Latest news with #Lebanese-Mexican
CairoScene
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CairoScene
Blu Fiefer Album Spotlight Villain Bala Cause
Blu Fiefer's new album is a villain origin story, an intimate manifesto tracing her evolution through sound, emotion, and power. May 16, 2025 In her new album Villain Bala Cause, the Lebanese-Mexican artist delivers a cinematic, multi-chapter audio-visual project that doubles as a character study, a personal reckoning, and a manifesto. Structured like a screenplay, each track reveals a new evolution of Blu Fiefer as she transitions from self-doubt to self-mastery, flipping the classic 'villain origin' narrative on its head. 'You must become a villain to survive,' she tells SceneNoise—sarcastic, but sincere. It's a reclamation of power, born from survival. From the tabla-touched twist on 'Sidi Mansour' in Ya Baba's intro, to the vulnerable Sharaf (feat. Mehrak), and the sad-pop tones of Nazele Big Champagne, the journey is both emotional and deliberate. Dab7 marks a turning point, the gateway into her 'villain era', culminating in the manifesto of the title track Villain Bala Cause. The production mostly electronic pop and layered with experimental tunes, reinforces the evolution of her character: Ekhir Hamme sparks dark confidence; Ghtayta is THE pop anthem; and Ktir Jaw closes the album with a rebellious statement that states its purpose clearly: 'F*ck the westernization.' The music videos are numbered in sequence, offering a visual chaptering of her transformation. Every detail, from the sound to the styling, was built around the concept. Even her label, Mafi Budget, was built with this project. This is Blu Fiefer fully realized. Villain Bala Cause is about surviving long enough to define it on your own terms, and it is definitely her 'Blu-print'.
CairoScene
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CairoScene
Villainy is in its Blu Fiefer Era
She walks into the room draped in a fur coat, cool sunnies covering her eyes, and an attitude that instantly fills the space — a living embodiment of her new album's title, Villain Bala Cause. Blu Fiefer is here to exist in her full, vivid power. Sitting down with SceneNoise, Blu flashes a sly smile and says, 'Hi, I'm Blu Fiefer, a Lebanese-Mexican artist, producer, label owner, director, hustler, and pole dancer — hahaha, don't forget that.' It's the kind of off-the-cuff self-introduction that only hints at the layers beneath: a multi-dimensional artist whose story is built from roots, rebellion, and relentless self-belief. When we mention that she comes off online as strong and multi-talented, she bursts out laughing. 'Oh, I thought you were gonna say, 'Who's that blonde girl?' Good they think I'm strong,' she teases, adjusting her shades. 'I'm in my thirties now. I worked hard for this mindset. My vibe is simple: try me.' Nature, Nostalgia, and Early Fire Unlike many artists, Blu lights up when asked about her childhood. 'Not a lot of people ask me that,' she says thoughtfully. Born in Mexico before bouncing around the world, she roots her formative memories in a tiny Lebanese town. 'Humble beginnings. Green doors, green windows, rooftops, trees everywhere. We'd walk everywhere. Play hide and seek around the trees. It wasn't developed — just two streets, no commercial shops — but it made me creative. It made me me.' That sense of self, she says, was fiercely protected by her family. 'My privilege was being allowed to be myself. My mom never said 'this is nice' about my drawings, she'd say, 'It's so you.' That mindset shaped me. My parents, my little brother — they're my power. My dad taught me business, my mom taught me to feel. Everything I am came from them.' Pointing proudly at a tattoo of her eight-year-old brother, she smiles, 'I hustle for my family, always.' At this point, a fly kept buzzing around the room, interrupting the conversation — prompting Blu to break into a hilarious flurry of Lebanese cusswords, mid-laughter and mid-interview, chasing it away with her sunglasses. 'Ya bent el—! Ha—!' she shouted, cracking both of us up before slipping right back into her cool composure. So, Who Is Blu Fiefer? When asked who she is beyond the job titles, Blu grins: 'You're calling out my sh**, huh?' she jokes. But she doesn't hesitate with the real answer: 'At my core, I'm a storyteller. Whether I'm producing, directing, collaborating, strategizing, it's always from the lens of storytelling. 'I started thinking I was just gonna be a singer. But when I got into the industry, I realized — I love all of it. Singing, producing, directing… it fulfills me the same way. That's why I prefer to call myself an artist, not a singer.' Still, she admits the constant hat-switching is tough. 'It's hard to clock in as the artist, then clock in as the manager, then the producer. But that's my life.' Becoming Blu Her music journey wasn't smooth. After dropping out of school, she moved to London to study music. 'It was a rocky road. I was broke. I was expecting one thing and found another , but it made me grow. I experimented with different names, different characters. It all shaped the Blu Fiefer you see now.' Today, her sound refuses easy categorization. 'You guys at SceneNoise called me 'indie pop,' 'dark hip-hop,' 'experimental,' 'rapper sometimes', and you're right,' she says. 'My umbrella is hip-hop, even if it doesn't sound like it. It's an attitude.' The proudest moment? 'When people tell me they hear a track and know it's me, even if I'm not singing. That's my 'Blu-print.'' Lifting Others While Building Herself Having fought through industry hardships herself, Blu now mentors emerging artists through her label, Mafi Budget. 'I help them fight the monsters in their heads first. We're our own biggest enemies,' she says. 'It's not about trends, it's about authenticity. Then comes education: contracts, distribution, pricing, press, networking… everything.' When she started out, she reminded us, there were no tools — 'no Spotify, just Mazzika with Nancy Ajram and Elissa. No independent scene, no platforms. We had to build it from scratch.' Mafi Budget was born not out of ambition, but necessity. 'It was chaos — COVID, no budgets — so we made something out of nothing. That's the spirit of it. It's my baby. But yeah,' she adds candidly, 'sometimes the label takes too much of my energy. I'm working on building its foundations properly. It'll take years, but it'll inspire creativity. That's the goal.' Why 'Blu Fiefer'? The question everyone asks, and she rarely answers, but today, she lets us in. ''Blu' — because it's the hottest part of the fire. 'Fiefer' — it's strong, edgy. It balances the deep, emotional side of Blu. It just clicked. And yeah, Michelle Pfeiffer energy — sexy, bad bi*** vibes,' she laughs. 'When I heard the name, I was like, that's me. I'm that bi***.' Villain Bala Cause: An Origin Story Her new album, Villain Bala Cause, is a journey through tragedy, survival, and radical self-acceptance. 'Growing up, I thought if I operated with goodness, good things would happen,' she explains. 'Life taught me you have to be a villain sometimes. The title's sarcastic — of course there's a cause. But I don't owe anyone explanations anymore.' The album, years in the making, charts phases of her life through numbered music videos, evolving visuals, and lyrical vulnerability. 'I actually made the music before I wrote any lyrics,' she says. 'COVID just poured it all out of me. Every reference, every concept was intentional.' Creating it was an all-encompassing act of love. 'I produced every song, wrote them, directed the videos, mixed most of them, oversaw everything — even the photoshoots and colors. I made videos for every track. Who even does that?' she grins. 'Villain Bala Cause is my blueprint, my magnum opus.' From the chaotic glam of 'Nazele Big Champagne' to the Arab-Brat-Summer, tabla-fuelled swagger of 'Ghtayta,' Blu Fiefer crafts tracks that are subverted and best performed theatrically, perhaps with designated hand motions at the front of a club. In Ghtayta, she plays with hyperfeminine aesthetics and satirical alter-egos, flipping the script on Arab pop clichés with a cheeky wink, while Nazele Big Champagne leans into drama and defiance, a champagne-soaked anthem of self-worth and survival. Both tracks, visually and sonically, are part of the "Blu-print": a refusal to be boxed in, a celebration of contradictions, and a declaration that even chaos can be curated when the story is yours to tell. And she's nowhere near done. 'The album's out. I'm going on tour. Mafi Budget is growing. I'm already halfway through my second album,' she says with a flash of excitement. 'I'm coming for everyone.' Signing Off Before we end, we ask her for her best villain laugh. She throws her head back, smiles wide, grillz glinting. 'I can't! You're too nice,' she laughs. 'Maybe just zoom in on my grillz' Then, one last thing: 'Shoutout to Mafi Budget and everyone who worked on it. And a big shoutout to SceneNoise — I see you guys, and you guys see me. You've always been truly tapped into what's happening in the Lebanese scene. It's inspiring. Thank you.' Produced by: @scenenoise | @mo4network SceneNoise Acting Editor-in-Chief: @timmymowafi Creative Producer: @lordmunky Fashion & Creative Direction: @kojakstudio Photographer: @fariszaitoon Words: @cairoscrybaby DOP: @David__abdallah Video Editor: @mariamraymone Editorial Design: @maleka_reveals Gaffer: @ahmedgamal2143 @ Lighting Tech: Mazen Mohammed 1st AC: @ Sound Engineer: @
L'Orient-Le Jour
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- L'Orient-Le Jour
Sex, jazz and tacos
I hope you are enjoying the first week of May, objectively the best month of the year, not just because it's my birthday month. Everything feels a little lighter to me all of a sudden. The sun is warmer, janarik are in season and I'm deep in the joyful chaos of planning a summer trip with my friends. Happily, this week's picks are a total reflection of that mood – lighter stories, good food and even a hint of future promise. Enjoy! Is romanticism dead? The three artists whose works are now showing at the Janine Rubiez Gallery gave us their hot takes on the artistic movement. But how do their pastoral paintings of Lebanon square with their critique of romanticism as a relic of colonial fantasy? What's it like to be Lebanon's first sexologist? Sandrine Atallah went from being told that 'kissing leads to hell' to becoming a household name as a sexologist in a country where talking about sex is taboo. Raphael Abdelnour sat down with her to ask some juicy questions you might be secretly curious about. I've watched The Devil Wears Prada enough times to know that the fashion industry is a cut-throat world. But Sam Rawadi has climbed the ranks from small-town dreamer in the hills of Bikfaya (Metn) to having his photographs grace the covers of Vogue and Elle Arabia. What does he dream of achieving next? The sounds of Jazz Week ring on One of the joys of watching a jazz band is observing how each player interacts and slots into the careful dance of call and response. In Jim Quilty's write-up of the Makram Aboul Hosn Octet, his attention to each of the eight players brings the whole performance to life, to the point where you can almost hear it. Lebanon's journalists of tomorrow What does cultural preservation look like through the eyes of Lebanese university students? We got to hear from them directly as part of the AUB Outlook x L'Orient Today writing competition. I found the winning submissions impressively sensitive and beautifully written. Some food for all that thought And finally, Jaimee Lee Haddad is back with more delicious globe-trotting recipes, which I can personally vouch for! This week, she serves us a Lebanese-Mexican crossover — two food-haven heavyweights — for those of you feeling homesick, hungry or perhaps just adventurous.
