Sama' Abdulhadi

An emblematic artist of the Palestinian underground scene, SAMA’ is one of the first DJs and electronic music producers to emerge from the region. Her sound, an original punchy kind of techno, is dry and musical all at once and has quickly made its way across Europe and beyond.

SAMA, meaning ‘sky’ in Arabic, started mixing in 2006 in parties around Ramallah, Palestine. Several years later she started producing her own music and expanding her interest in synthesis in 2010, with a focus on techno, house, and other deeper sub-genres of electronic music.

The artist graduated from the United Kingdom with a BSc in Audio Engineering and Music Production, then moved to Cairo where she worked as a sound designer for film, became a music producer and then instructor. SAMA’ now runs her own Audio Engineering & Sound Design company working across films and documentaries in the Middle East. In 2017, she was selected as a Laureate by the French Institute, and during that time attended a residency at the International City of Arts in Paris. SAMA’ also runs a publishing company called Awyav, representing independent artists from the Arab world.

In late 2018, SAMA’s Boiler Room performance and the associated documentary about the scene in Palestine went viral and more and more people are seeing that music has no boundaries. SAMA’ was recently listed in SheSaid.So’s Alternative Power 100 List, and plays a high-profile set at Ibiza’s World Heritage Site of Dalt Vila for the International Music Summit in late May. She is currently working on a studio album.Read more on Last.fm