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Bahraini songstress Banah Anabtawi has become the breakout star of the region after her first music video became an instant sensation, racking up almost a million views upon release.
Best known by her first and stage name Banah, the jazz-fusion soulful singer, who has performed numerous gigs around Bahrain, partnered with Tunes Arabia and her single Shou Helou Nihna was uploaded to the video-sharing platform on August 8.
It proved an instant hit with listeners both in the kingdom and across the Gulf, racking up hundreds of thousands of hits within hours. At the time of writing, it stands at 961,000 views and increases every day.
It has also reached seventh in Egypt’s Arab radio charts and is being played across the airwaves in places such as Jordan and Palestine. Banah has been staggered by the success. The 33-year-old said: “I feel great. I am extremely proud of what I have achieved so far, even though this is only the beginning!
“Watching how my song was received was so rewarding, as you never quite know how the reaction is going to go. I’m delighted that people enjoy it.
“I think it’s because it’s not like the usual stuff you hear. It brings back the classic oriental music, but it has a lot of fusion in it so more modern listeners and English speakers still enjoy it.”
“I know that hard work does pay off, but I also know that I have a very long way to go if I want to make it in the music business. At the end of the day, even small progress is great if you enjoy what you do regardless of what the results are. There are tons of musicians and artists that are not famous or well-known but live a very happy and content life, and I think that’s what matters the most.”
Banah is Bahraini, but was born in Canada before moving to the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia when she was four. After returning to Canada to study business at university, she finally settled in Bahrain 13 years ago.
She had a passion for performing at a young age, but struggled to pursue her hobby under family pressures before finally deciding to forge her own path as a musician, as previously reported in GulfWeekly.
Now she is a star after the long, arduous process of producing a single. As an independent artist supporting herself, Banah set herself the goal of producing one single at a time.
She produced the video in Beirut, helped by a team who have provided music for legendary Arabic singer Fairooz. The lyrics and melody were written by Khaled Habre and Rayan Habre, music arrangement was done by Rayan, and the music producer who oversaw the entire song was Houssam Abdul Khalek.
Banah said: “I approached them at the beginning of this year as I had enough money saved at that time to start working on my single. The theme was conceptualised in the beginning; I wanted a song that represented the idea of independence in love, which makes it stronger rather than the neediness of it, and then we worked on the melody and finally the mixing and mastering.
“As for the video, I worked with Omega Film and I believe they did a really good job putting a simple and cool concept together in the beautiful Gallery 21 in Adliya. What I absolutely appreciate is the amount of effort everybody was willing to put in to support me.
“My agent, Traccs, managed to arrange several collaboration deals for my hair and makeup, and a number of the cast you see in the video are friends of mine. Although I didn’t have a big budget or the backing of a record label, I still managed to put something decent together and I just want to take this opportunity to say ‘thank you’ to all of them.”
As well as coming up with a catchy melody, half of the work is marketing and distributing a song. Plenty of good music never gets airplay or makes waves on the charts simply because it isn’t heard.
Banah, after much deliberation and advice-seeking, finally got in touch with Tunes Arabia and they loved the song and music video so much that they signed her to an exclusive distribution deal, using their high subscriber base to help promote the song.
As for the future, Banah is already hard at work on her next projects. She has an agreement in place to collaborate with Tunes Arabia on future singles, although she isn’t signed to them on a full contract.
She released Let’s Jam, a cover mash-up, last month which has also racked up more than 500,000 hits, and she will return to the studio soon for her next single to be released in November and is planning on releasing an Egyptian-accented song in Egypt early next year.
Banah has been booked to perform at the Bahrain International Air Show in November but the biggest date circled on her calendar is December 15, where she will be one of the headline acts at the 12-hour Manama Doesn’t Sleep musical extravaganza in honour of National Day and the anniversary of the National Museum.
It’s a prospect that really excites the singer: “I consider it my first big concert and it will contain a fusion of music - English and Arabic - with various genres and styles as well as all my original music,” she explained. “I will also have a big band backing me and hopefully several prominent musician collaborations on some of the tracks. I’m very excited!”
In between her stints in the recording studio, Banah spends time with her ‘amazing’ supportive husband, Hatim, who she credits for being her ‘ultimate rock.’ They have two beautiful daughters, Alya, five, and Hana, three.
Furthermore, she hosts her own show on Radio Bahrain titled Mornings with Banah every Monday from 9am to midday.
To follow Banah’s career and to hear more of her music, visit her Instagram: @banahofficial and her Youtube: Banah Official. Shou Helou Nihna can be found on the Tunes Arabia YouTube channel and is available to download on all digital platforms including iTunes and Anghami.
