From Cairo to New York, Felukah redefines Arab identity through her music
7 min read
Masr Al-Um Dunya is a common phrase among the Arab community that translates to, Egypt, the Mother of the World; it comes from a deep-rooted belief that the country shares the nurturing and loving nature of the mother, and it's this very warmth that radiates from Cairo-born singer and songwriter, .
After moving to New York from Cairo as a teen and studying Creative Writing at Hunter College, Felukah soon swapped her love for literature to her love for music after being influenced by the Big Apple’s strong rap culture.
But Egypt remains at the core of who she is and just listening to Egyptian Lover or Ask The Birds In Cairo certifies this. “I'm just trying to position myself back home,” Felukah tells about exposing her roots to the world.
“Like, okay I live in New York, I’m rapping and singing in English, and Arabic, but I’m still your girl. Make no mistake. Like, I'm from the source, I grew up there.”
Making her musical debut in 2018 with the release of her album Acid Battery, Felukah has carved a unique space for herself as an artist. Blending the sounds of neo-soul, hip-hop and R&B with her beautiful poetic lyrics, the 26-year-old rapper has grown from strength to strength with each single and each album release since.
“I am someone who fights for her rights as a woman and fights for the rights of others"
With hit tracks like Ra2i2a, Honeysuckle and Say Hi To My Demons, Felukah has shown that poetry and writing are at the heart of who she is, crafting rich and meaningful lyrics that depict who she is as a person — and her new album Qabl Al Shams (Before The Sun) demonstrates this perfectly. Set to release in November, it explores the theme of a young woman navigating her way through the vast night.
In her opening track Ana Mesh Heya (I Am Not Her) Felukah hones in on separating herself from the public perception.
“In the West, there is this perception of an oppressed Arab woman. I am not that,” Felukah tells . “I am someone who fights for her rights as a woman and fights for the rights of others, including Falasteen (Palestine.)”
This is evident in her lyrics, such as in the track Freedom, released in 2023, where she sings:
From the river to the sea
Palestine will be free
Clap your hands and stomp ya feet
If you rewriting history
Don't give ass bout the media
Question what you see
Western narratives perpetuate the colonizers' dream…
“I feel the sadness, the grief, the anger about what is going on in the world and all of that is completely natural, but I prefer to channel it through positive, uplifting music,” she explains.
'We do deserve to be here'
On September 24, Felukah was invited to perform at the private event, hosted by the Recording Academy in their New York townhouse. It was also in conjunction with the Grammy’s, UN and Oxford Union.
Felukah fit the bill to be selected for the prestigious event as the Recording Academy had announced supporting more independent African and Middle Eastern artists who vocalise their belief in justice.
Ecstatic about the moment, Felukah says, “To be included in that room and to be playing my music, it just felt like a very full circle moment for me in my career path. More than anything, it was just affirming for me as an artist and a great moment for Arab music and musicians.”
In the face of being “cast aside as other world music” for so many decades, Felukah unpacks her relationship with imposter syndrome, expressing this as an ongoing feeling: “I get up on stage and the first few seconds are like, ‘What did I do to get here, what am I doing here, are these people really here to see me?’”
But seconds later, she asserts, “No, we do deserve this moment, we do deserve to be here. Seeing how Arab artists are breaking into the mainstream is a nod to that. We deserve these spaces and platforms so it's time to take up this space with pride. For me, it's like if one of us wins, we all win.”
The power of code-switching
Having the ability to converse in two languages is a privilege Felukah acknowledges, but wants to make it clear that, “As an Egyptian Arab, I'm tired of people thinking, ‘Oh, she's one of those diaspora artists’.”
She continues, “My thoughts are bilingual and they show up authentically in that mixed bilingual way. So it just felt really natural to rap in this way too. I think that’s why it resonated so well with people from either culture and from that space in between.”
“I want to encourage everybody to feel as Arab as you feel and to feel it how you want to. A language barrier will never change that — so be proud of your Arab nose, brown skin and curly hair"
In previous generations, there may have been a gap between Arab kids in the diaspora and from the homeland. But being one of the few to eloquently code-switch between the two languages, Felukah has arguably bridged that space through her music.
“I want to encourage everybody to feel as Arab as you feel and to feel it how you want to. A language barrier will never change that — so be proud of your Arab nose, brown skin and curly hair,” she says.
“That's a revolutionary feeling in a world that's consistently been pushing white, fair and lovely on us as we grew up. Like this is what you should be, this is what you have to look and sound like.
“My music strives to break down those boxes and to just approach life from a place of freedom — the choice to be liberated and be who you want to be.”
Music as resistance and education
With war, genocide and other issues raging across the Middle East and Africa, Felukah doesn’t avoid using her platform to raise awareness— for her, this is the only way she knows “how to heal” and “cope.”
Amid Israel's genocide in Gaza, and as the chaos of Sudan's war continues to unfold,Felukah wants her music to act as a beacon of light to represent the “stories that are untold” and “suppressed.”
“We will continue to amplify, raise our flags and blast it from the sound system because that's the only way we can keep people awake and motivated to keep pushing for the movement,” she says.
The upcoming tour and album
Ana Mesh Heyareleased on October 15, after which singles from the new album will be slowly released building up to the full EP release date on November 22.
Felukah hopes the new EP will help others, “Shake off ancestral trauma and judgement and create a spiritual and divine connection.”
She will also begin her tour across Europe and the Middle East, starting in Berlin on October 21 and on to Paris and Amsterdam.
Despite the sad news of being unable to perform in Beirut during her tour, Felukah reveals that she will donate part of the profits to charities for Lebanon, Sudan and Palestine.
Making it clear that she doesn’t want to avoid the pain of current strifes, Felukah wants to hold a space for all the wounded souls: “So let's come together, raise our keffiyehs in the air and sing for Palestine and all those suffering around the world.”
It is this empathy that makes Felukah the artist she is, the one who resonates so deeply with her fans worldwide, who have frequently told her, “You remind me of me.”
A musical maestro by passion, creating soulful sounds and a poet at heart, jotting down her most inner deep thoughts in chapbooks, Felukah’s skills and voice as an Arab artist are like no other and we’re excited to follow her on this journey.
Find tickets for Felukah’s tour
Tariq Manshi is a London-based freelance journalist. Previously, he served as the Middle East & North Africa correspondent for Bath Time Magazine and contributed as a football writer at From The Spot
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