*Luja Bint El-Ghoula is a local fairytale.
**From the sources I found online, the phrase "hajeetak majeetak" seems to be like what a person in Algeria would say before someone begins a story or says a riddle. (if anyone's Algerian here and can confirm or disprove this; please do)

The beautiful illustration is by Evan Turk.

For the next 4 or 5 weeks, we will be publishing music by female artists we feel deserve more recognition, that is not to say that they are not already popular locally; however, we still feel that the female representatives of the modern Arabic song have become popular because of the way they look and because of connections, and not because their music deserves recognition.

Other female artists throughout the Arab world have been constantly denied the spotlight, despite them deserving to bask in it for all what they contributed to the Arabic music scene, whether in terms of performance, lyrics or musical composition.

Allow us then, to present you with the music of those who elevated the modern Arabic music level with their originality and genuine passion for songs.

WEEK 1: Rim Banna (Palestine) & Nabyla Maan (Morocco)
WEEK 2: Souad Massi (Algeria) & Nancy Ajaj (Sudan) & AlSarah & The Nubatones (Sudan)
WEEK 3: ??? & ???
WEEK 4: ??? & ???
Week 5: ??? & ???
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Souad Massi (سعاد ماسي), born August 23, 1972, is an Algerian Berber singer, songwriter and guitarist. She began her career performing in the Kabyle political rock band Atakor, before leaving the country following a series of death threats. In 1999, Massi performed at the Femmes d'Algerie concert in Paris, which led to a recording contract with Island Records.

Massi's music, which prominently features the acoustic guitar, displays Western musical style influences such as rock, country or the Portuguese fado but sometimes incorporates oriental musical influences and oriental instruments like the oud as well as African musical stylings. Massi sings in Classical Arabic, Algerian Arabic, French, occasionally in English, and in the Berber language, Kabyle, often employing more than one language in the same song.

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