First Muslim country singer performs in Rome
First Muslim country singer performs in Rome
AKI/Adnkronos ^ | July 21, 2008 | NA
America's first Muslim country music singer has shown that Middle-Eastern and Western music can form an exciting new hybrid that builds bridges between cultures.
Kareem Salama, born and raised in Ponca City, Oklahoma in the southern US, is the son of Egyptian immigrants. He began to get into country music while studying in graduate school.
He performed in front of a mostly Italian crowd at the Villa Celimontana Jazz Festival held in Rome on Sunday. His songs were well received by the crowed, which energetically clapped after every song.
"People in Europe have strong stereotypes about what country music is," said Salama in an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI). He speaks Arabic and English.
In his songs, he draws on elements of Rock, Pop, Country and Folk music, as well as Islamic themes, Sufism, poetry and issues ranging from chivalry and nobility to war.
Kareem Salama, whose name means 'Generous well-being', performed for 90 minutes and performed his most famous hits. The songs included 'Baby, I'm a soldier' which recounts the face-to-face encounter between an Iraqi and an American soldier who end up killing each other on the battlefield.
In 2006, he wrote a song called 'Prayers at night' in order to draw attention to the war that year between Israel and Lebanon.
Salama told AKI he would like to perform in his parents' native Egypt and is confident that his music would be well received there.
He draws a parallel between old Arabic music and country music. "Both talk about virtues. A lot of storytelling. Storytelling is a huge thing in country music. They are very similar," he said.
However, he is quick to point out that in his opinion, modern Arabic music does not have much in common with country music.
"Country music is based on Judeo-Christian principles and the idea of fatalism. You will find a lot of that in Islamic literature as well."
"My knowledge of the Arabic arts would be more the old poetry, 9th, 10th or 12th century poetry and literature."
Salama is familiar with the music of famous Egyptian female singer Umm Kulthum. He said he has re-done and 'Westernized' one of her famous songs, 'Ala Baladi El-mahboub' (To my dear country).
"It is very much like a country music song," Salama told AKI, adding that he has performed it, but has not yet recorded it.
He sang a few lines of the song unaccompanied in a fluent Arabic, but with a country-music beat.
Salama said he wanted to send the following message to his Muslim fans. "Don't assume that people are prejudiced. Even if you are mistreated, don't assume the reason."
"Don't let prejudice define your experience," said Salama . He quoted an Arab poet: "Strange is a man who has 100 good days, and he gets upset by the one bad one."
Salama's father comes from the city of Ash Sharqiya in northern Egypt, while Salama's mother is a native of the central city of El-Minia.
When asked about what he would like to see in the Middle East, Salama replied:
"I can't speak for what I would like to see in all countries in the Middle East. I would be outside my area of expertise. But in Egypt I would love to see more press freedom," said Salama, who has not been back to Egypt in 10 years.
"I still have a memory of when I was 13 or 14 years old and I was watching the news and (Egyptian President) Hosni Mubarak was in the US being interviewed.
"The interviewer asked something along the lines of how can you call yourself a democracy when you have been in power for God knows how many years."
"When I looked at the translation in Arabic on the bottom of the screen, it was a completely different translation," said Salama.
Salama told AKI he would like to see more democratic institutions in Egypt, in particular those which protect freedom of speech.
"It is interesting, because in Islamic tradition we say that a man is the animal that speaks intelligently. So if you suppress their speech, you suppress their humanity," he concluded.
Salama has released two albums: his debut album 'Generous Peace' in 2006 and 'This Life of Mine' in 2007. He has performed in the United Kingdom, Germany, The Netherlands, France, and Italy.
Salama recently too a post-graduate degree from the University of Iowa College of Law. He has an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering.
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