Customer Reviews

Saharni

5 star:		(2)
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I don't understand one word of Arabic, the music carries the message. After listening to some of Najwa's previous CDs, I got the impression that she was just another of these third-world singers who is trying to leverage her ethnicity and make it big, Western style. You know, rapping and trying to jazzify everything - make R&B sound Arabic, get the picture. I hate that. But this CD sounds like it is more from her soul and the soul of her people. I have been playing this CD over and over. It looks like she decided to forget about trying to be Western and started to take pride in her culture. Good idea! It works! In fact, it works well enough that I am buying several of these CDs to send to friends, who also do not speak Arabic, but will love it anyway. They will love it because they are sick to death of the homgenized Western R&B garbage that is force-fed to listeners the world over. Great job Najwa!.

For those readers who know little or nothing of Najwa and stumbled on this CD by accident, Najwa Karam probably has the best voice that you never heard. If you are looking for an introduction to modern Arabic music, you could not possibly find a better CD to start with. For those familiar with Najwa, this is one of her more recent albums and overall probably her best. The only album that I would compare with this is Nadmanah. Both are outstanding. In her earlier albums, Najwa had a Westernized R&B sound and sang ditzy/girly tunes. She has since transformed herself and now blends traditional Lebanese music (and instruments) with more modern sounds in an outstanding combination. She also has an incredible voice. This is a CD that you will listen to over and over again, whether you understand a word of Arabic or not. Highly recommended.