On a sunny
Saturday afternoon, in a café in Mar Mekhayel, I’m waiting for Aziza.
Here she
is; a young talented singer in her twenties, with a relaxed look, a dynamic attitude
and a beautiful smiling face that contrasts with her mature voice.
As she is
ordering a fresh juice, I get curious.
How would you like me
to present you Aziza?
Aziza is a
singer that comes from Beirut; she’s immersed in the old Lebanese pop culture as
well as the Egyptian “tarab” songs. She can sing from the 20’s of Abdel wahab
and reach the 90’s of Sabah. This is her background. But Aziza tries to revive
these roots in a modern, quirky, fun image to be more accessible to the public.
So you are modernising
the image of “tarab” into a new pop look. How did you find your stage name?
Wherever I
sang Mohammad Abdel wahab’s song “Aziza”, the crowd would shout that name as if
it was mine and whenever I would sing this song and transform into “Aziza”, I
would feel empowered as if I was the greatest singer in the world! So I felt
that my career should start with that name and I became “Aziza”. It could have
not been any other one.
The name imposed it
self to you but you choose the songs you sing. How do you proceed?
“Aziza” was
born three years ago and so far she has been singing covers of Lebanese and “tarab”
songs. I choose the songs I feel for. If a song is very popular and I don’t
feel it I don’t sing it. I only sing what I can deliver well.
I know that your first
profession is film editing. But you left it to become a 100% singer. Why did
you do that and do you consider singing a job?
Singing is
my job actually. Throwing away my audio-visual education was a big decision to
take. Because it is a huge responsibility to live my life as “Aziza” with all
the ups and downs. It’s hard in this community to survive as a singer. But so
far I’m doing better than I expected. (laugh) People are loving this!
You sing twice a month
at The Blue Note in Hamra; do you sing for others or just for your self?
I sing for
both, it’s a matter of balance. I cannot
sing for people and not sing for my self, it would show and I cannot sing for
my self and not give people the attention they want. I sing for each and every
person in the room and that’s why they are getting attached to “Aziza”.
You also apply this
philosophy to your repertoire. You revisit songs of other composers but you
also compose for your self. Tell us about that and about the video that was on
TV.
I started
composing music and writing lyrics at fifteen. I have a collection of around
fifty songs. I released a year ago my first single “Fekra” and it’s video. A
mix between “tarab” and electronica. That was a baby step of where I’m going
and what’s my colour in music. Nowadays I am working on my first album, a ten
songs selection that are not electronic but simply crazy Arabic pop. This album
is about the emancipation of “Aziza” and will be called “Aziza”.
Since you are on the
verge of releasing you first album, this would be the perfect opportunity to
talk about your collaborators.
Sure, I would like to mention that
“Aziza” is not one individual, but a team working to make this project come to
life. The executive
producer of the album
is Jana Saleh and the music arranger
is Raed el Khazen. We are collaborating with my songs and their ideas to make
the best album possible. There are also the designers, the stylists and all the
people who help me and that I thank. We are releasing 3 video teasers this month about the album and a music
video for the first single from the album.
The stylists that are
doing a great job transforming your looks each time…
We try to
mix the retro vintage look with a more modern and fashionable image that speaks
to the days we live in.
What was the best
piece of advice someone gave you.
My dad gave
me the best advice and it is to stay humble and true to the people I work with.
Finally what’ you
status on Facebook nowadays?
“I can dream about being Bugs
Bunny, but when I wake up I am Daffy!”
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Interviewed
by Deborah Phares for Now Lebanon
::
Arabic version link: http://petitlien.fr/6y12
