Dreaming in Two Languages: An Interview with Natacha Atlas

By Ahmed Nassef

Natacha Atlas has been combining Arabic and Western beats with wonderful success since she was part of the groundbreaking UK worldbeat/techno band, Transglobal Underground (TU’s fans obviously span all age groups, since my four-year-old son adores their version of the classic qawal “Ali Mulla,” made ever more beautiful with Natacha’s vocals, from the Rejoice, Rejoice album).

Natacha has continued her collaboration with members of TU in her solo career as well, which now includes her recently released Something Dangerous, her fifth solo album since her debut Diaspora.

I was first taken by her magical rendition of the Muslim call to prayer, the Adhan, in Diaspora, and I’ve been a fan ever since. Her appreciation for the masters of Arabic pop shows through in all her work, especially her 1997 Halim, an album-length tribute to the late Abdel Halim Hafez, unarguably the 20th century’s most popular Arab male singer.

Last month, I caught Natacha once again at New York’s Summerstage in Central Park, in the closing show of the “Vive la World” tour. It can’t get much better than standing in the hot, humid Manhattan summer, watching Natacha Atlas sing and dance the afternoon away, surrounded by several hundred other frenzied fans. It got better only when I looked behind me and noticed this lovely Muslim family—several generations, all in love with the music and the feeling of beauty and gentleness around them.

Then Natacha sings MWU!’s unofficial anthem, Something Dangerous, from her new album:
“Behind closed doors governments run crazy…
time y’all had a wakeup call,
before you find yourself against the wall.
Something dangerous is going on.”

That’s it—she has the most magical voice this side of Umm Kulthum, she’s bringing Arabic music to Europe and North America by creating a synthesis with western beats that still keeps the music real, she belly dances, and she’s politically aware. I’m hooked. And so is Ali, my four-year-old.

Recently, I had a chance to chat with Natacha Atlas about her music, her life, and the difficulties and joys of bridging two worlds.

MWU!: What is the thread that runs through your music?

Natacha Atlas: I think it’s my voice, my oriental style of singing. Whatever I do, even when I am singing a cover, my voice will always bring in an Arabic style, even if it’s just the last line of a song.

MWU!: Which language comes more naturally to you? English, French, or Arabic?

NA: English is the language I grew up with, and it’s the language I am more comfortable talking in. But I am more comfortable singing in Arabic. I am much more comfortable in Arabic now, especially after I went back to live in Egypt for a year.

MWU!: How do you identify yourself?

NA: There will always be two identities living within me: Arabic and European.

When I was very young, I tried to ignore the Arabic side, my father’s side, because I saw it as foreign. But something happened in my late teens. I was at a nightclub in Brussels, and I heard Arabic music, and I knew then that there was something inside me that I wanted to go back to. So I ended up going to the other extreme. But as you mature, you realize that you have both inside you. That’s how God made me.

These days I dream in two languages, and not a day goes by when I don’t end up using Arabic.

MWU!: Growing up in Europe, you started hanging out at clubs and the music scene at an early age. That’s probably not something most Arab girls get to do.

NA: No my parents were not strict at all. But I know it is very hard for so many kids who have strict parents. It’s hard trying to balance both sides. I think what happens is many times similar to what I went through--kids will tend to ignore one side of themselves or the other. And sometimes it does seem like they are worlds apart—that there’s not enough understanding.

MWU!: Over the last few years, you’ve spent more and more time in Egypt and the Arab world. How was that experience like?

NA:I had a great experience. I got a chance to work with a lot of young Egyptian musicians, and I loved living there. I lived in Zamalek, and also rented a flat in Helwan Gardens [working class neighborhood –ed.] for a while. I loved just bringing down a basket with a string from my balcony and getting my baladi eggs that way.

I walked around in a galabeyya and a shawl almost all the time.

The bawwab [doorman in many Cairo buildings] always looked after me. One time, a programmer had come over after 10 at night, and the bawwab told me to be careful because he felt responsible for me since I was a “bint el-balad.”

I always felt so safe—I could go down to buy something at the little shop nearby in the middle of the night in my galabeyya and never felt like I needed to look over my shoulder.

I love it there. There is something happening in Cairo now—there are cool places to hang out, lounges and such, all over.

MWU!: You still haven’t reached the level of popularity in the Arab world that you have in Europe—why do you think that is?

NA: For a long time, a lot of the music coming out of the Arab world had the same rhythm. For ten years, I thought I was listening to the same song. But that’s all changing. I think something’s happening now. I am asked more and more to do things in Arab countries. A lot of times my record company sees more opportunity in Europe, so they usually give that priority, just because that’s a market they understand more.

I did the LBC show “Ya Leil Ya ‘Ein” about a year or so ago, and they want me to do another one.

MWU! What’s the biggest difference between Arab and Western audiences?

NA: In France, I get both. With the Arabs in the audience, I know right away that they understand what I am singing about. The Europeans look fascinated, but I can tell they don’t completely understand. That’s why I decided to put more English in my songs.

MWU!: You’ve commented about some of the rumors that are spread about you--that you don’t know Arabic, because of your Jewish heritage, etc.. How does all that make you feel?

NA: I am a Muslim. With the Jewish thing, it’s one of those things where someone had a grudge against me and wanted to hurt me. My great great grandfather was Jewish, so may be I have 10% or something. But Jews have always been part of Arab society, so it’s not so unusual for someone to find out that they have Jewish blood. At the end of the day, we really are so connected.

As for the Arabic thing, I think it was a European journalist who wrote that about me. I remember getting upset when I saw that. I thought, “Who is he, and what does he really know about me?”

MWU!: You have used a lot of religious imagery and words in your music, even including the Adhan put to music in Diaspora—why?

NA: I love singing the call to prayer. I met a bunch of Palestinian Muslims once who urged me to do the call to prayer at all my shows, but may be I’m not courageous enough to do that yet.

I am very attracted to Sufism, and when I am in Egypt, I have a little radio, and late at night, I always tune it to the Qur’an station and listen to the Qur’an recitation, and I keep it going all night. It always makes me feel safe.

MWU!: What’s next?

NA: I’ll probably go on a quick trip to Egypt in September. Then, after my French tour, I’ll go to Cairo in November to work on the new album. There’s also some talk about doing something with Ricky Martin. Apparently, he’s really gotten into Arabic music from listening to my records. So we’re supposed to set up something. But I’m not sure what direction that will go.

MWU!: I read that you attended the first anti-war demo in the UK back in October, how politically active are you?

NA: Since I am not a politician, I am not so articulate. But I do try to have some political undertones to my music. I went to a few marches before the war, and I remember feeling like I needed to do something. I felt like we needed to wake up, since we’re being fed so many lies by our governments. I kept repeating, “something dangerous is going on,” and that’s how the song came about.

I also did that with [the remake of James Brown’s] “Man’s World.” When I lived in Helwan Gardens in Cairo, I became good friends with this young woman named Mona. And unlike so many of us who have the luxury of doing what we want, someone like her, who comes from a working class background, really can’t. I used to take her with me to places I’d go around Cairo, and my driver would tell me that I shouldn’t be showing her all this because she’ll never be able to do the things I am doing.

She wanted to leave Egypt and come to Europe, but she couldn’t. So one time she told me, “I am happy to know that you can do what you do. I can live through you.”

That’s why I dedicated “Man’s World” to Mona. She and I always keep in touch, and I’m looking forward to seeing her when I’m back in Egypt.

MWU!: What music are you listening to today?

NA: I like Amr Diab’s new album, Allem Albi. I am also listening to Missy Elliot and Nancy Ajram, a young Lebanese singer.

But I also love the classics, like Abdel Halim Hafez—today I was just listening to the Abi Foq al-Shagara soundtrack.

I love Asmahan’s voice, and of course Umm Kulthum, and Fairuz.