Palestinian singer Mohamed Assaf’s releases new folk album

CAIRO - 19 July 2017: Palestinian singer Mohamed Assaf opened up on Wednesday about the release of his much anticipated second album “Ma Wahashnak” (You Didn’t Miss Us), which Assaf had worked on for over a year ago and was previously delayed.

Winner of the worldwide recognized singing competition Arab Idol in 2013, Assaf expressed his disappointment about the narrowed creativity and expression within music production in the region, according to his personal interview with UAE-based newspaper The National.

Assaf explained that the Arab world contains many talents and skills worthy of discovery, but many artists are scared to try new approaches in art, bearing in mind potential negative reactions from their fans and the media; therefore they adhere to one style in an effort to keep it safe. He added that his new album is a step forward to fighting this idea, exploring new styles.

The 27-year old has added new genres in the latest album, including Palestinian, Egyptian, and Gulf folk. “This is the album that I want to introduce me to the world,” exclaimed Assaf as he plans to partake many challenges in establishing new levels in his career.

One of the album’s songs features the French-Algerian singer Faudel in a song called “Rani” that is accompanied by a Marrakech-set video set to be released this week. The audio version of the song, which was already released on YouTube, has managed to garner over two million plays in over a week.

An ambitious artist, Assaf was born in the Libyan city of Misrata and has moved to the Khan Younis Refugee camp in Gaza Strip where he would eventually work as a wedding singer. A movie about Assaf was released called “The Idol,” directed by Dutch-Palestinian filmmaker Hany Abu Assad, portraying his journey.