Latifa Bint Alaya El Arfaoui ( ar, لطيفة بنت عليه العرفاوي pronunciation: ; born February 14, 1961), better known as Latifa ( ar, لطيفة), is a Tunisian pop singer and former actress who resides in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

. She is known for her

Egyptian Arabic Egyptian Arabic, locally known as Colloquial Egyptian ( ar, العامية المصرية, ), or simply Masri (also Masry) (), is the most widely spoken vernacular Arabic dialect in Egypt. It is part of the Afro-Asiatic language family, and ...

genre.

Early life

Latifa Bint Alaya El Arfaoui was born in

Manouba Manouba ( ar, منوبة ') is a city in north-eastern Tunisia, and is part the metropolitan area of Tunis, also called "Grand Tunis". It is located at the west of Tunis city center at around . It is the capital city of Manouba Governorate. Mano ...

Tunisia ) , image_map = Tunisia location (orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = Location of Tunisia in northern Africa , image_map2 = , capital = Tunis , largest_city = capital , ...

. In 1983, shortly after her father died, Latifa and her family took a trip to

to rest and mourn. While there, she met composer Baligh Hamdi, who advised her to move to Egypt to benefit her career. However Latifa wanted to concentrate on her education, and returned to Tunisia to finish her high school final exams. For financial reasons, she was unable to return to Egypt, so attended college in Tunisia, studying

Dutch literature Dutch language literature () comprises all writings of literary merit written through the ages in the Dutch language, a language which currently has around 23 million native speakers. Dutch-language literature is the product of the Netherlands, Be ...

for a year and a half. Her family decided to pay for her to go to

, so she quit college in Tunisia and joined the Arab Academy of Music in Egypt, where she completed her

bachelor degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ye ...

. She is preparing for her master's degree. While at the Academy, she was discovered by composer

Mohammed Abdel Wahab ''Mohamed Abdel Wahab'' ( ar, محمد عبد الوهاب), also transliterated ''Mohamed Abd El-Wahhab'' (March 13, 1902 – May 4, 1991), was a prominent 20th-century Egyptian singer, actor, and composer. He is best known for his Romantic ...

, who had heard her on the radio. At the time she was primarily performing long Tarab songs, but soon began a change of direction working with composer

Ammar El Sherei Ammar Ali Mohamed Ibrahim Ali Al Sherei ( ar, عمار علي محمد إبراهيم علي الشريعي) or more commonly known as Ammar El Sherei (16 April 1948 – 7 December 2012) was an Egyptian music icon, performer and composer. Ea ...

and poet Abdulwahab Muhammed, who she met during her first visit to Egypt.

Recording career

Latifa's early albums from 1984 are primarily in an Arab style. The album ''Mesa Al Jamal'' ("Evening Of Beauty") made Latifa Bint Alayah Al Arfaoui famous in Egypt. ''Akthar Min Roohi'' ("More than My Soul") was released in 1986. Latifa began singing Arab pop songs with music by Ammar El Sherei and lyrics by Abdulwahab Muhammed. The album was successful across the

Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

, with shorter songs and the addition of different influences such as

tango music Tango is a style of music in or time that originated among European and African immigrant populations of Argentina and Uruguay (collectively, the " Rioplatenses"). It is traditionally played on a solo guitar, guitar duo, or an ensemble, k ...

. She recorded a music video for the hit single "Ew'ah Tegheer" ("Don't Be Jealous"). The success of this album allowed Latifa to buy half the shares of her producer's company and studio, La Reine. Since then, she has co-produced all of her albums and

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

s. In 1997, Latifa released the album ''Al Ghinwa'' ("The Song"), considered a follow-up to "Akthar Min Roohi" from a previous album. Latifa then began performing a new style of songs called Qasa'ed Fos'ha. Her next album, 1998's ''Taloomoni Al Donya'' ("The World Blames Me"), featured Latifa singing lyrics written by the poet

Nizar Qabbani Nizar Tawfiq Qabbani ( ar, نزار توفيق قباني, , french: Nizar Kabbani; 21 March 1923 – 30 April 1998) was a Syrian diplomat, poet, writer and publisher. He is considered to be Syria's National Poet. His poetic style combines sim ...

. Latifa returned in 1999 with a hit album, known in the Arab world as ''Wadeh'' ("Clear") and internationally as ''Inchallah'' ("God willing"). The album was distributed by

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

France, and was the first album Latifa had performed in a foreign language. The Franco-Arab song "Inchallah" made the ''

Elle Magazine ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

'' top 5. "Inchallah" ("God willing"), "Kerehtak" ("I Hated You") and "Wadeh" ("Clear") were popular singles in the Arab World. The 2002 variety album ''Desert Roses and Arabian Rhythms II'' featured Latifa performing an Arab

Mawwal In Arabic Music, the ''mawwāl'' ( ar, موال; plural: ''mawāwīl'', ) is a traditional and popular Arabic genre of vocal music that is very slow in beat and sentimental in nature, and is characterised by prolonging vowel syllables, emotional ...

in the song "

Take Me I'm Yours "Take Me I'm Yours" is the debut single by English new wave band Squeeze. It established the band's trademark vocal style, with Chris Difford singing an octave lower than Glenn Tilbrook. Background "Take Me I'm Yours" was one of the first ...

," and singing a small part in both Arabic and English with

Chris Difford Christopher Henry Difford (born 4 November 1954) is an English singer, musician, songwriter and record producer. He is a founding member and songwriter of the rock group Squeeze. Musical career Born in Greenwich, London, Difford has written l ...

and

Glenn Tilbrook Glenn Martin Tilbrook (born 31 August 1957) is the lead singer and guitarist of the English band Squeeze, a band formed in the mid-1970s who broke through in the new wave era at the decade's end. He generally wrote the music for Squeeze's son ...

of the band Squeeze. Latifa won the

World Music Award The World Music Awards is an international award show founded in 1989 under the patronage of Albert II, Prince of Monaco and co-founder/executive producer John Martinotti. The event is based in Monte Carlo. Awards are presented to the world' ...

2004 for best selling artist in the Middle East and

North Africa North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

for the album ''Ma Etrohsh Ba'ed'' ("Don't go away"), produced in 2003 by Alam El Phan (Mazzica TV). In 2004, Latifa produced an album distributed by

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

France, ''Les Plus Belles Chansons De Latifa'' ("Latifa's Best Songs"). Although the album was mostly a collection of greatest hits, it also featured a brand-new

Raï Raï (, ; ar, راي, Latn, ar, rāʾy, ), sometimes written rai, is a form of Algerian folk music that dates back to the 1920s. Singers of Raï are called ''cheb'' (Arabic: شاب) (or ''shabab,'' i.e. young) as opposed to ''sheikh'' (Ara ...

song called "Khalleoni" ("Let Me"), her first attempt at

. In November, 2006 Latifa signed another

contract A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tr ...

with Rotana to distribute her records across the Arab World. In February 2016, Latifa released her single "Fresh".

Actress

In 2007 she appeared as herself in the seventh episode of '' Lahazat Harega'', the Arabic version of '' E.R.''.

Discography

Over the course of her career, Latifa has released more than 20 albums and singles, and more than 70

music videos A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

References

External links