New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Tunisian/American, New York City-based artist, producer, and activist EMEL (Emel Mathlouthi) has announced US and international tour dates through the remainder of the year in support of her recent 100% Woman-Made LP MRA. Tickets are available here. The dates come on the heels of an incredible run of international shows, highlighted in a new tour trailer featuring MRA opener “Massive Will” also shared today. Before hitting the road, she’ll play a free Central Park Summer Stage show on July 24 alongside Arooj Aftab, Sid Sriram, and DJ Rekha. More information is available here.
On MRA, meaning “woman” in Arabic, EMEL deconstructs to rebuild, boldly pressing forward her vision of a female-driven paradigm shift in a world in desperate need of one. That is why every single collaborator on MRA, from producers, featured artists, musicians, and beyond, is a woman — marginalized in recognition, but outsized in ability. With the help of artists such as Camélia Jordana, Nayomi, and Alyona Alyona, the result is a multi-genre meld where African trap, batucada, Arabic reggaeton, hip hop, and drum n’ bass rub shoulders seamlessly with vibrant melodies and empowering lyrics sung in 5 different languages & 3 dialects. Standout tracks include the sweeping, mantra-like “Souty,” the anthemic-trap of “Nar,” and the industrial-gospel “Massive Will,” an aperitif of the revolution to come. EMEL seeks a world of resilience and unity on the powerful, salvific, and feminist MRA.
EMEL’s career is punctuated with eclectic collaborations with iconic artists like Alaïa and Jean-Paul Gaultier on her stage wardrobe and scoring work with Shirin Neshat, Robert Del Naja, and more recently on Assassin’s Creed: Mirage. In 2010, she was named the voice of the Arab Spring when her folk-hymnal “Kelmti Horra (My Word Is Free),” once banned, was resurrected as a protest anthem. She’d later perform the track at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony and concert in Oslo. Two years later, amongst touring all over Europe and the US, EMEL furtively played an underground concert in volatile Baghdad, Iraq, and a highly illegal, all-women performance in Iran, as chronicled in the documentary No Land’s Song. And last summer, she performed for Palestinians — the subject of her track “Naci En Palestine (I Was Born in Palestine)” — in East Jerusalem and the West Bank facing backlash.
“I don’t create things to be consumed,” she says. “I hope it transcends time, transcends boundaries, transcends cultures. Music can change the world.”
North American Tour Dates:
July 24 New York, NY @ Central Park SummerStage*
Sept 8 Berkeley, CA @ Freight & Salvage
Sept 9 Los Angeles, CA @ Lodge Room
Sept 11 Vancouver, CA @ Biltmore Cabaret
Sept 12 Seattle, WA @ Madame Lou’s
Sept 16 Montreal, CA @ Théâtre Rialto
*- w/ Arooj Aftab, Sid Sriram, DJ Rekha
