Meet DJ Nooriyah! This awesome Arab female DJ spins her records at Plus One Radio and Foundation FM radios in London. Aside from fueling up her decks with fire tunes, The Middle Eastern and North African DJ specialist recently went viral on social media with her video on Arab tunes sampled in Western music.
Everyone knows @Timbaland is a master of his craft. Did you know these three hits sampled these Arabic classics? To hear more about the Middle Eastern influence in Western mainstream music (that was once called “Belly dance music”) head to my Plus 1 Radio show on Soundcloud pic.twitter.com/kCetOo6ONH
— Nooriyah (@Nooriyah_) January 18, 2021
Who knew A$AP Rocky sampled a bit an ASALA song or that Jay Z took a little inspiration from none other than Abdel Halim Hafez?
Part 2! ME influence in mainstream Western music goes beyond sampling eg: use of Arabic scales that sound different to the untrained ear- More on next radio show. This time, bringing you Middle Eastern samples from @TroyBoiMusic @1future @MetroBoomin @asvpxrocky @Hit_Boy pic.twitter.com/aaiWCbqu2r
— Nooriyah (@Nooriyah_) January 18, 2021
If they were contemporaries, Warda and Aaliyah would have totally been besties. It's empowering to see how music genres can transcend their form and inspire other genres and artists. This young DJ's how universal pop culture can be so mix in those playlists.
Kudos to DJ Nooriyah on these eye-opening videos! Follow her Instagram here and support her work.