Ahmad Tilawi and Samira

Mixtape

Artist Origin

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A rough-sounding live tape from the 1990s, pairing Ahmad Tilawi with an unknown female singer referred to on the tape cover as Samira. The duo performs classic Syrian shaabi songs together, such as Mijarih (Wounded), where they alternate performing verses one after the other, in a way that reminds us of Tilawi's collaborations with Fariha Al Abdullah. 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.