BIO

The first line of anything you read about Zeid Hamdan is likely to point out that he is a “legend” of the Middle-East’s alternative music scene. With more than 20 albums and EPs under his belt, the 39-year-old’s work speaks for itself. SoapKills – the Arabic-language trip-hop duo he formed with Yasmine Hamdan – have become retrospective cult heroes. Exhibit A, the European release in June of The Best of Soapkills is a collection of material from their three albums released between 2001 and 2005.
 

Similar respect is heaped on The New Government, the controversial, frequently anti-establishment, English-language punk-rock band Hamdan led from 2004. And as a collaborator and producer, he is behind more than a dozen releases for regional talents including Malian kora player Kandia Kouyaté, Lebanon’s Hiba Mansouri and Egyptian singers Maii Waleed and Maryam Saleh. Hamdan and Saleh will release a new album as a duo, the electro and dub-influenced Halawella. 
 

Photo © Caroline Fitte Lange