AIWA is a collective founded in 1998 by Wamid and Naufalle, two Iraqi brothers brought up in France. They began mixing their musical practice (bass for Wamid and percussions and Arabic rap for his brother) to their growing interest for electronical music they were producing. They're trying to make the classical Arabic music heard from their parent's records (Om Kalsoum, Abdel Halim Hafez, Fairuz...) meeting with the western music.
They've been joined by Severine (female singer and also composer), Phil (drums) and Gaël (saxophones, flutes and keyboards). Their meeting in 2002 with the Canadian label WIKKID RECORDS is a milestone for the band with the release of their first album in 2003, licensed worldwide : (Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, Spain, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Algeria...) Aïwa has been touring a lot in France but also in the UK, Switzerland, Morocco, Spain, Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Germany, Poland...
ELNAR the new full-length release from Aïwa, The French Kings of Oriental breakbeat offers a fantastic body of work, sucessfully blending Middle Eastern instruments, vocals and sounds with Hiphop and breaks delicately spliced with cutting edge technology. The album features New Yorks finest : Mc Jamalski (Boogie Down Productions), Says (X Makeena) and Anissa Derkaoui (Algerian singer).
"witty, adventurous and addictive"
The Observer Music Monthly - Charlie Gillett
"...Elnar reflects fascinating experimentations with classical Arabic music that is subtly tied into the electronic music they have forged in their hometown of Rennes..."
Daniel Brown - Mondomix
"... A frantic melange of Arabic classical music and hip hop..."
David Hutcheon - Mojo
"... a work of pure emotion that needs no translation..."
Lousie Gray - New Internationalist
"the sound of generations and nations merging"
Dina Cohen - Wave Magazine
TO BUY AIWA CD'S CLICK HERE
FOR AIWA REMIXES ON 12'' CLICK HERE
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