Palestinian-Jordanian Zeyne opens the Middle East edition of “Rolling Stone”
The leading American music magazine Rolling Stone has just launched its Middle East and North Africa edition, dedicating its first cover story to Palestinian-Jordanian singer Zeyne. A prominent emerging artist in the region, she released her debut album in August.
For its first issue published in July, the all-new Middle East and North Africa (MENA) edition of Rolling Stone has chosen to dedicate its cover to “a personality determined to break the codes of Arab pop.” The prestigious American magazine thus profiles Zeyne, who has been very prominent lately. The 27-year-old Palestinian-Jordanian singer opens up about her career ahead of the release of her highly anticipated debut album, Awda, in August.
The leading music magazine has chosen to highlight a singer who is reinvigorating Arab pop for the grand debut of this Mena edition—whose editor-in-chief, Danny Hajjar, an American journalist of Lebanese origin, specializes in new Arab music scenes. The publication expands the magazine's offerings, which already include several international editions, notably in France.
Danny Hajjar signs this portrait of Zeyne, who became known in particular thanks to collaborations with stars such as Saint Levant , a French, Palestinian and Algerian singer, or the Egyptian Bayou, and with the release in 2024 of Asli Ana. The title, opening the upcoming album, has generated a lot of enthusiasm, as has the video in which the singer incorporates a choreography of dabké, a traditional Levantine dance. She also pays homage to her Palestinian culture, which she is keen to represent accurately.
“You can't describe the richness of a culture superficially. It doesn't do us justice, and it's a demand we owe the rest of the world,” she believes. This question of authenticity is central to her work, especially since she wrote this album in a state of anxiety about the situation in occupied Gaza and the West Bank .
“Over the past two years in particular, while writing and recording the album Awda (which means 'return' in Arabic), Zeyne was forced to question what it truly meant to be a Palestinian female musician, at a time when her people were at risk of being wiped off the map.”
For the magazine, her art reflects “a vulnerability and uninhibited authenticity.” In this debut, she “explores platonic and romantic love, and the chaos that can arise from the desire to believe in oneself but also in one’s people.”
“It's the best thing I've done so far, and I'm very proud of it. It was the perfect time to release this album, and I was lucky to have great support,” she says.
Courrier International
