Music News

It’s been an action-packed year for Amir Eid, the lead singer of the groundbreaking Arabic rock-pop band Cairokee, who just released several tracks off his debut solo album, which came in parallel with season two of the hit show, RIVO. Created by Mohamed Nayer and directed by Yahya Ismail, the show premiered on Watch It, starring Amir Eid as Shady, the lead member of a fictional indie band shrouded in mystery.

Much like Cairokee’s journey to success, and particularly that of lead singer Amir Eid, RIVO depicts the arduous road of a band determined to change the musical landscape in which it exists. We hear this all packed into RIVO’s brilliant soundtrack. Meanwhile, the deep nostalgia for the glory days of the ‘90s was perhaps another factor behind RIVO’s mass appeal.

Amir says the idea for RIVO began with his friend, script writer Mohamed Nayer, who kept trying to sell him the character of Shady for years. For the Cairokee lead singer, the decision to embark on this new experience was not an easy choice to make.

“[Mohamed] would always tell me: ‘You will play the role of Shady,’ and I would respond by saying: ‘My son, I do not want to act,’” Amir explains. But it seems that seven years of preparation were enough for Amir to change his mind. “I met Nayer by chance, and he told me you have to read this script,” he recalls. “I read the script and loved it, because it had a band and music and ‘90s and playing, so honestly, I fell in love with the role, and wanted to go through with it.”

In terms of the music, Amir manages to yet again deliver a set of songs that exhibit his resonant ability to blend alternative rock and pop, with his self-contained style of songwriting — in this case, songs that are at the heart of both Shady’s life and Amir’s career. Four tracks were enough to leave the audience with a sonic token from the show, as heard in “Tayer” (“Flying”), where the mood is immediately set by means of a bemoaning guitar line and delicate drum pattern that gives space for Eid’s vocals.

Later in “Wahshteny” (“I miss you”), Amir’s pop sensibilities and musical storytelling come in with an upbeat production juxtaposed against lyrics of an untimely love. “Lw Kan” (“If Only”), in collaboration with producer Sary Hany, offers the fullest sound, while in “Metkatef” (“Tied Up”), the keys and trumpet-driven track delivers a melancholia cushioned by rich instrumentation. In the track, we hear Amir in his most controlled vocal delivery situated within the tragic closing scene of RIVO‘s series finale.

The show weaves the music into its narrative to convey meaningful messages and ignite conversations about mental health. Within its script, the series spotlights issues like depression, a dialogue that Amir aspires will resonate profoundly with the audience.

Amir says that his approach to crafting music content for RIVO is a complete departure from his usual songwriting process for Cairokee — in this case, a largely solo driven process, but also conceived for an entirely different time period. The songs he writes for RIVO are based on a script set in the 1990s, whereas his songs for his band Cairokee are born out of pure imagination.

“First thing I do is I read the scenario really well,” he says. “Then I put it aside and go about my life normally, as we do tours and a lot of concerts, so I think, ‘What would Shady do in this situation? If he was to sing, how would he sing? If he was to write, how would he write?’ So the idea gets refined in my head, so I go back to the scenario and start working on Shady’s songs and character in the second season of RIVO.”

Looking back, a blending of Western rock and Egyptian folk music is carved in Amir’s memories of his childhood and teenage years — a fusion that would eventually shape his own music to a great extent. When revisiting this period of his life, Amir, a huge fan of the Rolling Stones, often remembers his Beatles-loving older brother. To justify his own preference, Amir says he liked the Stones’ rebellious nature and signature look.

“I would love for Cairokee to keep performing when its members are 60 or 70, touring and writing songs and living this life regardless of their age. It goes beyond just looks and fashion style – it’s that forever-young attitude that I admire most in the Stones.”

Since their debut self-titled album in 2009, the band has released eight albums, with songs that continue to find a home on the Billboard Arabia newly launched Hot 100 chart. Amir also landed a spot in Billboard Arabia’s Top 100 Artists with his solo work, while closing out the year with two epic performances with Cairokee: MDLBEAST’s Soundstorm in Riyadh, followed by their show in Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival.

Through Amir’s musical journey, the timeless essence of rock and the resonance of his songwriting continue to permeate his melodies. Be it in his solo work or the rich portfolio he’s created with Cairokee, Amir maintains his ability to create music that speaks to the human experience, with songs that are helping to shape the new sound of Arabic pop.

This article is a translation of a piece that originally ran on Billboard Arabia.

From TikTok to touring the world with the Grammy-nominated pop-rock band OneRepublic, Mishaal Tamer continues to find ways to elevate his position in the global pop pantheon. Singing in English, Arabic and Spanish while mixing guitars with a self-made modified electric oud, not to mention a poignant songwriting and performance style that is entirely his own, Mishaal represents a rising generation of trilingual pop stars that are not only bridging cultures but sonic references to create something entirely new.

Since childhood, Mishaal has been driven by making the impossible possible. When he was nine years old, Mishaal broke his arm, suffering nerve damage that would have left him handicapped had he not found the guitar. Powered by his dreams, he used the instrument as part of this physical therapy, which eventually built the foundation for his songwriting and artistry.

In 2016, Saudi Arabia saw a major turning point with the announcement of the 2030 vision, with music, art and entertainment at the forefront. During this transformative period, Mishaal emerged onto the scene, establishing his presence through his first Instagram post with a self-reflective, somber guitar clip of “Can’t Love Myself.” Producer Monty Datta later found the track, sampled and released it, propelling the track to amass almost upwards of a billion views across platforms.

2019 witnessed Mishaal’s evolution as an artist with the release of his debut music video for “Arabian Knights.” Filmed in his hometown of Jeddah, Mishaal kicked off the trilingual trend by singing in Spanish, Arabic and English, cushioned within a Spanish strummed guitar and a lo-fi beat.

Afterwards, Mishaal went on to release an outpouring of singles, culminating with his debut EP, Life’s a Ride, in 2020 through RCA Records. Driven by indie-pop and genre-bending aesthetics, heard chiefly in tracks like “Friends,” Mishaal found his voice and self-contained style of songwriting.

In this behind-the-scenes video, Mishaal explains to Billboard Arabia what it means to be a songwriter from Saudi Arabia on the brink of global stardom and the importance of dreaming big. On the tour, Mishaal also teased several singles from his forthcoming album, Home is Changing, a double entendre for undeniable progress happening in the Kingdom, but also deep within the artist. The album consists of five EPs that collectively tell a story of transformation and personal growth. Thus far, the lead singles include the self-reflective “Superman,” followed by “Disco Cowboy,” a blending of post-punk guitar lines, momentous drums and anthemic lyrics.

This notion of change is ever present in Mishaal’s work, particularly when looking at his early work and the evolution of his songwriting leading up to getting signed by Empire, and Home is Changing. It is perhaps out of his ability to embrace change that the young artist continues to rise. For example, in the process of receiving his visa in the United States, Mishaal spent many nights sleeping under a table in a recording studio in New York, unable to return home to Saudi during COVID, and instead writing through his homesickness. The outcome was a body of work that continues to flourish.

In the summer of 2023, Mishaal joined OneRepublic as the opening act on their multi-city tour across Europe, and in this video, he takes Billboard Arabia behind the scenes and through the many milestones reached along the way. The tour came after singing with Empire and co-headlining the 2022 iteration of MDLBEAST’s SoundStorm in Riyadh alongside stars like Bruno Mars, DJ Snake, Post Malone, David Guetta and more.

Building off the momentum of the tour, OneRepublic teamed up again with Mishaal in a partnership between Interscope and Ubisoft to release the track “Mirage” for the video game Assassin’s Creed Mirage. “To be featured on a song with my musical heroes, OneRepublic, that soundtracks my favorite video game, is a dream come true,” says Mishaal Tamer.

The song dropped in the lead up to the game’s release, with the lyrics co-written by Ryan Tedder, and a feature by Mishaal singing in Arabic, where both verses take inspiration from the video game. A week later, Mishaal dropped another single, “Painful Paradise,” paired with a music video made of footage from the tour with OneRepublic.

Last December, OneRepublic announced a Dubai stop on its Artificial Paradise world tour on Jan. 25, with Mishaal Tamer set to open up the stage with tracks from his new EP, The Deep. In his rapid rise to the global stage, Mishaal’s trilingual prowess and genre-blending continue to push the boundaries of indie-pop, where his lyrics echo personal and cultural growth, while his collaboration with OneRepublic heralds a new era for the artist and musicians from Saudi Arabia.

This article is a translation of a piece that originally ran on Billboard Arabia.