DJ Habibeats: 10 Tracks that Define the Global Sound of 'Habibi's House'
Ibrahim Abu-Ali
This playlist is a combination of tracks that I’ve been playing in my sets, listening to personally, really inspired by, or all three! I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area as a child of Palestinian immigrants. Being around such a diverse community of people throughout my life has had a lot of influence on my music taste and DJ style. I’ve been DJing for about 16 years now and I’ve played every kind of event or party you can think of. From sweet sixteens to weddings to local bars to church events to big clubs to corporate events. You name it, I’ve done it.
These days my focus is on bringing music from my culture and other historically underrepresented cultures to the forefront of the dance music scene. I feel like historically, it’s very easy to be in a musical bubble here in the US since the US has dominated so much of music and pop culture for so long. But out there in the world is a wealth of sounds, rhythms, instruments, energies, frequencies, and musical expression that is so cool and interesting that people might not know about. And it’s my mission to find new ways to explore, highlight, and ultimately incorporate all of that in my sets and my art.
DJ Habibeats' new single "Dlala Dhol" is out now via Empire. Listen below and buy it on Beatport.
I love this track because it’s such a well done combination of cultures and genres. The more traditional Arab synthesizer and vocals blended with the deep and hard-hitting house production is something I never get tired of listening to. It’s the kind of track I wish I made myself!
I’m really proud of this track because it feels like a perfect representation of my brain. Growing up in the US as a child of Palestinian immigrants, I grew up listening to lots of music from the US and the Middle East (as well as music from all sorts of other cultures growing up in the Bay Area, it was so diverse). This track combines elements of traditional Palestinian folk music, Miami Bass, Freestyle, Electro, Brazilian Baile Funk, and even some Iraqi percussion for a really fun and dance floor friendly culture combination.
I have been listening to this track nonstop lately. To me, it feels like the elements that had to have all come together to influence this song come from a very similar place as my own production. A true culture clash of East meets West in a way that I’ve never quite heard before.
The original song that they’ve sampled here is one that I heard at weddings and parties growing up over and over and over again. It’s by a very famous Lebanese singer names Fares Karam. I’ve been playing this track a ton lately in my sets because the instant nostalgia mixed with the incredible production never fails to hype up my crowd.
Over the past 4-5 years I’ve really fallen in love with South African dance music. I love this track because it combines elements of Gqom, 3-Step, Amapiano, and Afro House. It has moments that are super hard for the dance floor as well as moments that are beautiful and euphoric. The production is so cool and refreshing.
Sound design, sound design, sound design!!! This track is pure ear candy. I never get enough of that bassline. Those harmonics shine through in such a cool way. Then the Hindi vocals from Naisha are the cherry on top. Love this track so much!
I was lucky to befriend Kahani and Kunal Merchant from Indo Warehouse a couple years ago. They have such a cool sound that resonates with me so much. The infusion of their culture with House music is so seamless and inspiring and this track is the perfect example of that.
The original song “Shik Shak Shok” is a super well known Egyptian song that was a staple at lots of Arab weddings and parties that I attended growing up. We wanted to take this heavily nostalgic and fun song and flip it into a sort of retro disco / funky house concept and give it new life for the dance floor. This almost always gets played in my sets and always is received so well by the crowd!
I was lucky to befriend DJ Rony a few years ago when he originally went viral online for an earlier version of this track. To see it come to life like this is incredible and it makes me so happy. I’m a sucker for incorporating Arabic instrumentation in dance music, and the combination of Arabic and Afro House influences on top of the classic "Coolie Riddim" sample is right on the money.
Moktar has been absolutely killing it. I was lucky to befriend him last year and have since been seeing him grow and grow! This track speaks to me for the same reason I made Miami Mijwiz. It’s such a true combination of influences from the East and West. The super groovy bass line and 808 drum machine type of percussion feels very reminiscent of Egyptian Lover (who I grew up absolutely loving). The Arabic darbuka is the perfect compliment to the Western elements of the song. This track feels made for the dance floor. It’s heavy, it’s groovy, it’s cultural, and I can’t get enough.
