Western club-goers have been partying to Middle Eastern music for years. When you thought you were grooving to Jay-Z’s “Big Pimpin,” you were really dancing to Abdel Halim Hafez’s “Khosara.” Listen to Aaliyah’s “More Than a Woman” and then compare it to Mayad El Hennawi’s “Aloly Ensi.” Sound familiar? Someone even made an entire YouTube clip about how producer Timbaland rips off Middle Eastern artists. But I personally dig that classical Arabic music is constantly being innovated and revamped in contemporary Western music.
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