Koili Devi, Raveena, and Yasmin Hamdan

Koili Devi, Nepali Singer:

Koili Devi was the first female Nepali singer and composer. She is known for her very sweet and melodic voice. Devi emerged via the radio in the 20th century as part of the first generation of professional Nepali singers. She was incredibly prolific, and received several prestigious Nepali awards during her career. In reading about her, it initially surprised me that a woman was able to emerge as a strong figure in a very new Nepali music industry, but then I remembered how revered musical women are in Indian culture. Since India is so close to Nepal, the same mindset is probably present. I remember learning in class how there is a strong tradition of respected female music teachers and performers in India. Koili Devi doesn't seem to be well known on an international level. I think this is probably because Nepal is still a developing country and doesn't currently hold a great deal of international influence. The video below is Devi singing Aja Ko Din, a Nepali Christian song. I think it is just so peaceful and pleasant.

Raveena

Raveena is a contemporary Indian-American singer-songwriter. She writes in a distinctively dreamy R&B pop style. She was raised Sikh by her Indian immigrant parents, and cites Bollywood visuals and music as a huge inspiration for her. I have only just discovered this, but for a short period  I listened to her song "Sweet Time" every day on the way to school my junior year of high school. Her music doesn't carry overt sonic aspects of Indian music, but her heritage is particularly present in her visuals. She wears traditional attire in her music videos, and her culture is clearly very important to her. In an NPR interview, she says, "there's so much beauty in this culture that people don't recognize." One of her primary focuses as an artist is creating a space for fellow South Asian youth. Attendance at her concerts is primarily young people of color. The music video below is for her song "Temptation." I think it is so cool how both she and her love interest in the video are dressed in their traditional attire. They demonstrate that one can embrace an ancient, traditional culture and also claim and live happily in modern identities. 

NPR interview: https://www.npr.org/2019/06/05/728644002/make-room-for-raveena-debut-album-lucid

Yasmine Hamdan

Yasmine Hamdan is a contemporary Lebanese singer-songwriter. She became well known in the Middle East after forming the first indie/electronic band in the region. It was called Soapkills. Since moving into a solo career, her influence has begun to spread to Europe and North America. She sings in her native Arabic, and the instrumental elements of her songs combine sounds from her culture and Western culture. The video below, her original song Beirut, is so wonderfully haunting. It is a different song than the one by Fairuz that we listened to in class, but I think one can assume that they deal with the same subject matter.