AÏWA

Group French Electro - Dub and Hip hop Oriental created in 1998 with Rennes

Aïwa is a collective founded in 1998 by Wamid and Naufalle, two brothers of Iraqi origin having grown in France. They seek to reconcile their musical practice (low for the Arab first, derbouka and rap for the second) with their interest for the electronic productions which they outline then. They thus seek to mix the Arab classical music heard during their childhood (Om Kalsoum, Abdel Halim Hafez, Fairuz…) with the modern Western music.

The word Aïwa in itself means “yes” in Arabic and indicates in a general way the assertion or something of positive. The idea of group and collective takes form thanks to the contest of several musicians of Rennes: Phil (battery and programmings), Mathias (special guitar and effects), Koulechov (platinums) Severine (song and programmings) and of Gaël (ethnic saxophone and flutes).

Their meeting, in 2002, with the Canadian label Wikkid records marks a turning for the group since it enables them to publish their first album in May 2003 with an international distribution: Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, Spain, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Kuwait, Algeria, Indonesia….

The second album of the group, “Elnar” (Arabic fire), declines a rather original and homogeneous universe. The progressive climate of the album raises of a certain maturity acquired by the group since the first album all while falling under its continuity.

Certain titles like “Elnar”, “Dioud”, “Kitty”, “Entronic” or “Ibn Sina” make enter in collision the hip-hop, the Arab music and the musics of the world in the broad sense.

The overall tonality of the album is more hip-hop even if pieces like “Eastern” or “Pretext” come to scramble the tracks by making the good share with the trademark of the group “Aïwa sound”.

The presence of Jamalski, Anisated Derkaoui (Moroccan singer) and of Says (X Makeena) in featuring comes to supplement the flow and the melodies of Severine and Naufalle.

Discography

Aïwa (Wikkid, 2003)
Elnar (Wikkid, 2006)

External bonds

Site of the group

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