#sawtuha

With a girl on of the crowd and a girl behind the wheels of the motorcycle on the way to “حرية/horreya” as in “freedom” this is how the album introduces itself.  Sawtuha, which is the Arabic word for Her voice is a collaboration between nine female singers and musicians to translate freedom but this time with the female voice we don’t instantly think of when we think of the word freedom, especially when it’s spoken in Arabic in the Arab world.  The album was released on January, 2014 by Jakarta Records. And it is a musical rebellion against the gender inequality, all the bloody politics, corruption and injustice the artists faced growing up and even more recently, during the Arab Spring.  Sawtuha has 12 tracks including 4 bonus ones and a collaboration with Rasha Rizk. The nine female musicians that made this gem that has rap, pop and instrumental tunes happen:

From Tunis: -Nawel Ben Kraiem -Badiaa Bouhrizi -Medusa -Houwaida From Libya:  -Nada From Egypt: -Donia Massoud -Maryam Saleh -Youssra El Hawary From Syria:  -Rasha Rizk +the produces/mixers  Three of my favourites from the album:  2-Youssra El Hawary - Ghareeb An El Medina (Brenk Remix) 5-Badiaa Bouhrizi - Mana'a (Blundetto Remix) 8-Rasha Rizk - Elegie (Shuko Production)

Extra links:  You can buy/listen to the album here: https://jakartarecords-label.bandcamp.com/album/sawtuha

A few weeks ago I found this album somewhat randomly while gathering music for a mixtape, and it couldn't have been a more perfect album for Browntourage to share with you, our esteemed readers. It is a post "Arab Spring" gathering of female voices from Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and Syria weaving together the regional Arabic influences and contemporary studio productions with producers such as Olof Dreijer of The Knife and Sudanese/American producer, Oddisee. The production is on point and the message of rebellion against imperialistic and military repression still very much relevant today.

We want to introduce our new contributor, Saniya, who translates, analyzes, and contextualizes this compelling album for you.-Jaqi

"Women were, and still continue to be, in the front-lines of these revolutions, leading efforts to counter violence and exclusion from the public sphere, particularly as gender is instrumentalized for the imagining and preservation of a patriarchal nation. Art has thus functioned as a tool for women’s own self-representation and counter-narratives, of challenging and redefining womanhood through their own cultural production, and it is from within this context that Sawtuha emerges."