How Rita Malek is fusing Arabic heritage with global music to create a unique sound

Rita Malek was always surrounded by music growing up.

From her dad performing as a DJ to her mum singing in the choir, it didn't take long for a then four-year-old Rita to follow in their footsteps after her mum discovered her playing tunes on the piano without any lessons. 

After studying music at university and spending years working on her sounds, the Lebanese-Syrian artist is now hoping to make an impact with her debut EP Habba, which was released in June. Produced by Sleiman Damien, the five-track project glides between amapiano rhythms, Afro-inflected grooves, Arabic pop sensibilities, and delicate traces of Bedouin melodies.

"After all these years of trying, I just hope it reaches the maximum number of listeners out there and allows them to relate to the music I’m making," Rita shares with The New Arab. 

Borrowed from Kuwaiti slang, Habba refers to a passing wave, a fleeting fixation, a momentary obsession — fitting for an EP that is described as resisting categorisation and thriving on momentum.

"My entire focus on this album was to try and have my soul and identity within the music, but also to try and flow into the trend of what's happening right now," Rita says. 

The singer decided to take a "different path" with her EP, making it the first song she's worked on to be fully Arabic, despite being more comfortable expressing herself in English.

With a self-taught, tactile approach to music-making, Rita shares that growing up, she listened to Fairouz and Sabah at home, but also drew inspiration from Western singers like Britney Spears and Taylor Swift. She explains how she wanted to incorporate the best of both worlds of Arabic and Western music to reflect her identity.

"I was trying to include Arabic elements with Western elements, because that's basically who I am," Rita explains.

"We all listen to Western music, right? So, when you incorporate someone's culture into it, it feels different."

Rita says she never sticks to one genre of music, though, and loves to "fusionise" different genres together, which can be seen in Habba. 

"I don't even listen to one genre," she shares. "My playlist is very random, super-duper random, and I think that's how I write as well. I don't want to stick to one genre, it feels boring to me in a way."

She continues, "There's so much to explore, so that's why I love mixing up genres, 'fusionising' genres together, trying new genres, each one requires a different technique, a different sort of composition to it."

While Rita is enjoying her release, it did not come with ease. She spent two years working on her EP, juggling the hectic work life of a 9-to-5 banking career during the day, and then sitting in the studio at night, hoping to make music her main career.

The singer also admits it has not been easy, still trying to figure out her artist identity, struggling to "settle" anywhere, but the singer says it is becoming clearer on which path to take and how to lead herself to it.

"It's been a lifelong journey, it wasn't easy, there were a lot of ups and downs," Rita tells The New Arab.

"There's a lot of practising, there's a lot of trial and error, you need to just stay up to date."

Reflecting on her music, Rita says the songs she produces are an echo of her. "My music is a piece of me. I don't know if people really think about it, but deep down, every time we want to release a song, it's just like' here you go, this is me'."

She adds, "It's very raw, it's the raw version of me, whether it's emotions, the words, the expression, it's a piece of me, so it means everything to me. My music means everything."

Rita also thinks it's a common thing among musicians — giving something that affects everything in your body.

"Sound vibrations themselves affect our body as a whole, so imagine when something has so much soul and heart into it and you're just giving it out there," she explains. 

The singer says she would love for people to remember her music for whatever reason, but just for them to relate to it in any way possible.

"Whether it's in a sad way, in a happy way, in a joyful way, I would just love people to relate to that piece of art, or that soul that I would put out there and hold it dear to them," Rita says.

"We have some songs that are dear to us, and they sort of lift us and uplift us in a way or sort of calm, whatever storm that we're going through, music has that effect," she adds. 

"I hope I would be able to do that to other people the way other songs and music affect me."

Anam Alam is a staff writer at The New Arab. She frequently writes about human rights and social issues, including women's rights and sex education

Follow her on X: @itsanamalam