Quartertones | Music from the Arab World

Rapper, writer, and thought leader Akala joins us on Quartertones live at Sole DXB to talk about his early career steps in London, the city's unique blends due to its history, and his drive to connec…

Palestinian singer Lina Makoul delves into the responsibility of artists to translate public sentiment, the worsening situation in Gaza and the West Bank, and the impact of the 900 new checkpoints ad…

Palestinian-Jordanian singer, songwriter, and producer Dana Salah shares her journey graduating from Duke University to DJing in New York City and writing songs in Jay-Z's studio to transitioning to …

In this episode of Quartertones, we're joined by Palestinian composer and musician, Issa Boulos who tells us about his deep connection to Jerusalem and Palestine, and how his upbringing influenced hi…

In this episode of Quartertones, we're joined by Barbara Lebrun, the author of "Dalida: Mythe et Mémoire." We explore the remarkable career of Dalida, the iconic singer who rose to fame in the mid-20…

In this special episode of Quartertones in collaboration with XP Air, we sit down with prominent artist Dreamville's Bas, to discuss his journey in the music industry. We talk about the financial cha…

The inspiring Emel Mathlouthi joins Tanya Khoury on the Quoz Arts Fest stage in Dubai for a riveting discussion on music, cultural roots, and breaking gender norms in the music industry. Emel shares …

DJ amen RA welcomes the talented Syrian-American rapper, poet and longtime friend of afikra, Omar Offendum, to the Quoz Arts Fest stage. Host Tanya Khoury asks Offendum to delve into topics ranging f…

This episode of Quartertones was recorded live on the Sole DXB stage in Dubai on December 13, 2024. Founder of Empire Records Ghazi Shami, and head of Empire Iwana Sohail Nafar explore the challenges…

In this episode of Quartertones, we interview award-winning violinist, composer, and educator Layth Sidiq at Habibi Festival in NYC. He shares his journey in Arabic music, and discusses his upbringin…

Scavenging for synthesizers, digital vs analog music, and what it means to be a music producer in the AI era. This episode of Quartertones features Egyptian music producer Kubbara in our studio in Be…

Karim Ziad and Mehdi Nassouli perform at Habibi Festival 2024 and are joined on stage by Yacine Boulares and other talented musicians for a jazzy performance and a conversation with host Mikey Muhann…

After a moving performance at Habibi Festival, we sit down with the members of Taktouka to hear about the band’s journey from vocalist Alia Haju, beginning with how it came together after she fled Be…

Habibi Festival is back for another year at Joe's Pub, bringing Arabs, comrades, and lovers of music together in New York in these difficult times that our nations continue to endure. And for another…

Nai Barghouti joins us for a very special episode of Quartertones ahead of her performance at the Toronto Palestine Film Festival on September 27th which will be her Canadian debut. Speaking from the…

It's not often that we welcome a film score composer on QuarterTones. So we had a lot to chat about with award-winning composer Suad Bushnaq. We discuss the realities of writing music for cinema, her…

In this episode of QuarterTones, Cheb Mimo joins us in our podcast studio in Beirut along with his cassette player, turntable, and rare records and tapes, to take us on a tour of North Africa's raï, …

We're stoked to finally be launching our live in-studio sessions in our podcast recording studio in Beirut as an extension to Quartertones. The first is with no other than our past guest Rayess Bek (…

What makes experimental music…experimental? And what does it take to cultivate a thriving musical scene in the context of the Arab world? In this episode of QuarterTones, Sharif Sehnaoui joins us in …

This QuarterTones episode is exceptionally in French and is hosted by our Outline host, Sabine Boghossian.

We chat with Khalil Hentati (EPI) a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and essential figure in …