Alaa

Alaa (Arabic: علاء‎) is an Arabic male given name that means Highness, it may be short for the name Aladdin.

People

Alaa Wardi

Alaa Wardi (Arabic: علاء وردي) [ʕaˈlaʔ warˈdiː] (born 1987) is a Iranian-Saudi YouTube A Cappella artist, mostly popular in the Middle East region, but also in India and Turkey.

He was born to Iranian parents and raised in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, studied music and sound engineering in Amman, Jordan. He lives in Riyadh. He is a musician, composer, singer, songwriter and audio engineer.

His music features a cappella singing, usually with human rhythmic accompaniment, including beatboxing. He became internationally known for his Hindi cover versions of Bollywood hits Pehla Nasha and Jiya Re. His music and videos are marketed via the internet on a voluntary contribution basis.

In 2011 he formed a band called Hayajan with four other Jordanian musicians (Odai Shawagfeh, Mohammed Idrei, Amjad Shahrouh and Hakam Abu Soud). Their Arabic language debut album, Ya bay was released in May 2013.

He produced the English language musical video "No Woman, No Drive" in October, 2013 with comedians Hisham Fageeh and Fahad Albutairi as a satirical comment on the Saudi Arabian ban on women drivers. It is sung a capella by Fageeh backed by Wardi and Albutairi to the tune of Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry" and has been popular on YouTube.

Peter Hollens

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Peter Hollens (born March 4, 1982) is an American singer/songwriter, producer and entrepreneur. He has been involved with a cappella music since 1999 when he and Leo da Silva founded the University of Oregon's a cappella group, On The Rocks, known as the first official collegiate a cappella group in Oregon. He regularly releases new music videos to his YouTube channel.

Career

Originally from Ashland, Oregon, Hollens graduated from the University of Oregon with a Bachelor of Music in Vocal performance. Since his graduation from the University of Oregon, Hollens has become involved with collegiate a cappella, including recording, producing, and judging a cappella competitions throughout the United States. In 2010, he participated in NBC’s The Sing Off receiving acclaim from The Sing-Off judges Shawn Stockman, Nicole Scherzinger and Ben Folds for solo performances leading his group, On the Rocks. They were eliminated 6th out of the 10 groups performing.

Khaled (musician)

Khaled Hadj Ibrahim (Arabic: خالد حاج إبراهيم‎, born 29 February 1960), better known as Khaled, is an Algerian raï singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist born in Sidi El Houari in Oran Province of Algeria. He began recording in his early teens under the name Cheb Khaled (الشاب خالد, Arabic for "Young Man" Khaled, as opposed to the traditionalist Sheikh elders) and has become the most internationally famous Algerian singer in the Arab world and across many continents. His popularity has earned him the unofficial title "King of Raï". His most famous songs are "Didi", "Aïcha" and "C'est la vie".

Biography

Khaled Hadj Ibrahim was born in 1960 in Oran's Eckmühl neighborhood. At the age of 14, he founded the Cinq Étoiles (Five Stars) band and started performing in nightclubs and during marriages.

In the 1980s, Khaled started producing and singing raï songs. He moved to France in 1986.

On 12 January 1995, Khaled married Samira Diabi, 27, with whom he has four daughters and one son.

Cheb Mami

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Ahmed Khelifati Mohamed (Arabic: أحمد خليفاتي محمد‎‎, aḥmad khalīfātī muḥammad) better known by his stage name Cheb Mami (Arabic: شاب مامي‎‎, shābb māmī), (born in Saïda, Algeria on 11 July 1966) is an Algerian raï singer. He sings and speaks in Algerian Arabic and French.

Beginnings

Cheb Mami was born in Graba-el-wed (Arabic: غربة الواد), a populous quarter of Saïda (Arabic: سعيدة), Algeria. Located 170 kilometres south of Oran, the city of Saida is on the high mesas of southwestern Algeria.

Career

It was in 1985 that Mami came to Paris and found his musical niche.

He was in military service for two years in Algeria but was an entertainer on army bases. After that, in May 1989, Mami returned to Paris at the Olympia, rejuvenating raï music. He also toured the United States, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Scandinavia and England.

Mami's music is a blend of Mediterranean and Western influences including Turkish, Flamenco and Greek music as well as Latin music. His voice is tinged with Andalusian accents, and his music is an amalgamation of the traditional and the modern styles of singing and creation of music.