Ali Jammali and Ibrahim Namro are household names in Sweden. The former is one half of triple-platinum-selling hip-hop outfit, Medina, who were nominated for the MTV Europe Music Award for Best Swedish Act in 2012, the latter is a founder of hip-hop collective The Order, and has collaborated with big names, including Wu Tang Clan, Method Man & Redman and Shadia Mansour.
Sharjah-born Palestinian-Swede Namro and Tunisian-Swede Jammali are now returning to their roots and oping to break into the Middle Eastern market with their Project Layali collaboration, a modern fusion-style take on traditional Arabic music.
Their second single, Habeltouni (You Drive Me Crazy), has just been released on digital platforms across the region through Universal Music Middle East.
“We’ve known each other maybe 20 years, but this band is almost brand new,” says Namro. “We’d both been doing own things but had always wanted to make Arabic music, but the timing was just never right. Then we got a little bit older, were working in the same job helping kids out in the studio and just did one song – that was the start of everything.”
That track has not yet seen the light of day, but in 2016 the duo recorded the song Layali and things really started moving.
"When we did Layali, that was when things really started," says Namro. "I was dancing in the studio – I never dance. Ali does as he's done a lot of really positive happy music but I never dance in the studio. That's when I knew we were onto something."
The band's Dubai- based manager, Wissam Khodur, took the tracks to Universal in the city, and it wasn't long before Layali was released as the band's first single.
So what motivated a pair of successful Swedish-Arab hip-hop artists to choose a more traditional Arabic form of music?
“I’ve always been inspired by Arabic and North African rhythms – it’s from where my dad comes from,” says Jammali. “I used to spend summers in Tunisia and I just loved the vibe at parties.
“My other group had influences from the Arabic world but we never sang in Arabic because my Arabic just isn’t that good. Then when we started talking about this, it turned out Ibrahim is really good at writing in Arabic so we figured if I produce and you write this might just take off, and it did. It sounded great.”
Although the pair relished a return to their musical heritage, it is clear on listening to Habeltouni that this is no nostalgia project. The Arabic influences are clearly there, but this is most definitely music for the modern age.
“It’s a fusion with dance hall, rap – all sorts,” says Jammali. “Ibrahim calls it Arabic club music. I can go with that description, though there’s Arabic Club music out there already – but not like this.”
The lyrics, too, are a departure from tradition, says Jammali. There is a section of Habeltouni in the Tunisian dialect – and Namro says there is more to come.
“In the past it was all Lebanese and Egyptian in music – now Moroccan’s getting really popular and we just wanted to mix all that, bring in Palestinian, Tunisian, everything,” he says.
“With the music, too, we don’t write in the traditional Arabic, where there’s a lot of repetition, like poetry. We try to write every line in the song as a new line. I love that traditional style and have a lot of respect for it, and we had a lot of discussions about this, but we figured we wanted to do something new.”
They are seeking to break into the Middle East at an interesting time for the industry and it is worth noting that, despite the big-label connection, their single was released digitally rather than on traditional physical platforms. The pair seem certain of where the future lies.
“The biggest thing out there is YouTube – that’s by far the biggest music player in the Middle East,” says Jammali. “We’re very supportive of [regional streaming service] Anghami and the streaming industry over there. It changed the face of the industry in Europe at a time when it was in the doldrums, then Spotify came in and it picked up again. Hopefully there can be a similar thing in the Middle East.”
So what next for Layali Project? Can we expect to see Namro return to his UAE birthplace for a live show soon?
“We’re working towards live shows but we’re still a new group trying to break into the Arabic market,” he says.
“Rather than coming and doing a small gig we’d rather put the songs out and build up a following then come and do something bigger. We’ve got a lot of new music lined up already. We took a lot of time between releasing the first single and the second because we realised we wanted to wait until we had a lot of quality material ready before the next release to really push out.
“We’ve got an EP done, but sometimes I think the smartest thing is to put out singles, so I think that’s what we’ll do now. If it turns out people want to hear an album, of course we’ll do an album.
“But in whatever form, there’s a lot of new stuff to come real soon.”
� cnewbould@ thenational.ae
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
The specs: 2019 Jeep Wrangler
Price, base: Dh132,000
Engine: 3.6-litre V6
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 285hp @ 6,400rpm
Torque: 347Nm @ 4,100rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 9.6L to 10.3L / 100km
JOKE'S%20ON%20YOU
%3Cp%3EGoogle%20wasn't%20new%20to%20busting%20out%20April%20Fool's%20jokes%3A%20before%20the%20Gmail%20%22prank%22%2C%20it%20tricked%20users%20with%20%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Farchive.google%2Fmentalplex%2F%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%3Emind-reading%20MentalPlex%20responses%3C%2Fa%3E%20and%20said%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Farchive.google%2Fpigeonrank%2F%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%3E%20well-fed%20pigeons%20were%20running%20its%20search%20engine%20operations%3C%2Fa%3E%20.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EIn%20subsequent%20years%2C%20they%20announced%20home%20internet%20services%20through%20your%20toilet%20with%20its%20%22%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Farchive.google%2Ftisp%2Finstall.html%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%3Epatented%20GFlush%20system%3C%2Fa%3E%22%2C%20made%20us%20believe%20the%20Moon's%20surface%20was%20made%20of%20cheese%20and%20unveiled%20a%20dating%20service%20in%20which%20they%20called%20founders%20Sergey%20Brin%20and%20Larry%20Page%20%22%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Farchive.google%2Fromance%2Fpress.html%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%3EStanford%20PhD%20wannabes%3C%2Fa%3E%20%22.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EBut%20Gmail%20was%20all%20too%20real%2C%20purportedly%20inspired%20by%20one%20%E2%80%93%20a%20single%20%E2%80%93%20Google%20user%20complaining%20about%20the%20%22poor%20quality%20of%20existing%20email%20services%22%20and%20born%20%22%3Ca%20href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fgooglepress.blogspot.com%2F2004%2F04%2Fgoogle-gets-message-launches-gmail.html%22%20target%3D%22_blank%22%3Emillions%20of%20M%26amp%3BMs%20later%3C%2Fa%3E%22.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
If you go...
Fly from Dubai or Abu Dhabi to Chiang Mai in Thailand, via Bangkok, before taking a five-hour bus ride across the Laos border to Huay Xai. The land border crossing at Huay Xai is a well-trodden route, meaning entry is swift, though travellers should be aware of visa requirements for both countries.
Flights from Dubai start at Dh4,000 return with Emirates, while Etihad flights from Abu Dhabi start at Dh2,000. Local buses can be booked in Chiang Mai from around Dh50
Brief scores:
QPR 0
Watford 1
Capoue 45' 1