Experience day two of the fifth edition of Habibi Festival, hosted at Joe’s Pub in Brooklyn. The evening begins with the festival co-founders, Yacine Boulares and Meera Dugal, welcoming the audience and reflecting on the festival’s mission of celebrating the living, breathing music, culture, and traditions of the Arab region and actively combating their "museumification." The night features contemporary Egyptian artist Maii Waleed in her second appearance this year, joined by a New York-based band, followed by the critically acclaimed Palestinian rock star, composer, and guitarist Rasha Nahas. Following her powerful performance, Nahas sits down with afikra for a Q&A discussing the impact of the last two years on her creative process, her upcoming bilingual album, and how her multi-generational family history and connection to the land directly influence her music, especially in her unreleased track, "Once Upon a Time in Palestine."
Experience day two of the fifth edition of Habibi Festival, hosted at Joe’s Pub in Brooklyn. The evening begins with the festival co-founders, Yacine Boulares and Meera Dugal, welcoming the audience and reflecting on the festival’s mission of celebrating the living, breathing music, culture, and traditions of the Arab region and actively combating their "museumification." The night features contemporary Egyptian artist Maii Waleed in her second appearance this year, joined by a New York-based band, followed by the critically acclaimed Palestinian rock star, composer, and guitarist Rasha Nahas. Following her powerful performance, Nahas sits down with afikra for a Q&A discussing the impact of the last two years on her creative process, her upcoming bilingual album, and how her multi-generational family history and connection to the land directly influence her music, especially in her unreleased track, "Once Upon a Time in Palestine."
0:00 Welcome to Day 2 of the 5th Habibi Festival at Joe's Pub
0:49 The Mission: Combating the "Museumification" of Arab Culture
1:35 Habibi Festival's Partnership with Celebrate Brooklyn and afikra
3:48 Maii Waleed Takes the Stage with Her All-American Band
12:45 Maii Waleed Performs "Neptune" (On Losing Hope and Silver Lining)
21:04 Maii Waleed Performs "Louloua"
25:22 Maii Waleed Performs "Ehdefini" (Throw Me Out of This System)
30:06 Maii Waleed Performs Her Last Two Tracks
39:53 Rasha Nahas Takes the Stage: How to Survive Whole as a Victim
47:17 Rasha Nahas Performs "Desert" From her Debut Record
52:19 Shukran and Invitation to Dance/Cry
56:34 Rasha Nahas Performs "War"
59:36 Rasha Nahas Performs "Nbeed" (Wine)
1:04:19 Rasha Nahas Performs a New, Unreleased Song
1:09:26 Rasha Nahas Performs "Ghanneeli" (Latest Single)
1:16:39 Rasha Nahas Performs "Once Upon a Time in Palestine" (Unreleased)
1:24:41 Rasha Nahas Performs "The Skies Don't Care" (First Song Written at 17, in Jerusalem)
1:31:06 afikra Quartertones Interviews Rasha Nahas on Stage
1:33:18 Discussing the New Bilingual Album and its Themes
1:34:04 The Multi-Generational Trauma and Shared Story of Palestinians
1:35:46 The Indigenous Connection to Land is Not a Cliché
1:36:40 Rasha Nahas on How the Last Two Years Shattered the Soul and Influenced Art
1:39:41 The Influence of Berlin's Weimar Era Cabaret on Her Music
1:42:30 Recording the Amrat Album in the Occupied Golan Heights
1:44:41 Life in New York City and the New Energy of Her Local Band
1:46:00 Future Goals: Community, Family, Health, and Releasing Soulful Music
Maii Waleed is a singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist born and raised in Alexandria. She was once a part of Telepoetic, an Electro-Rock Egyptian band performing their first gig on 100live music festival for electronic arts. She dropped her first album, Moga, in 2013 which was produced with Zeid Hamdan. Over the years Maii had collaborated with various artists in her community as well as internationally. In the year 2015 she released tracks with Jordanian electronica trio Zaed Naes. That was later followed by a couple of EPs with Zeid Hamdan within the umbrella of their collaboration project Maii and Zeid.
Connect with Maii Waleed 👉 https://instagram.com/maiiwaleeed
Rasha Nahas is a multifaceted Palestinian artist known for her distinctive approach to songwriting, storytelling, and performance. A singer, composer, actress, and instrumentalist, she has a unique sound that is rooted in her early training in classical guitar and her formative years in Haifa's underground music scene. Her genre-defying style weaves the traditional and popular music influences of her homeland with the raw intensity of electric rock. Her 2021 debut album Desert chronicled her journey from Haifa to Berlin. Her second album, Amrat, was released in 2023 via UK label Cooking Vinyl, marking her first foray into Arabic language lyrics, exploring the thematic duality of urban and rural life. Recorded at 67 Studio in the occupied Golan Heights and featuring contributions from leading lights of Palestine's indie scene, its success secured tours across Europe, South America, the UK and West Asia.
Connect with Rasha Nahas 👉 https://instagram.com/rasha_nahas
Hosted by Tarik Zahr
Tarik Zahr is a afikra ambassador, born in Lebanon, raised in the UAE and currently in the US, getting his PhD at Columbia University in Molecular Pharmacology. He works in the Medical Campus' Diabetes Center focusing on fatty liver disease and cholesterol metabolism. He has a huge interest in Arab and SWANA history, food, and music, and is curious about his Druze faith.
Connect with Tarik Zahr 👉 https://instagram.com/adventuresoftartarsauce