Hello You / Ahlan Bik (UAE ISRAEL SONG)

Review by: Benjamin Lutz

The Short:

Emirati Walid Aljasim and Israeli Elkana Marziano and unite to create this unique song.

The Long:

The viral Youtube music video cuts from Dubai to Tel Aviv, the lyrics switch from Arabic to Hebrew to English. Marziano, 28, is a former winner of Israel's version of The Voice, a singing competition TV show, and an Arabic speaker influenced by the Mizrahi culture of Jews from the Arab world. He said that he and Aljasim had collaborated over Zoom, with some parts of the song recorded in Dubai and others in Israel.

To listen or not to listen:

Listen! It is a fun, electro-pop duet between two artists. The normalization of ties between Israel and the UAE has produced its first musical collaboration: "Ahlan Bik", or "Hello you" in Arabic. "This is a historic moment," said Israeli singer Elkana Marziano, whose duet with Emirati singer Walid Aljasim has clocked more than 1.1 million YouTube views since it was posted on September 30.