Who's that girl in the R&B video?

Amid the world leaders gathered at an education conference last week, an Emirati teenager stole the limelight with her performance in an R&B video. Manal Ali Ahli represents a generation blending the old and the new.

"Music is a matter of how you sing, not what you wear," says Manal Ali Ahli. Jeff Topping / The National

Manal Ali Ahli may be a regular at wowing crowds but if you want to discuss her music you will have to speak to her mother first. The Emirati singer, 15, does not have a mobile phone yet.

Manal performed with the Emirati rapper Khalifa al Romaithi in the R&B video The World at the opening of the Education Without Borders conference last week. Although the event included Nobel laureates, the former British prime minister, Tony Blair, and various heads of state, the question on many people's lips was "Who is that girl in the video?"

Some may have recognised Manal from the 2010 Kullunna Khalifa National Day performance, where she sang at the Burj Khalifa. Although R&B is more suited to her iTunes playlist than opera, the message of that concert was important to Manal.

"We want to show people that we can come up with talent, we can come up with ideas ourselves, from our people," she said. "People need to open their minds and they need to think from every angle."

Manal and Al Romaithi will return the recording studio tomorrow to record a song Al Romaithi wrote about dreams, which should hit airwaves in the Emirates soon. Manal hopes it will prove the genre is compatible with Emirati culture.

"I'm proud to be local Emirati girl," she said. "I want to show people that you don't have to have your hair out, you don't have to be half naked to sing. You can also sing with a sheila and abaya. Music is a matter of how you sing, not what you wear.

"I believe that every song has a message behind it, whether it's helping you through problems or whether it's just to relax. Every note has something."

Al Romaithi, a 23-year-old media student at the Abu Dhabi Men's College who started in hip-hop at age 17, is Manal's creative and cultural muse. He follows the style of the Dubai duo Desert Heat, who rap in a crisp mix of Emirati Arabic and English.

"What I'm trying to do is appear in an Emirati way," he said. "We're all into poetry, so hip-hop is something in our blood actually."

Although Al Romaithi has heard of Emirati women who sing and rap, Manal is the first female Emirati R&B artist he has met. The pair were introduced by twofour54, an Abu Dhabi production company. Al Romaithi sat Manal down and asked her to sing, and then wrote for her voice.

"Khalifa pushes me and he does it with fun, which is how it's supposed to be," Manal said. "Maybe some people will think that it's wrong because I'm singing with a guy, but we're representing our country and we're trying to talk to the people, so I see no harm in it."

The respect is mutual. Al Romaithi is already looking forward to their next project.

"I'll be pleased if we can collaborate in the future but it all depends on her," he said. "You know, she's like a sister to me, so I have to think of her priorities first. Education comes first."

Despite her onstage success, Manal is a down-to-earth, focused Grade 10 student at the Princess Haya School and plans to study art and classic design at university. Her talent was first noticed at the Al Ebdaa Model School, the government school where she completed grades 1 to 9.

"My mother is American and at school I wanted to blend in, but my music teacher noticed me and encouraged me," Manal said. "I was really shy and embarrassed but she told me that I have talent and I should make something of myself."

Her biggest supporter is her mother, who watched the video shoot with teary eyes.

"Being mixed nationalities, she has struggled, but she's come out on top," said Charelle Matheny. "I just hope that people will look at this as a new generation of young women who still respect themselves, respect their culture and respect their religion, and just sing with meaningful words."

By respecting her culture, Manal represents a generation that successfully blends old and new.

"The society, they'd better be ready because we're coming," said Aamer Sulaiman, the video director and a media student at Abu Dhabi Men's College. "This is who we are. I would love to see more Emirati artists like Manal, she has a pure voice. I would love to turn on the TV and see Manal singing."

Manal is not sure it will go that far. She's just enjoying the moment. "To be honest, I love singing as a hobby and not really a career," she said. "I'm just aiming for fun and whatever comes my way I'll take it."