Tribes, clans, pride, history, values and norms. Zaid Hilal was inspired by al-Rashayda tribes who live on top of the mountains near the Dead Sea, to take us on a journey to record this piece accompanied by many other international artists.
Palestinian society in the West Bank and Gaza Strip is characterized by three types of family structures: tribes, clans, and notable families. While all three share similar extended family attributes, behavioral obligations (especially males,) and informal networks and honor-shame cultural systems; they are also quite distinct in their origins and ongoing importance.
Tribes are not as economically or politically involved in Palestine as they are in Syria, Iraq, and Jordan. However, marriage habits and norms still stem strongly from tribal roots.
I have been inspired by Arab al-Rashayda tribes. They live on top of the mountains near the Dead Sea; and use the pentatonic scales mixed with the Arabic Maqams “modes.“ I was astonished at how proud they are and at how they think of their history and social norms. That's the reason behind naming the track “Pride.”
Many artists around the world have joined me on the journey of recording this track. Collaborating with Hussein Zahawy from Erbil (Iraq) has added great value to the track by his amazing talent playing percussions. Our idea was to use the African grooves flavored with the middle eastern grooves so we have a mixture of both worlds since the tribe’s origins descend from Africa. Therefore, we used the groove called “Karachi” which is famous by African Arabic tribes in Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Amazigh; then flipped the groove to be “Laf” which is famous and used in the Middle East.
My name is Zaid Jamal Hilal, a 29 years old Palestinian musician from Bethlehem. My passion for music began at an early age. At the age of 8 I had the chance to join Edward Said National Conservatory of Music to study the oud instrument, and I continued for 4 years with excellent grades. Later on I continued my studies of the oud instrument in the Frederic Chopin Academy of Music in Bethlehem for 2 years. In October 2016, I took the step that I had worked for for a long time. I started my own band with other talented local musicians from my hometown, playing within the Arabic pop-rock music genre. In April 2017 I participated in Ethno Palestine in Nablus, representing my country in a project with around 20 multinational musicians. Between May and December 2017 my own band started touring the country and participating in many festivals (Shepherd Fest, Taybeh Fest, Bethlehem Live Fest, Shafaram Oktoberfest, Lamlama fest, Dandanat fest), playing originally composed music as well as famous covers. In addition to that, during the past four years, I have been able to produce five official singles of my own composition, titled “Fuadi , “Ya Khabar“, “Ya Rakeb Al Mooj”, “Abu Samra, “ Motna” recorded at my own expense. To finance your own productions, with a very limited financial capacity, is at once a source of satisfaction as one of frustration, knowing that the quality of the production to a large extent depends on the amount of money invested.
