Ahmad Tilawi

Mejareeh (People Are Hurt)

Artist Origin

More Info

This cassette takes us back to the beginning of Tilawi's long career in the eighties, when he started building his name in the Syrian attaba and shaabi scene before climbing to its summit. The cassette carries the name of a song that became strongly associated with Tilawi due to his frequent performances of it, Majarih (Wounded), which is a well-rounded Syrian shaabi song, whether in its rural melancholic lyrics, its acoustic string arrangement, or its melody that only needs half a listen to be memorized. Ahmad Tilawi is considered a cornerstone in the recorded archive of the Syrian shaabi music scene. Prominent in the 1980s and 1990s, he was a key figure in performing ataba, shaabi, mawal, and dabke at private parties and weddings, to the extent that it's almost impossible to review a few cassettes in our archive without encountering his name. Sharing the stage with Tilawi was often seen as a rite of passage for emerging shaabi singers, both male and female, including Fariha Al-Abdullah, Ibrahim Al-Saad, and Hussein Al-Abdullah, especially in the field of ataba, which Tilawi’s name became synonymous with. Tilawi spent most of his life in his hometown of Saraqib, located in the countryside of Idlib, until heartbroken, armed conflicts forced him to do so.