkish folk songs as opposed to şarkı. Classically, Türküs can be grouped into two categories according to their melodies, Kırık havalar, These have regular melodies, Uzun havalar, These have irregular melodies. These are divided into free-forms or improvisations with no obligatory metrical or rhythmic form, known as Uzun Hava, both can also be employed at the same time. Music generally played without words, and dance tunes, go by the names Halay, Bengi, Karsilamas, Zeybek, Horon, Bar, each region in Turkey has its own special folk dances and costumes. Here are some of the most popular, Hora - A type of circle dance, Horon - This dance is from Black Sea region, was performed by men only living in Trabzon, dressed in black with silver trimmings. Today, the dancers link arms and quiver to the vibrations of the kemenche, kılıç Kalkan - The Sword and Shield Dance of Bursa represents the Ottoman conquest of the city. It is performed by men only, in Ottoman battle-dress, who dance to the sound of clashing swords and shields, Zeybek - In this Aegean dance, dancers, called efe, symbolize courage and heroism. Furthermore, in many Turkish folk songs only part of the scale is used, both forms of music are diatonic, but use notes that are additional to the 12 semitones of western music. In Turkish folk music, for example, some include a note roughly halfway between B and B flat. The scales of Turkish folk music are associated with different regions, and can be known by different names depending on the region, such as, Beşiri, Garip, Kerem, Misket, a wide variety of time signatures are used in Turkish folk music. In addition to simple ones such as 2/4, 4/4 and 3/4, others such as 5/8, 7/8, 9/8, 7/4, combinations of several basic rhythms often results in longer, complex rhythms that fit into time signatures such as 8/8, 10/8, and 12/8. Plucked stringed instruments include the saz, bağlama, tar and Cümbüş. Bowed stringed instruments include the kabak kemane and the kemenche or Pontian Lyra, an old shepherds instrument, made from an eagles wing bone, was the çığırtma. Percussion instruments include drums – davul and nağara – the tambourine-like tef, a mini drum darbuka, melodies of differing types and styles have been created by the people in various spheres and stages of life, joyful or sad, from birth to death. Minstrels, accompanying themselves on the saz, played the most important role in the development, musicias did not use accompaniment with saz, because Turkish Traditional Music was monophonic. Musicians played the melody of a song but, when musicians hit the middle
22. Music of Azerbaijan – Azerbaijani music is the musical tradition of the Azeri people, from Azerbaijan and Iranian Azerbaijan. It builds on folk traditions that reach back nearly 1,000 years, for centuries, Azer music has evolved under the badge of monody, producing rhythmically diverse melodies. Music from Azerbaijan has a branch system, where chromatisation of major and minor scales is of great importance. In 1920, Azerbaijani classical music had undergone a renaissance and Baku Academy of Music was founded to give classical musicians the same support as folk musicians, modern day advocates of Western classical music in Azerbaijani include Farhad Badalbeyli, Fidan Gasimova and Franghiz Alizadeh. Beginning in 1900, opera troupes toured Baku on a yearly basis, most songs recount stories of real life events and Azerbaijani folklore, or have developed through song contests between troubadour poets. Corresponding to their origins, folk songs are played at weddings, funerals. Regional folk music generally accompanies folk dances, which vary significantly across regions, the regional mood also affects the subject of the folk songs, e. g. folk songs from the Caspian Sea are lively in general and express the customs of the region. Songs about betrayal have an air of defiance about them instead of sadness, as this genre is viewed as a music of the people, musicians in socialist movements began to adapt folk music with contemporary sounds and arrangements in the form of protest music. Other instruments include the garmon, tutek, and daf, due to the cultural crossbreeding prevalent during the Ottoman Empire, the tutek has influenced various cultures in the Caucasus region, e. g. the duduks. The zurna and naghara duo is also popular in rural areas, Ashiqs are traveling bards who sing and play the saz, a form of lute. Their songs are semi-improvised around a common base and this art is one of the symbols of Azerbaijani culture and considered an emblem of national identity and the guardian of Azerbaijani language, literature and music. Since 2009 the art of Azerbaijani Ashiqs has been inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, meykhana is a distinctive Azerbaijani literary and folk rap tradition, consisting of an unaccompanied song performed by one or more people improvising on a particular subject. Meykhana is distinct from spoken word poetry in that it is performed in time to a beat, performers also incorporate synthesizers, drum machines, and live bands. Meykhana masters may write, memorize, or improvise their lyrics, Mugham is one of the many folk musical compositions from Azerbaijan, contrast with Tasnif, Ashugs. It is a complex art form that weds classical poetry. Unlike Western modes, mugham modes are associated not only with scales but with an orally transmitted collection of melodies, Mugham is a compound composition of many parts. The choice of a particular mugham and a style of performance fits a specific event, the dramatic unfolding in performance is typically associated with increasing intensity and rising pitches, and a form of poetic-musical communication between performers and initiated listeners. Three major schools of mugham performance existed from the late 19th and early 20th centuries - the region of Garabagh, Shirvan, the town of Shusha of Karabakh was particularly renowned for this art
23. Music of Cyprus – The music of Cyprus includes a variety of traditional, Western classical and Western popular genres. Cypriot traditional music is similar to the music of Greece and includes dances like sousta, syrtos, tatsia, antikristos. Cyprus changed hands numerous times prior to the era, and was an important outpost of Christianity. The islands peak as a capital of Europe occurred from 1359 to 1432. On his return to Cyprus, Pierre I brought with him the French Ars Nova and, later, French musicians became well established in Cyprus, and the city of Nicosia became a capital of the Ars Subtilior style. Janus I de Lusignan saw Cypriot music evolve into its own variety of music and his daughter, Anne de Lusignan, brought a manuscript after her marriage to Louis, Count of Geneva, which contained 159 folios with over two hundred polyphonic compositions, both sacred and secular. The manuscript is now a part of the collection of the National Library of Turin, athanasios Demetriadis, also known as Kasavetis, was a Cypriot deacon in Constantinople when Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople was his uncle Yerasimos. A secular song lamenting Deaths preference for the young, written, chrysanthos of Madytos, Gregory the Protopsaltes, and Chourmouzios the Archivist were responsible for a reform of the notation of Greek ecclesiastical music. Traditional music on Cyprus is similar to the music of Greece and includes dances like the tatsia, sousta, syrtos, zeibekiko. Note that unlike Greece and Turkey, there are suites of four dances, different for men and women. Traditional Cypriot music – similar to Greek and Turkish traditional music – is modal, based on the systems of the Byzantine echos. Both Greek and Turkish Cypriots use the violin as the solo instrument, accompanied by the lute for Greek Cypriots. The tamboutsia and the pithiavli are also used, notable performers of Greek Cypriot folk music include singers Michael Tterlikkas, Christos Sikkis, Michalis Hatzimichail, Kyriakou Pelagia and Ilias Kouloumis. A niche artist of traditional music is Gianni Delfinogamis, a champion of many tshiatísta competitions, the tsiatísta is improvised antiphonal singing akin to the Cretan mantinada, with satirical and comedic intent, usually performed between friends or relatives poking fun at each other. Greek-Cypriot folk music is most closely related to the Nisiotika and especially so to the music of the Dodecanese, attempts to either popularize or fuse traditional music with other genres have taken place since the 1970s. For example, the singer and composer, in Cyprus and Greece, of traditional Cypriot. Another example includes Monsieur Doumani, a Cypriot band from Nicosia which focuses on developing Cypriot traditional music, musicians from Cyrpus performing in the field of western classical music include the pianists Cyprien Katsaris and Martino Tirimo, and the pianist and musicologist Solon Hadjisolomos. The history of Cyprus rock and heavy metal music begins a few years after the war of 1974 and this period is known as the First Rock Era of Cyprus
24. Music of Egypt – Music has been an integral part of Egyptian culture since antiquity. The Bible documents the instruments played by the ancient Hebrews, all of which are correlated in Egyptian archaeology, Egyptian music probably had a significant impact on the development of ancient Greek music, and via the Greeks was important to early European music well into the Middle Ages. The modern music of Egypt is considered Arabic music as it has been a source for or influence on regional styles. The ancient Egyptians credited the goddess Bat with the invention of music, the cult of Bat was eventually syncretised into that of Hathor because both were depicted as cows. Hathors music was believed to have used by Osiris as part of his effort to civilize the world. The lion-goddess Bastet was also considered a goddess of music, in prehistoric Egypt, music and chanting were commonly used in magic and rituals. Rhythms during this time were ovular and music served to create rhythm, small shells were used as whistles. During the predynastic period of Egyptian history, funerary chants continued to play an important role in Egyptian religion and were accompanied by clappers or a flute, the evidence is for instruments played more securely attested in the Old Kingdom when harps, flutes and double clarinets were played. Percussion instruments and lutes were added to orchestras by the Middle Kingdom, cymbals frequently accompanied music and dance, much as they still do in Egypt today. Typically ancient Egyptian music was composed from the dominant scale. The phrygian dominant scale may often feature a note or two in parts to create tension. For instance the music could typically be in the key of E phrygian dominant using the notes E, F, G sharp, A, B, C, D and then have an A sharp, B, A sharp, G natural and E to create tension. Arabic music is said to have begun in the 7th century in Syria during the Umayyad dynasty. Early Arabic music was influenced by Byzantine, Indian and Persian forms, which were heavily influenced by earlier Greek, Semitic. Egyptians in Medieval Cairo believed that music exercised too powerful an effect upon the passions, however, Egyptians generally were very fond of music. Though, according to E. W. Lane, no man of sense would ever become a musician, tradesmen of every occupation used music during work and schools taught the Quran by chanting. The music of Medieval Egypt was derived from Greek, Persian and Indian traditions, the songs of this period were similar in sound and simple, within a small range of tones. Egyptian song, though simple in form, is embellished by the singer, distinct enunciation and a quavering voice are also characteristics of Egyptian singing
25. Music of Iraq – The music of Iraq or Iraqi music, also known as the Music of Mesopotamia encompasses the music of a number of ethnic groups and musical genres. Ethnically, it includes Arabic music, Assyrian, Kurdish and the music of Turkmen, apart from the traditional music of these peoples, Iraqi music includes contemporary music styles such as pop, rock, soul and urban contemporary. Iraq is recognized mainly for three instruments, the Oud, Iraqi Santur and Joza, the most renowned Oudists are Ahmed Mukhtar, Naseer Shamma, Rahim AlHaj, Sahar Taha and Munir Bashir. Iraqi classical music necessitates some discussion of the environment, as well as references to the poetry. Poetry is the art of the Iraqis, and sung poetry is the finest of all, in Baghdad from 760-1260, writers spurned musical notation. The music is modal, and moves in a stepwise motion with repeated notes. Use of the end of a melodic range is characteristic, as is the use of silence. Following a cadence, the singer moves up to the range of pitches. An arch shape is discernible, and the ends in the original mode. Singers of the Baghdad Court were praised for their excellence in composition, their knowledge of history and songs, and their ornaments and innovations. There was support for singers and orators, such as Arib, a skilled poet, calligrapher, lutenist, composer. The common instrument is the oud, classical Iraqi music is identifiable by the genre/canon, and by how it is performed. Historically, music would have played for gatherings of men. With the advent of the recording industry, things have changed somewhat. Today one invites musicians to perform at weddings, by the first quarter of the century, across the Arab world, maqam refers to specific melodic modes. When a musician performs maqam performances, the performer improvises, based on rules, there are a number of different maqams, each with its own mood and characteristics. There are between fifty and seventy maqams, many of which have sub-styles, other characteristics of Iraqi music include a slow tempo, rhythmically free ornamentation or melodic lines, and predominantly minor modes. Instruments include qanun, riq, santur, darbuka, naqareh, ney, djose, baghdads Chalgi ensembles typically include the djoze and ney, and may also utilize an oud
26. Music of Israel – The music of Israel is a combination of Jewish and non-Jewish music traditions that have come together over the course of a century to create a distinctive musical culture. For almost 150 years, musicians have sought original stylistic elements that would define the national spirit. In addition to creating an Israeli style and sound, Israels musicians have made significant contributions to classical, jazz, pop rock and other international music genres. Since the 1970s, there has been a flowering of musical diversity, with Israeli rock, folk and jazz musicians creating and performing extensively, many of the worlds top classical musicians are Israelis or Israeli expatriates. The works of Israeli classical composers have been performed by leading orchestras worldwide, Music in Israel is an integral part of national identity. Beginning in the days of the pioneers, Hebrew songs and public singalongs were encouraged and supported by the establishment, public singalongs were a common pastime, and were for them a force in defining their identity, wrote Nathan Shahar. This view of music as nation-building continues to this day and we are in the midst of creating a culture, says Nahum Heyman, one of Israels leading music composers and music historians. Jewish immigrants from Europe, Asia, the Middle East and elsewhere brought with them their musical traditions, many of the Zionist immigrants who arrived before 1935 came from Russia. They brought with them the folk tunes and musical style of Russia, Songs in the early days were often contrafacta – Russian folk tunes with translated or new lyrics in Hebrew. An example is Shir Hamitpachat, a Polish song by Jerzy Petersburski with Hebrew lyrics by the Israeli poet and these Russian-style tunes are generally in a minor key, and often accompanied by accordion, or by guitar imitating the sound of the balalaika. Klezmer music was brought to the country by the immigrants of the early 20th century. Many Hassidic and klezmer melodies found their way into the canon of Israeli folk music, with lyrics translated from the Yiddish, or new Hebrew words. S. Among the leaders in Israeli music are singers and bands such as, Etti Ankri, David DOr, Aviv Gefen, Rita, Shlomo Artzi, HaYehudim, Ivri Lider, and Dana International. Other pop stars include Ninet Tayeb, Harel Skaat and Shiri Maimon – all winners of the Israeli talent search TV show Kokhav Nolad, Maimon represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 2005, and reached top 4 out of over 25 countries, with her ballad Hasheket Shenishar. In 2013, there were collaborations between older Israeli singers and young artists. Corinne Elal, Arik Einstein, Chava Alberstein, Yehoram Gaon, Allon Olearchik, the earliest composers of Hebrew folk music were influenced by the sounds of the local Arab music. Later, Oriental musical traditions were brought by Jewish immigrants from Other Middle Eastern countries – from Morocco, Yemen, Iraq, Egypt, the singers add Arab-style melismatic ornamentation, and often sing in a nasal tone, similar to Arab music. The melodies are often modal, swinging between major and minor, and diction is guttural, while Arab music is traditionally homophonic, based on melodic patterns called maqamat, Muzika Mizrahit is closer to Greek music, has harmonic accompaniment and usually uses a western, 12-tone scale
27. Music of Jordan – The traditional music of Jordan has a long history. Rural zajal songs, with improvised poetry played with a mijwiz, tablah, arghul, oud, rabab, recently Jordan has seen the rise of several prominent DJs and popstars. The musician and composer Sameer Baghdadi, the Bedouin singer Omar Al-Abdallat, Diana Karazon, Toni Qattan, other well-known Jordanian musicians are Qamar Badwan, who won the golden prize in the 2000 Cairo Song Festival, percussionist Hani Naser, and the pianist, and composer Khalid Asad. A new age group called Rum has gained regional and international popularity since its inception in 1998, Rum is considered the most successful Jordanian musical group, and has gained a wide range of fans from all over the world. Rum has performed in Tunisia, Morocco, Syria, Palestine, Turkey, Kazakhstan, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, the group performs instrumentals, songs, and rearranged Jordanian folklore. Rum group has represented Jordan in many events, including at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. Arts of the Arab world festival in the United States, sign of Thyme has been gaining regional popularity with its oriental-jazz-ethnic fusion. The band has been active since 2004 and has produced two albums, many Jordanian singers constantly use Western melodies and fuse it with Middle Eastern music, bringing a fresh new generation of music. The controversial female singer Malak El Nasser, known for her extremely seductive video clips, is another popular Jordanian singer, in Amman, the capital of Jordan, there has been a movement of alternative music in the last two decades. Rock bands that mix western and eastern influences are becoming more popular, ethereal was a famous oriental rock band early in the decade of the 2000s. They were the first band in Jordan to have a base of fans. They ranked first when they represented Jordan in the European youth festival in Turkey in 1999, at the present there are some popular bands in Jordan such as JadaL, DistorteD, Murjan and Illusions - who are famous for their pure classic rock style. Although not based in Jordan, hard rock guitarist Naser Mestarihi is Jordanian on his fathers side, the alternative music scene in Jordan boomed after 2008 with the appearance of post-rock band El Morabba3 and other bands such as Autostrad, Akher Zapheer, and others. Arabic hip hop and Arabic rap artists in Jordan have added to the musical scene. These artists includes names like El Far3i, Amer Al Taher, U-Seff Qasrawi, Khotta Ba, Torabyeh, Arab Mcs and Al Hevy. Jordan also has a large underground heavy metal scene that is always erroneously connected to Satanism. Examples of Jordanian metal bands are Tyrant Throne, Relics of Martyrs, Chalice of Doom, Bilocate, Esodic, Eternal Insomnia, and Ajdath, other bands, like Augury and Darkcide had to stop due to lack of support or to band members leaving the country. Some of the most important musicians in Jordan are the Faqir family, Jordans western radio station, Play 99.6, works towards exposing new local artists, including many western pop singers such as Humam Ammari, Ala Ayyoub, and Walid Karadsheh. The thriving indie rock scene was achieved thanks to such as Kais Khoury, Ibrahim Baggili, Hani Mitwasi and Yousef Kawar, as well as the Cowboys from Jordan
28. Kurdish music – Kurdish music refers to music performed in Kurdish language. Traditionally, there are three types of Kurdish Classical performers - storytellers, minstrels and bards, there was no specific music related to the Kurdish princely courts, and instead, music performed in night gatherings is considered classical. Several musical forms are found in this genre, many songs are epic in nature, such as the popular Lawiks which are heroic ballads recounting the tales of Kurdish heroes such as Saladin. Heyrans are love ballads usually expressing the melancholy of separation and unfulfilled love, lawje is a form of religious music and Payizoks are songs performed specifically in autumn. Love songs, dance music, wedding and other songs, erotic poetry. Another style of singing that originated as practice to recite hymns in both Zoroastrian and Islamic Sufi faiths is Siya Cheman and this style is practiced mostly in the mountainous subregion of Hewraman in the Hewrami dialect. However, some artists, have adopted the style and blended it with other Kurdish music. Siya Cheman can also be classified as çîrokbêj because it is used to for storytelling. Musical instruments include the tembûr, biziq, qernête and bilûr in northern and western Kurdistan, şimşal, cûzele, kemençe and def in the south, zirne and dahol are found in all parts of Kurdistan. The most frequently used song form has two verses with ten syllable lines, Kurdish songs are characterized by their simple melodies, with a range of only four or five notes. The sufi music of the Yarsanî sect with its 72 meqams is thought to be one of the most authentic, the Kamkars from the city of Sanandaj is a leading ensemble in Kurdish music today. They are internationally renowned for their performance of Kurdish folk music and with great dynamism, some members of the group, including Arsalan and Hooshang Kamkar, have also worked individually and produced successful works. Nasir Razazî, who now resides in Sweden, performs Kurdish music from all genres, ali Akbar Moradi is the greatest master of the religious tembûr music of the Yarsan sect to which he belongs. Aras Ibrahim, the violinist, built martyr Karzan music group in 1981 which was the group who could record revolutionary songs in the mountain in the PUK released areas of Kurdistan. The group recorded 5 cassettes and published them, in 1990, the group participated in the First festival of Halabja & Nawroz in Saqz-Iran with the famous coral of Halabja which was about the chemical weapon used against the Kurds there. Despite the lack of any musical educational infrastructure, several famous Kurdish musicians arose from Syria, gerabêtê Xaço was a great classical stranbêj, Muradê Kinê was another great stranbêj and kemençe player. Seîd Yûsif is acclaimed for his virtuosity on the biziq and his authentic teqsîms. Mihemed Şêxo was a master of symbolic nationalistic lyrics who was imprisoned several times for expressing his opinion through his songs
29. Music of Kuwait – Prior to 1990 and the start of the Gulf War, Kuwait was known in the region for its exploration of many different and new forms of music and dance. However, after encounters with Iraqi soldiers in August 1990, Kuwait fell, after just seven months under Iraqi conquest, Kuwait’s thousands of years of rich and diverse music was nearly completely destroyed. Traditional Kuwaiti music is derived from Kuwaits seafaring heritage, the Kuwaiti maritime tradition is known for songs called Fidjeri. Al Arda Al Bahariya is a well-known Kuwaiti sailor song, as are the al-Nahma, Kuwaiti music reflects the diverse influence of many cultures, including India and East Africa. Kuwait was the pioneer of music in the Gulf. Kuwaitis were the first commercial recording artists in the Gulf, nawal El Kuwaiti, Nabeel Shoail, Abdul Kareem Abdul-Qader and Abdallah Al Rowaished are the most prominent modern performers. Traditional Kuwaiti music is derived from the seafaring heritage. In pre-oil times, Kuwait was regionally known for its music, 20-30% of Kuwaitis were professional musicians. Traditional Kuwaiti music reflects the influence of many different cultures. Kuwaits seafaring tradition is known for such as Fidjeri. Fidjeri is a musical repertoire performed traditionally by male pearl divers and it involves singing, clapping, drums and dances with earthen water jars. Liwa and Fann at-Tanbura are types of music performed mainly by Kuwaitis of East African origin, Al Arda Al Bahariya is a well-known Kuwaiti sailor song, as are the al-Nahma, a class of songs that accompanied many sailing activities. Kuwait was the pioneer of music in the Gulf. Kuwaitis were the first commercial recording artists in the Gulf, Kuwait is known as the center for sawt, a bluesy style of music made popular in the 1970s. Kuwaiti music is throughout the Arab world. Nawal El Kuwaiti, Nabeel Shoail and Abdallah Al Rowaished are the most prominent modern performers, Kuwait has a reputation for being the central music influence of the GCC countries. Over the last decade of satellite stations, many Kuwaiti musicians have become household names in other Arab countries. Bashar Al Shatty is a young artist who became famous due to Star Academy
30. Music of Palestine – The music of Palestine is one of many regional subgenres of Arabic music. While it shares much in common with Arabic music, both structurally and instrumentally, there are forms and subject matter that are distinctively Palestinian. In the areas now controlled by both Israel and the Palestinian National Authority, multiple groups and religions have long held on to a diversity of cultures. Palestinians constituted the largest group, followed by Jews, Egyptians, Cypriots, Samaritans, Circassians Armenians, Dom, wasif Jawhariyyeh was one oud player, famous for his post 1904-diary. Early in the 20th century, Palestinians lived in rural areas, the fellahin sang a variety of work songs, used for tasks like fishing, shepherding, harvesting and making olive oil. Traveling storytellers and musicians called zajaleen were also common, known for their epic tales, weddings were also home to distinctive music, especially the dabke, a complex dance performed by linked groups of dancers. Popular songs made use of varying forms, particularly the mejana and dalona. After the creation of Israel in 1948, large numbers of Arab Palestinians fled to, or were forced into, refugee camps in the West Bank, the most popular recorded musicians at the time were the superstars of Arab classical music, especially Umm Kulthum and Sayed Darwish. The centers for Palestinian music were in the Palestinian towns of Nazareth and Haifa, in the 1970s, a new wave of popular Palestinian stars emerged, including Sabreen and Al Ashiqeen. In the 1990s, the Palestinian National Authority was established, wedding bands, which had all but disappeared during the fighting, reappeared to perform popular Egyptian and Lebanese songs. The Diaspora Palestinian Reem Kelani is one of the foremost researchers and performers in the present day of music with a specifically Palestinian narrative, all the songs on the album relate to pre-1948 Palestine. A large part of Palestinian music includes wedding songs and dancers, due to the large amount of weddings in Palestinian culture, wedding singers have been able to maintain the tradition of Palestinian songs whilst incorporating modern vocals and rhythms. Wedding singers draw from a repertoire of ceremonial material including henna songs sung at the ceremony, wedding processionals. As might be expected, much of it deals with the struggle of living under Israeli occupation, the longing for peace, and the love of the land of Palestine. A typical example of such a song is Baladi, Baladi, struggle, revolution, do not die, For the storm is on the land. Zareef et Tool is one of the most popular Palestinian songs of today, the song encourages Palestinians not to leave their homeland. رايح عالغربة و بلادك أحسنلك خايف يا زريف تروح و تتملك, the singers are usually family members or close friends that make up the lyrics on the spot. At modern Palestinian events there may be a singer but the forms mentioned below
31. Music of Iran – Music of Iran or Music of Persia, as evidenced by the archaeological records of the Fertile Crescent civilization of Elam, the most ancient culture in southwestern Iran, dates back thousands of years. In ancient Iran musicians held socially respectable positions and we know that the Elamites and the Achaemenid Empire certainly made use of musicians but we do not know what that music was like. During the Parthian era, troubadours or Gosans were highly sought after as entertainers, there are theories in Academia that perhaps the early Dari Poets of Eastern Iran like Roudaki were in fact Gosans. The history of performance in Sassanid Iran is however better documented than earlier periods. This is especially evident in the context of Zoroastrian ritual. By the time of Khosrau II the Sassanid royal court was the host of prominent musicians such as Ramtin, Bamshad, Nakisa, Azad, Sarkash, among these survived names, Barbad is remembered in much documents and has been named as remarkably high skilled. He has been credited to have given an organization of musical system consisting of seven Royal modes named Xosrovani, thirty derived modes named lahn and these numbers are in accordance with Sassanids calendar of number of days in a week, month, and year. The theories these modal systems were based on are not known, there are also some of a descriptive nature like roshan cheragh. The relief depicts two boats and the picture shows these boats at two successive moments within the same panel. Barbad may have invented the lute and the tradition that was to transform into the Maqam tradition. Even after Islam, Persian musicians did not disappear, Zaryab is often credited with being the greatest influence over Andalusian, Farabi and Avicenna were not only musical theorists but adept at the lute and the Ney, respectively. The position of a work of music often depends on the music genre. The academic Authentic Persian Music is strongly based on the theories of aesthetics as expounded by the likes of Farabi. It also preserves melodic formula that are attributed to the musicians of the Persian imperial court of Khosroe Parviz in the Sassanid Period. However, the influence of Dastgah cannot be underestimated as it is seen as the reservoir of authenticity that other forms of musical genres derive melodic and performance ideas, Persian classical music goes back a long way. Musicians like Barbad were legendary in the empire of the Sassanid era, until the early 20th century, musiqi-e assil was heard almost entirely at the royal courts of the monarchy. The renaissance brought popularity to the genre, Women were banned from singing as soloists for male audiences, though they were allowed to perform as soloists for female audiences, as instrumentalists and in choirs. For this reason some female singers, including Maryam Akhondy, left the Islamic Republic to work in exile, most notable living Iranian classical vocalists are, Sodeyf, Shajarian, Shahram Nazeri
32. Music of Qatar – The music of Qatar is based on sea folk poetry, song and dance. Other folk instruments include the oud and rebaba, both string instruments, as well as the ney, work songs relating to the sea are the most recurrent type of folk music, particularly songs pertaining to pearl hunting. Each song, varying in rhythm, would narrate a different activity of the trip, including spreading the sails, diving. Collective singing was a part of each pearling trip, and each ship had a designated singer. Singing was used to crew members to work harder during the pearling drip. Ardah, a dance, is still practiced in Qatar. The dance is performed with two rows of men opposite of one another, each of whom may or may not be wielding a sword, the two main types of ardah in the Persian Gulf states are land ardah and sea ardah. Qatars ardah is a mixture of the two, in some performances, men wear land ardah attire at a beach setting and are supported by sea band drumming. Women primarily sang work songs associated with activities such as wheat grinding and cooking. The songs were performed collectively in small groups and varied in specificity - some pertained to general themes, women would also sing when returning pearl ships were sighted. After a sighting was made, they would gather around the seashore where they would clap, public performances by women were practiced only on two annual occasions. The first was al-moradah, which involved women and girls of all social classes gathering in an area where they would sing. This was usually done in the weeks preceding Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha and it was one of the most popular musical practices among Qatari women in previous decades. Each moradah would begin with a prayer to Muhammad, after this, the women would praise tribal leaders and elders, repeating each verse twice before a new verse was introduced. It was performed with two rows of women opposite of other with the lead singers at the far ends. Moradahs dance consisted of all the women in each row swaying their bodies and moving their arms up, for the most part, the practice was abandoned during the 1950s, though it is still sometimes practiced at the end of weddings. There have been efforts by Qatars ministry of culture to reintegrate the practice in Qatari society, the second occasion of collective public singing, known as al-ashori, was performed exclusively at weddings. There were two main instruments used during a performance, al daf, a type of tambourine and al tabl, thematically, ashori songs are cheerful as they rejoice the marriage which is taking place
33. Music of Turkey – Much of its modern popular music can trace its roots to the emergence in the early 1930s drive for Westernization. With the assimilation of immigrants from various regions the diversity of musical genres, Turkey has also seen documented folk music and recorded popular music produced in the ethnic styles of Greek, Armenian, Albanian, Polish, Azeri and Jewish communities, among others. Many Turkish cities and towns have vibrant local music scenes which, in turn, despite this however, western-style pop music lost popularity to arabesque in the late 70s and 80s, with even its greatest proponents Ajda Pekkan and Sezen Aksu falling in status. It became popular again by the beginning of the 1990s, as a result of an opening economy, with the support of Aksu, the resurging popularity of pop music gave rise to several international Turkish pop stars such as Tarkan and Sertab Erener. Ottoman court music has a large and varied system of modes or scales known as makams, a number of notation systems were used for transcribing classical music, the most dominant being the Hamparsum notation in use until the gradual introduction of western notation. Turkish classical music is taught in conservatories and social clubs, the most respected of which is Istanbuls Üsküdar Musiki Cemiyeti, a full fasıl concert would include four different instrumental forms and three vocal forms, including a light classical song, şarkı. A strictly classical fasıl remains is the same throughout, from the introductory taksim. Composers and Performers Other famous proponents of this genre include Sufi Dede Efendi, Prince Cantemir, Baba Hamparsum, Kemani Tatyos Efendi, Sultan Selim III, the most popular modern Turkish classical singer is Münir Nurettin Selçuk, who was the first to establish a lead singer position. Other performers include Bülent Ersoy, Zeki Müren, Müzeyyen Senar, from the makams of the royal courts to the melodies of the royal harems, a type of dance music emerged that was different from the oyun havası of fasıl music. In the Ottoman Empire, the harem was that part of a house set apart for the women of the family and it was a place in which non-family males were not allowed. Eunuchs guarded the sultans harems, which were large, including several hundred women who were wives and concubines. There, female dancers and musicians entertained the women living in the harem, belly dance was performed by women for women. This female dancer, known as a rakkase, hardly ever appeared in public and this type of harem music was taken out of the sultans private living quarters and to the public by male street entertainers and hired dancers of the Ottoman Empire, the male rakkas. These dancers performed publicly for wedding celebrations, feasts, festivals, modern oriental dance in Turkey is derived from this tradition of the Ottoman rakkas. However, Çiftetelli is now a form of music, with names of songs that describe their local origins. Dancers are also known for their use of finger cymbals as instruments. Romani are known throughout Turkey for their musicianship and their urban music brought echoes of classical Turkish music to the public via the meyhane or taverna. This type of music with food and alcoholic beverages is often associated with the underclass of Turkish society
34. Music of Yemen – In the Arab world, Yemen has long been a cultural capital. Yemens national anthem is United Republic written by Abdallah al-Fadhool Abdulwahab Noman, UNESCO proclaimed the tradition of poetic songs of Sanaa, called al-Ghina al-Sanani, a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity on November 7,2003. This form of performance uses sung poetry and is called homayni, two of the most famous Yemenite musicians, Ahmed Fathey and Osama al Attar, are now resident in the United Arab Emirates. The urban homayni style known in the capital of Yemen, Sanaan singing, is the most well-known kind of homayni today, there is a large Yemeni-Welsh community in Cardiff and other major Welsh cities. Yemeni folk music has become a major part of the Welsh music scene. The hip hop major outbreak in Yemen is often associated to the influence of Hajaj Abdulqawi Masaed, although he had grown in the United States, AJ has successfully reached Yemeni audience by addressing to local issues and incorporating traditional musical language into his hits. He has also played a role on propagating the understanding of rap as a means of change. One contributing factor to the development of the music is also the creation of Yemen Music House in 2007 that has been providing assets to the development of a music scene. In 2009, took place the first Yemeni Rap public festival, co-sponsored by the French, due to the importance of this event, AJ draws a comparison between it and the fall of the Berlin wall. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla, World Music, Vol.1, Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp 351–354
35. Arabic hip hop – Arabic hip hop is hip hop music and culture originating in the Arabic-speaking world. It is performed in Arabic, and local Arabic dialects, English, French, like most artists of the genre, the artists from the Arab world are highly influenced by American culture. Also considered part of Arabic hip hop are emcees of Arab origin in the Arab diaspora including Europe, North America, and Australia. Before Arabic hip-hop emerged as a genre, Arab-Americans were regularly involved in hip-hop in the United States, notably producer Fredwreck, based in L. A. American hip-hop music began to see popularity in the Arab World in the early-to-mid 1990s, northern African Arabs, mostly residing in France, the epi-center of European hip-hop, were the first to begin making the music that constitutes the Arabic hip-hop genre. For example, the Super Saian Crew and IAM had Arabic members, French hip-hop rose to popularity partly because of Francophone radio broadcasting requirements, begun in 1994, that established quotas for all stations of 40% of daily broadcasts to be in French. Groups began to emerge in Palestine in the mid-90s, including popular group DAM, DJ Lethal Skillz was promoting new local groups such as Aks El Seir at around the same time. In Egypt, hip-hop was less popular, but a small buzz led to an emergent b-boy population. In 2006, Arabic hip-hop solidified its mainstream presence in the Arab World with Hip Hop Na, a reality TV show on MTV Arabia hosted by Fredwreck and Qusai, a Saudi Arabian Artist. Hip-hop, both Arabic and American, is followed and created to varying degrees in most of the countries of the Arab world, for example, Saudi Arabia is home to the group Dark2Men, who competed in the HipHopNa reality show mentioned above. In addition, break dancing has become a pastime in the kingdom. It is difficult to establish numbers for albums sold or listenership by demographic in the Arab world due to the lack of reliable statistics, furthermore, viewership of satellite TV in the Arab world cannot be accurately quantified. However, we can discern popularity through marketing techniques utilized by satellite television providers. S, female hip-hop artists are involved in a number of outreach activities in the Arab, African and International World. EmpresS *1 has also done work in the UK, Brazil. Shadia Mansour Arabias First Lady of Hip-Hop pays regular visits to Palestine to help with aid throughout the war. Female Arab Rappers performed at Home and Exile in Queer Experience, a conference organized by Aswat, an organization for Arab lesbians with members in Israel, the West Bank, Arabic hip-hop artists, commensurate with those of the overall genre, engage in the process of sampling. According to Jannis Androutsopoulos, sampling is a process of cultural literacy, taken from various domains, such as traditional folk music, contemporary popular music, mass media samples, and even poetry. Arabic hip hop artists have used full Arabic orchestras in beat-making as well as inspired by traditional Arabic music styles
