All the talk about “taking Arabic music global” is somewhat confusing, mainly because Arabic music has already been reaching global audiences for decades - and continues to do so. The collaboration between Arabic music and global music dates back to early eras, such as when Led Zeppelin joined the Egyptian orchestra for an extended live performance, and you saw one of the greatest rock vocalists of all time, Robert Plant, wearing Abdel Halim Hafez t-shirts on stage on different occasions. This was not just an attempt to appear as someone with exotic taste; for instance, if you listen to Led Zeppelin’s ‘Kashmir’, it is very distinctly Eastern in its composition. Or consider the time when Jay-Z sampled Abdel Halim Hafez - the examples go on, proving that our music and artistic heritage have been able to resonate with various cultures and make their way to global audiences.

Nowadays, whenever an Arabic musician collaborates with a Western artist, it is often celebrated for the wrong reasons, as if we need Western validation for our art to prove its worth. This is an incredibly degrading perspective that screams insecurity. Artists from all around the world are impressed by our culture and musicianship. Arabic music is extremely sophisticated and diverse. We have our own scales, instruments, vocal styles, compositional techniques and much more, which proves the richness and depth of our musical history. Global artists have always wanted to explore this area in their music, and although some collaborations might have appeared orientalist or purely for an exotic factor, many of these experiences have become iconic. Imagine if Sting didn’t have Cheb Mami on ‘Desert Rose’ - it would have been an entirely different song, and probably wouldn’t have become the classic it is today.

In this list, we look back on global and Arabic crossovers in music, highlighting our favourite collaborations (and excluding some of the more embarrassing ones).

Hakim Ft. James Brown - Liela