Singer & Songwriter 'Rima Yussef' singing in classical Arabic style in Saudi Arabia

Yussef her history , she was born in Africa, but her family moved back to Lebanon when she was three-years-old. “What I remember most about my childhood in Lebanon is that I started singing at a young age,” she tells Arab News from Riyadh, where she now lives. Rima Yussef was born in Africa, but her family moved back to Lebanon when she was three-years-old.

(Supplied) Her parents realized that their daughter, who started performing at the age of six, was different. For instance, she would sit in front of the television, listen to a song and memorize it right off the bat. One day, Yussef’s father was training choral musicians at home, where she decided to join in and even corrected their singing. 

“My father took it seriously and thought I should go to a music conservatory to learn music properly and professionally,” she says. Rima Yussef performing on the TV show ‘Talk of the Town.’ (Supplied) While some Arab families might discourage a career in the arts, her supportive family embraced it: Yussef’s father was a pianist and his brother was a poet. “But there was no singing talent in the family, except for myself. This was my dream. I wasn’t thinking of doing anything else,” she says. 

And so, Yussef became a student at a conservatory in the Lebanese mountain town of Bikfaya. She was apparently an exception amongst fellow pupils, since the school usually only accepted pupils who were at least nine years old. Yussef was six. When she was growing up, Yussef mostly listened to the masters of classical tarab music legends like Fayrouz, Umm Kulthum, Warda and Abdel Halim Hafez were just a few of her favorites. And she still believes that their music sounds better than popular contemporary artists. 

“That was an era when people liked hearing ‘heavy’ music, which they were able to absorb,” she explains. “But today, we’re in a fast-paced environment. People want something that reaches them fast. They’re not bothered about the lyrics and melodies. 

Unfortunately, this has affected the quality of music.” Egyptian singer Abdel Halim Hafez, one of Yussef’s early favorites. (AFP) What sets Yussef apart from the current generation of young Arab singers is that she has, in a way, gone back to basics. She sings in formal ‘fus’ha’ or classical Arabic, in a modern style. “I didn’t want to copy today’s music. Honestly, for me, if an artist is copying someone else, that means they don’t have something that distinguishes them,” she says.