After experimenting with Middle-Eastern fusion-pop in his 2019 singles “Dina” and “Bisharafi”, Jordanian-Canadian singer-songwriter, actor and model Raja Otaqui has fashioned a distinctive soundscape that merges his deep-rooted passion for both musical theatre and classical Arabic folklore. His latest single “Ma Fi Aman” (2022), an Arabic adaptation of Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine”, fuses heavy synthesisers with lush cinematic strings, and takes an unexpected detour when a playful variation on Bill Withers’ famed chorus expands into the signature motif of Um Kalsoum’s iconic “Ana Fentizarak”. It is within this unapologetically playful outlook on contemporary Arabic pop that Raja is currently writing and producing his original material.
