My Way: Five Young Saudi Talents Share Their Vision

Five youthful musicians who are making a lasting impact on the Saudi music landscape grace the cover. It recounts their ascent to fame.

"I came to the realization that music alone is insufficient as a motivator; cultural incentives are necessary to enhance one's sound." Ntitled may have been the one to express this perspective during his interview with It, but the four other young Saudi talents who grace the cover of the May 2024 issue may as well share the sentiment. The five artists' collective gathering on the cover may suggest that they are close peers, but in reality, their journeys in the music industry have little in common. Every one of them has pursued a distinctive course and influenced a distinctive experience. Each of the five Saudi talents has pursued their own path, from musical preferences and genres to plans, projects, and breakthroughs.

Their identity as young individuals who grew up in the same culture and witnessed the recent historical transition in Saudi Arabia may be the only common factor in their voyage. Just as the five artists launched into their careers, new horizons for arts, media and society as a whole were opening up in Saudi Arabia at an unprecedented scale. Though this change impacted the lives and experiences of the entire Saudi society, we could discern in our conversations with these young artists the specificity of this impact on the path that each one of them chose to create music that influences and is influenced by Saudi culture.

Abdulaziz Mane and Jori Kattan's music careers were initiated by talent showcases; however, their unwavering commitment to showcasing their distinctive talent and robust sound was the driving force behind their meteoric rise to fame. Now they stand before a different kind of challenge: using their voice and talent to deliver delightful contemporary music experiences. As they launched their first releases, new horizons opened up to them. Soon after Jori composed her first track a few years ago, she found herself yearning to immerse herself into the melodies again and compose her own music. For his part, the adolescent Abdulaziz Mane’s experience in theater rapidly made him realize the versatility of his artistic identity.

The same goes for Hams Fekri, who won the first season of Saudi Idol, where she captivated the titans of Arabic pop music with every performance. When we delve into Hams’ voyage, we understand that her path to prominence was predestined, what with the tremendous talent of her mother, Amani Al-Shafei, flowing in her bloodstream. And, like her mother, Hams is a maestro of the Shaabi pop genre. Today, whichever genre Hams chooses to embrace, she imbues with her original voice and that refined sound of artists entrenched in the melodies of their environment.

For Ntitled and Tamtam, the challenge lied not in singing tarab or observing the norms of Arabic composition to reach the multitudes. Instead, they opted for a more variegated experience, delivering local music enveloped in international genres. They are not hesitant to infuse their tracks with a sprinkling of English, or other languages, even, says Tamtam, who intends on mixing in some Spanish in one of her forthcoming tracks, before carrying on with what she describes as her year of Arabic releases.

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Besides music, Tamtam finds pleasure in composing. As in her debut, Gender Game, many of the singer-songwriter’s tracks coalesce around similar themes (empowering women to raise their voices and conveying her own experiences), her writing style a testament to her audacious and rebellious personality. Tamtam cares more about her development as an artist than the quantity of her discography or the lengthy periods of time between her releases.

Ntitled, for his part, has effectively inscribed his name on the Saudi hip-hop landscape, despite his youthful age. In a brief period of time, he has established strong partnerships in the regional music scene, including “Ween Yabu” with Dafencii, “Adan” with Moayad & Kali-B, and “LkLk” with the producer Khayyat, as well as several experiments of his own as a producer. His talent attracted the attention of Swizz Beatz during one of his first visits to Saudi Arabia, who discussed his collaboration with Ntitled in an interview with It, which Ntitled confirmed in his interview will be released shortly.