YEMEN: MUSIC AND DANCE

The music of Yemen shares many similarities with the music of the Arabian peninsula, but it has its own versions. Many of their Jewish musicians have also been successful in Israel as well. There’s a type of folk music that is essentially poetic songs called al-Ghina al-San’ani. In 2003, it was added as part of the UNESCO Oral and Intangible Heritage list. Folk music is traditionally performed in the home with the performers chewing on khat (it’s a kind of leaf that has a moderate psychoactive stimulant effect when it’s chewed, so of course musicians would chew it). Another type of sung poetry is called homayni, which dates back to the 14th century. However, there’s a kind of urban style of homayni that’s performed now.

Because of Yemen’s location, their folk music and folk dance are influenced from Africa, Europe, Asia, and the Arabian Peninsula. However, dances that are purely Yemeni mainly fall into two categories: Afro-Yemeni dances and Asian-Yemeni dances. Each region of the country has its own versions of folk dances and folk music. Percussion and other instruments often accompany many of these dances. There are tribal dances and war dances where dancers hold daggers (hope they don’t fall!), and some dances that are men-only, women-only, and some for both.

In recent decades, hip-hop has become quite the popular genre among young urban musicians. Gravitating toward its history of using hip-hop as a means of socio-political expression, it’s no wonder why some young Yemeni rappers have used it as a means to rap about the ongoing war, anti-terrorism, and the state of life in general. Drawing from American and European styles, they bring their own versions of songs to their Yemeni audiences.

So, it was a little difficult to find some current Yemeni musicians (admittedly, I also didn't do an extensive search because of time). Because hip-hip is so popular in Yemen, even in diaspora, I managed to find a few. I listened to one artist who calls himself YungYem. I believe he grew up in Detroit, Michigan, so he mixes a lot of American rap styles in with Yemeni Arabic. There were some references to another rapper named Hagage “AJ” Masaed who grew up in Ohio, but I had trouble finding examples of his work on Spotify. I liked what I heard from YungYem, though; it was fairly chill, which I find myself gravitating toward as I get older. Can’t go hard all the time, right?

I also found an American DJ named Erez Safar, whose mother is from Yemen. Professionally, he’s produced albums under two names. Under his name Diwon, I listened to some of the album called New Game. I really enjoyed this; it was very well put together. It’s a little bit hip-hop, a little bit techno, a little bit club mix, a little bit lo-fi. I thought it was fantastic.

Under his other name, h2the, I sampled through his album An Album of Lo-Fi Songs That Will Never Trend. I have increasingly been drawn to lo-fi beats (especially since the pandemic forced us into quarantine), so I immediately gravitated toward this. This is the type of album you can listen to while you’re working. And trust me, I will definitely add this into my mix. This dude definitely has some skills.

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