Bashar Murad

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Bashar Murad

Bashar Murad ( Arabic بشار مراد, DMG Baššār Murād ; born February 7, 1993 ) is a Palestinian singer-songwriter and activist based in East Jerusalem . His music is about social issues such as self-acceptance, tolerance, gender inequality , the pressure to get married, LGBT + rights in the Middle East and the Israeli occupation . He gained international fame by working with the Icelandic band Hatari in their song Klefi / Samed (صامد / ṣāmid ) following the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 .

Life

Bashar Murad was born in East Jerusalem in 1993 . His mother's name is Fadia Daibes and his father is Said Murad, founder of the band Sabreen, the first alternative music group in Palestine. The band formed in 1980 and Murad was born during the height of their 20 year career. This is one of the reasons why music has always been part of Murad's identity and a means of escaping reality. With the help of music, Murad processes on the one hand the pressure of a life in an occupied territory and on the other hand, growing up homosexually in a conservative society.

He attended an American school in Jerusalem before graduating from Bridgewater College, a private university of fine arts, in Virginia, USA . After experiencing in the US that few of his fellow students knew about Palestine and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict . However, when they wanted to find out more about it, he realized that he did not want to escape the political situation in his homeland and treated these topics in his music. Since his return to East Jerusalem in 2014 and posting several singles in Arabic and English on YouTube , Murad has built an audience.

Murad lives in East Jerusalem with his father and younger brother.

Career

Initially, Murad uploaded cover versions of popular songs on his YouTube channel, which he created in 2009. He later added instruments typical of Middle Eastern music to the songs before starting to make his own music.

He produces most of Murad's songs in the local Sabreen Association for Artistic Development recording studios . Occasionally he gets support from organizations and programs like the Culture Resource Production Awards Program , which enabled him to realize the song Shillet Hamal (Bunch of Bums) . The song is about feeling different and marginalized. The music video shows several people who contest alternative paths in life and can thus empathize with this feeling.

Murad worked with the United Nations on his single Ana Zalameh (I'm A Man) . The UN Women’s Men and Women for Gender Equality Regional Program produced the song, which deals with the developments in gender roles in Palestine and is told from the perspective of a 10-year-old boy.

The collaboration with the Icelandic band Hatari gave Bashar Murad a bigger platform. The single Klefi / Samed was released shortly after the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 , which took place in Israel. It is about the desire for freedom and is intended to draw attention to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Hatari was the only band that took part in the song contest and commented on the conflict and positioned itself politically. The video has been viewed over 1.2 million times (as of August 2019) since it was published in May 2019.

During the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, Bashar Murad was one of the protesting artists who took part in the alternative event Globalvision, which was broadcast online parallel to the final weekend of Eurovision.

In May 2019, Bashar Murad sang at Canadian Music Week in Toronto, Canada .

Discography

Singles

  • Hallelujah, 2015
  • Happy Xmas (War Is Over) featuring Muhammad Mughrabi, 2015
  • The Door, 2015
  • More Like You, November 2016
  • Voices, April 2017
  • Ilkul 3am Bitjawaz (Everyone's Getting Married), January 2018
  • Shillet Hamal (Bunch of Bums), July 2018
  • Ma Bitghayirni (You Can´t Change Me), September 2018
  • Ana Zalameh (I'm A Man), November 2018

As a guest musician

  • Klefi / Samed (صامد) from Hatari , May 2019

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e Maya Margit: Young Palestinian musician aims to change the tune of Arab society. In: Y Net News. September 3, 2019, accessed August 5, 2019 .
  2. ^ A b c d e Andie Fontaine: Queer Musician Bashar Murad: “Just Being Palestinian Is Political”. In: The Reykjavik Grapevine. June 5, 2019, Retrieved August 5, 2019 (American English).
  3. ↑ a b Tom Power: Young, queer and Arab: Palestinian musician Bashar Murad wants to be understood for who he actually is. In: CBC News. May 15, 2019, accessed on August 7, 2019 .
  4. ↑ a b بدار سالم, سارة الشلالدة: الفنان الفلسطيني بشار مراد يتحدث عن كسر التابوهات في أغانيه. In: Vice. October 2, 2018, accessed August 7, 2019 (Arabic).
  5. ↑ a b c d Brad Wheeler: Gay Palestinian pop singer Bashar Murad keeps dreaming big. In: The Globe And Mail. May 21, 2019, accessed August 5, 2019 .
  6. ↑ a b Dorgham Abusalim: Interview with Bashar Murad: English-language Palestinian Pop for Social Justice - Palestine Square. In: Palestine Square. February 1, 2017, Retrieved August 7, 2019 (American English).
  7. ↑ BASHAR MURAD - SHILLET HAMAL بشار مراد - شلة همل (Bunch of Bums). In: YouTube. July 16, 2018, accessed August 5, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Rachel McArthur: Palestinian musician Bashar Murad's unlikely collaboration with Icelandic band tops 1m views. In: Arab News. July 14, 2019, accessed August 5, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Murad, Bashar
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Palestinian singer and LGBT activist
DATE OF BIRTH February 7, 1993