Karima el Fillali (NL)

Karima el Fillali (1987) is a Dutch singer and songwriter, known for her enchanting voice and deeply moving live performances. El Fillali gives traditional Arabic music a 21st-century update. She uses age-old poetry by Sufi mystics such as Mansur al-Hallaj and Ibn Arabi, about love, light and darkness, joy and sorrow. At the same time, her music is strongly influenced by Western classical music, hip hop and art pop. During her travels to Morocco, she became fascinated by the spiritual music of her homeland and started studying Arabic and delving into traditional music styles such as gnawa and tarab. In 2021, she released her debut EP Bihar El Hawa , in which she combines ancient Sufi poetry and traditional Arabic singing techniques with modern composition, in which live electronics and traditional instruments come together.