Mesut Kurtis (; ) is a Turkish-Macedonian singer who is represented by and signed to Awakening Records. He has released four albums namely "Salawat", "Beloved", "Tabassam", and "Balaghal Ula" and one mini album namely "Azeem Al-Shan".

Background and education

Kurtis was born in

Skopje Skopje ( , ; ; , sq-definite, Shkupi) is the capital and largest city of North Macedonia. It lies in the northern part of the country, in the Skopje Basin, Skopje Valley along the Vardar River, and is the political, economic, and cultura ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

to Turkish parents. He studied at the College of Skopje and came to the UK at a young age to pursue his studies. He graduated with a degree in Human Sciences,

Islamic Law Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, intan ...

and

Jurisprudence Jurisprudence, also known as theory of law or philosophy of law, is the examination in a general perspective of what law is and what it ought to be. It investigates issues such as the definition of law; legal validity; legal norms and values ...

from the European Institute of Human Sciences,

University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...

. Kurtis comes from a scholarly and religious family. His father and grandfather were fluent in

Classical Arabic Classical Arabic or Quranic Arabic () is the standardized literary form of Arabic used from the 7th century and throughout the Middle Ages, most notably in Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid literary texts such as poetry, e ...

Career

Kurtis showed a strong interest in Islamic nasheeds from a very young age. He joined several nasheed groups in Macedonia that performed local and also made several international visits including performances in Turkey and neighbouring places. His music is influenced by

Sufi Sufism ( or ) is a mysticism, mystic body of religious practice found within Islam which is characterized by a focus on Islamic Tazkiyah, purification, spirituality, ritualism, and Asceticism#Islam, asceticism. Practitioners of Sufism are r ...

, Turkish classical,

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and European styles. In May 2004, his debut album ''Salawat'', produced by Awakening Records, was released and featured songs that combine Arabic, Turkish and English. It was well received by Muslim listeners around the world after his first music video "Al‐Burdah" which was filmed on location in the islands off the coast of Turkey. In June 2009, his second album ''Beloved'' was released. On 7 July 2014, his third album ''Tabassam'' was released. Kurtis sings in Arabic, English, Macedonian and Turkish. He is also fluent in five languages.

Philanthropy

* On 14 April 2012, Kurtis took part in "Send A Little Hope" charity concert organised by Awakening Records and Save An Orphan organization at London's

Hammersmith Apollo The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly and still commonly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Pa ...

with Hamza Namira, Irfan Makki, Maher Zain and

Raef Raef is a male given name. Arabic Raif, Raif, Raaif or Raef (Arabic: رَائِف ''rā’if'') is an Arabic male given name meaning "kind, compassionate, affectionate, benign" or "sympathetic, merciful". The name comes from the Arabic verb ''ra� ...

to raise awareness and collect donations. Over £175,000 were pledged on the night. * On 21 April 2012, Kurtis performed at University City Hall by Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services in collaboration with the

American University of Sharjah The American University of Sharjah (AUS; Arabic: الجامعة الأميركية في الشارقة) is a private university in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. It was founded in 1997 by Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, Supreme Council Member a ...

with Maher Zain in the charity concert aiming at introducing youth to disability issues and emphasising the importance of voluntarily work. * Kurtis took part in "Sound of Light 2014" tour organized by Awakening Records and Human Appeal International in France and UK to collect fund for Gaza. A concert in Bradford, England raised £520,000.

Discography

Albums

Mini album

Videography

*2019: "Balaghal Ula" *2014: "Aşkınla Yansın Özüm" *2014: "Rouhi Fidak" *2012: "Sevgili" *2009: "Beloved" *2007: " Burdah" *2022: "Hasbi Rabbi" *2022: "Burdah" Remake *2023: "Ya Habibi Ya Muhammad" ft. Malek Noor

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kurtis, Mesut Living people 1981 births Macedonian expatriates in England Macedonian people of Turkish descent Macedonian Muslims 21st-century Macedonian male singers Turkish-language singers 21st-century British male singers Macedonian-language singers Performers of Islamic music Musicians from Skopje Alumni of the University of Wales, Lampeter Awakening Music artists Turkish Muslims Singers who perform in Classical Arabic