Exciting update on Sa'alouni El Nas
The newsletter is expanding!
Hi everyone!
First of all, before I say anything else, I want to acknowledge and recognize that we are living in a weird dystopian time between witnessing a genocide in Gaza, the ongoing violence and killings in Sudan, and the heartbreaking and tragic events unfolding in other communities globally. Sa’alouni El Nas will always unequivocally stand with the people, no matter what, and will continue to tell stories intersecting advocacy and music.
Now, I would love to share a couple of exciting updates with you all regarding Sa’alouni El Nas. But first, let me explain what Sa’alouni El Nas is and what the mission of this platform has been for those of you who are new to Sa’alouni El Nas.
Since August 2020, I’ve been putting together a free weekly newsletter for almost four years that included curated playlists of new music from Arab artists, stories from the region and the diaspora, and guest interviews of incredible people in the Middle East, North Africa, and the diaspora communities asking them about some of their go-to songs. I’ve had the good fortune of welcoming indie artists, music industry execs, chefs, academics, journalists, and other incredible people I’ve admired personally to share some of their music. I did all of this because I wanted to highlight the amazing artistry and creativity coming out of our region and diaspora—something exciting had clearly been brewing.
In addition to this newsletter, I’ve had the immense privilege and good fortune of writing stories profiling MENA artists and contextualizing Arabic music for Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, The New York Times, GQ Middle East, Esquire Middle East, Billboard Arabia, and many more outlets because again, I just want to make sure artists and our scene get their shine properly.
This past September, I put the newsletter on pause to reassess how I can grow this platform into something bigger and even more meaningful. I wanted to see how I could translate this into a full-fledged music platform that properly covered the emerging Arabic music scene in a more thoughtful way, beyond the surface level. I’ve been dreaming of doing this since the inception of Sa’alouni El Nas.
After much thought and consultation with friends, family, and peers, I’m really excited to finally give this a go and expand Sa’alouni El Nas into a larger digital zine beyond the newsletter—hopefully in the next few months!
To mark this new chapter, Sa’alouni El Nas has undergone a complete redesign and rebrand. Check out the spiffy new logo!
Big thank you to artist Zainab AlShinabi, who creatively and flawlessly designed this branding to reflect the new direction of Sa’alouni El Nas. You all can and must follow Zainab on Instagram to check out some of her other work!
This brings me to the new direction of the newsletter. This is an incredible time for the music scene in the Middle East and North Africa and its diaspora communities around the world. I’ve been working to highlight these aspects over the last few years, and now Sa’alouni El Nas is expanding in order to provide even more coverage of the scene. This will include outside contribution from respected writers, journalists, and guest pieces by creatives in our scene. Here are some of the things that will be implemented:
Music reviews: There will be a new section dedicated to proper reviews and good-faith critiques of albums and songs released by artists. This will not be a place to bash anyone’s creativity or vision, but rather provide thoughtful and genuine criticism. This can be in the form of a glowing write-up or helpful feedback and anything in between, all in service of the art and the artist.
Interviews and profiles: In addition to highlighting incredible people in the weekly newsletter, this section will differ slightly with in-depth profiles of and interviews with artists, producers, songwriters, label execs, and any creative in the music industry. No longer should we have to wait for a Western publication to shine a light on our creatives—we will provide high-quality profiles and interviews right here!
Feature stories: Longform music journalism is a staple in contextualizing trends, highlighting different aspects of the scene, and asking important questions to provoke thoughtful discussion. This section will intentionally provide those stories.
Sa’alouni El Nas, the newsletter: The weekly newsletter you all know and love will still exist as a fun round-up of new music.
These sections will be updated every so often when there is time and capacity. I do not currently have the resources or the financial means to operate daily, and the goal of this platform is to provide in-depth context rather than news.
In order to sustain these changes, Sa’alouni El Nas will eventually move from being completely free to requiring a monthly subscription (with the exception of the weekly newsletter, which will remain free for everyone). It’s still free for now, but I want to be transparent about this upcoming change in the future. In order for me to be able to pay other writers and to provide quality journalism, this is something I will have to implement at some point. I hope you all understand.
I am really excited for what’s coming with Sa’alouni El Nas. I have been dreaming of this vision for a long time and I am hopeful that this will be a place where people can come and read thoughtful stories on the emerging music scene in the Middle East and North Africa and its diaspora.
Thank you so much for the continued support and love. Subscribe and stay tuned!
-Danny
