Tyrese has revealed he has recorded a song with Emirati singer Mehad Hamad.
A year after teasing fans with an Instagram picture of the actor and veteran singer in a studio together, Tyrese exclusively told The National the song is now complete with release details to be planned.
“We have a song and I will tell you this for the first time ever – it is called Habibi,” he says.
Tyrese recorded the song with Hamad during his previous short stay in the UAE in April 2014 as part of the shooting for the recently released Furious 7, the latest blockbuster instalment of the Fast and the Furious franchise.
The 36-year-old also said he has also completed a song written by a notable royal poet, who Tyrese says is “a great songwriter. She wrote a song for me, I sang the song, so yeah, there is something happening”.
Tyrese says both songs are part of his musical plans to bring Arabic and western music together.
“What I am trying to do is merge the local traditional sounds with RnB soul,” he says. “It is a perfect blend of both regions and you know, we all have ears that are used to the sounds.”
Tyrese hopes that such collaborations and his frequent visits to the UAE – his exploits are meticulously recorded for the viewing pleasure of his 30 million fans on Facebook and Instagram – will help in challenging misconceptions about the Middle East.
“I have a problem with all thee negative images – everytime they see someone wearing a kandura you have these negative and bad thought,” he says. “That’s because of what’s on the media and the press every day. Yes, there are bad groups, there are levels of terrorism that are happening, but it is not the entire Middle East.”
sasaeed@thenational.ae
