Franco Arabic

Franco Arabic music is a term used to describe a genre or style of music that combines western music ideas into the Arabic music styles both old and new. The term is also widely used throughout the Middle East to refer to any joint efforts involving Western and Arabic cooperation or influences. This includes film, television, fashion, design and trade.

The Meaning

While the term literally means "French-Arabic", the term Franco is commonly understood to refer to Western ideas including methods, customs and music in general. Arabic speakers know the music as Franco Araby'. This term has been applied to many forms of interaction or amalgamation between Western and Middle Eastern ways, styles or genres even in areas as diverse as trade, design, cuisine, fashion and entertainment.

Artists

Perhaps one can credit many artists with the popularity of Franco Arabic music but a few stand out in the crowd.
Dalida (Born in Cairo as Yolanda Christina Gigliotti) was an Egyptian singer of Italian origins who lived most of her life in France.
She was an artist who is most credited with the early popularisation of this style with songs such as 'Salma ya Salama'.(See Dalida
Sammy Clark was a Arabic singer who had many great successes in the 1960's with the emerging Franco Araby sound and many of his songs including
Umie Ta Nurkus and Inti al Ajmal are still played around the world today. A hit recorded by many notable Arabic artists but originally but Bob Azzam features Arabic Music blended with Western beats and French Lyrics mixed between Arabic verses. This song is today considered a beloved classic.
Another key artist in the style of Franco Arabic music was to arrive in the mid nineties was Aldo (see Aldo Franco Arabic) with hits such as Yalla-Let's Dance and Mish Momkin.and the Arabic-Italian song Sahran. Many other artists through the years have enjoyed great popularity with this unique blend of West meets East music. The famous Egyptian and international Academy Award-nominated actor Omar Sharif, most famous in the West for his roles in the movie classics Doctor Zhivago and Lawrence of Arabia, is described on IDMB (the internet movie database reference site) as a Franco Arabic actor.

How did it come about

The true origins are perhaps a little uncertain but it really came about through bidirectional influences across the mainstream Arabic and mainstream western music styles of the late 1950's and the 1960's particularly so due to the French influences throughout the Middle East at the time. Many artists today in the Middle East produce some fine examples of the West-East mix in every range as part of the continued popularity of the Franco Arabic music style. Examples including Latifa, Amr Diab and Hisham Abbas who have blended music with Greek artists such as Angela Dimitriou, Pop artist Shakira and leading Indian performers such as Indian playback star Jayashri Ramnath in some of their recent hits that continue to develop the Franco Arabic genre.

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