You might recall my interview with Jaafar, the talented international singer/songwriter whose latest single, “Sixteen,” is blowing up in both America and around the world. If you read the interview, loved the music, and want to see more of Jaafar, you’re in luck. Jaafar will be performing Oct. 21 at The Roxy in West Hollywood, CA.
Jaafar blends Western and Eastern sound and storytelling to create music that’s wholly unique and inspiring. In fact, don’t take my word for it; here’s what he told me himself:
“I was recording an album about three years ago which was supposed to be my debut album. I actually put out two singles from that album in my hometown and they did really well and I went to perform a festival there last summer…[My producer] and I were still working on it and I started to realize that I wasn’t really connecting to it.
After I got back to Miami from the festival, I really took some time searching for my sound. I wrote a lot of new music, I explored a lot of different sounds, but I went back to my first love, which is Middle Eastern, Arabic music. I infused that with my songwriting style, which is more Western. I wrote a song called “Daliah”, and it’s actually the second song off this album, and as far as subject matter, it inspired the rest of the album. And when I went into the studio and started working with producers on the album, I knew I had stumbled onto something that I identified with much more than I was doing before. I think that was just a natural growth process.”
Check out the flyer below and if you’re in the area, go support Jaafar!