#27: Deena Abdelwahed
I have to admit, my opinion of Deena Abdelwahed used to be medium-high. But it wasn’t fully formed yet. I based it on one remix by her for Bachar Mar-Kalifé I didn’t really like. So now that I have seen her name appear more often, I thought there has to be a point to her music. I dug a bit deeper and convinced myself that she is indeed a very interesting artist, standing at a unique point.
First, I listened to this Discwoman mix of hers. Not really a DJ set, rather a mixtape. A mixtape made for huge halls, with lots of corners. Mystical and pulsating electronica. You hear some oriental-sounding influences as well. Just like in her music. Because listening to her own productions is the other thing I did. In her debut EP “Klabb”, released past march, Abdelwahed fuses futuristic and sinister-sounding electronica with arab influences. The latter can be traditional oriental percussion or vocals in Arabic - mostly sampled, but in part also sung by Abdelwahed herself. She is one of the few people to fully develop this fusion, embedding the music of her home culture (Abdelwahed is from Tunisia, but grew up in Qatar) into experimental electronic music. The contrast between repression in Tunisia Abdelwahed was confronted with and the hedonistic freedom of dance culture is political in itself, and she wants to emphasize that. The vocals sung by herself for example are a direct message towards homophobia in Tunisia, as she tells here. This political aspect only adds to the impact her music seems promising to have.
Klabb by Deena Abdelwahed