Latest news with #DJHabibeats
CairoScene
24-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CairoScene
Select 326: Mixed by DJ Habibeats
San Francisco-based DJ Habibeats takes over our Select with a culturally-charged house mix. Apr 24, 2025 This week on SceneNoise's Select series, we have the one and only DJ Habibeats. Born and raised in San Francisco's Bay Area, DJ Habibeats is an internationally acclaimed artist who has been actively pushing Middle Eastern sounds in the global clubbing scene. He has built up a reputation for his culturally-charged electrifying sets, combining club sounds from the Middle East with afrobeats, amapiano, house, baile funk, and Brazilian and Latin influences. For his Select set, DJ Habibeats cooked us a culturally-charged house mix, featuring a kaleidoscope of musical influences from the Middle East and North Africa, India, and Brazil all wrapped up in deep club cuts. Expect some fun detours, and tunes like 'Walhala' - DJ Rony, 'Merzzy', 'Gqom Do Pam Pam' - Bronka, 'State Off', as well as some original productions by Habibeats himself. Listen to the full set below: SceneNoise · Select 326: Mixed by DJ Habibeats
CBS News
17-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
San Francisco DJ fights stereotypes with music
The gatherings are called Habibi's House, which in Arabic means, my love. But truth be told, it's a house for everyone. DJ Habibeats, also known as Ibrahim Abu, Ali Is a Bay Area native spearheading a booming cultural movement by blending middle eastern sounds, with countless cultural mixes. Recently signed with Empire, the DJ and artist credits his San Francisco upbringing as the foundation for his creative path. "Growing up, I listened to everything. I was a big hip hop head, I was really big into Arabic music, because our parents are immigrants. And you know, that was a big part of our culture, and our community." And now, as a first generation Palestinian American, he is rallying the broad pan-Arab community to connect the sounds of the East with the diversity of the West. From Afrobeats, to Latin rhythms, there is no genre off the table for the eclectic DJ. "It's fun, it's cultural, it's high energy, and it's a big big mix of like, different types of genres and energies." Ibrahim says growing up in the U.S., in a post 9/11 era, he felt the pressure of negative stereotypes 1st hand. But he believes the newer generation is awakening to a broader understanding of the region. "I could just notice the shift. When I was a kid. Middle eastern culture and music and everything about that, was not cool. Or was not thought of as cool. I knew it was cool. But it wasn't thought of as cool maybe. And it wasn't thought of as something I think people that weren't from the culture wanted to engage with." But western culture was engaging, just behind the scenes. The influence middle eastern music has had on mainstream pop hits, from Jay Z's Big Pimpin, to Marc Anthony's Vivir La Vida, is vast. Now, as the DJ aims to unite diverse communities together through the universal language of music, he says the most meaningful part of the journey has been allowing, often misunderstood cultures, to feel included. "Most of all, what I feel from people, is a recognition of being seen, and a recognition of representation, and feeling not like they're the odd one out." Because at Habibi's house, the beat is all about, love.
CairoScene
14-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CairoScene
Felukah Releases ‘Hayati' With DJ Habibeats
Blending soft trap and bilingual lyrics, the NYC-based Egyptian artist drops a self-directed, early-2000s-inspired track. Apr 14, 2025 Egyptian rapper and singer Felukah has dropped a new single titled 'Hayati', produced in collaboration with Palestinian-American beatmaker DJ Habibeats. The release arrives with a visually stylised music video, co-directed by Lewis Atallah and Mattias Russo-Larsson, featuring Felukah's own creative direction. Set against a backdrop of stripped-back trap rhythms and smooth R&B textures, 'Hayati' moves with a fluid grace that mirrors Felukah's bilingual lyricism. She weaves between Arabic and English with ease, delivering a melodic performance that blends softness with understated assertiveness. The music video leans into early-2000s aesthetics—fisheye lenses, handheld camcorder textures, and nostalgic fashion cues like hoops, low-rise pants, and layered streetwear. But there's nothing overly referential or ironic about it; the visuals feel natural, situated in intimate garage scenes and mirrored spaces that echo the song's themes of duality and inner reflection. 'Hayati' extends Felukah's ongoing exploration of diasporic identity, self-representation, and cultural hybridity. It's a quieter chapter in her evolving sound, but no less deliberate—letting mood and atmosphere guide the storytelling instead of overt declarations.
