Shaneera
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''Shaneera'' is an
extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.
by
Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the no ...
musician
Fatima Al Qadiri Fatima Al Qadiri ( ar, فاطمة القديري; born July 1981) is a Senegalese-born Kuwaiti musician and conceptual artist. Biography Fatima Al Qadiri is the daughter of Mohammed Al Qadiri, a former Kuwaiti diplomat and writer, and Thuraya ...
, released on 13 October 2017 via the label
Hyperdub __NOTOC__ Hyperdub is a British, London-based electronic music record label and former webzine, founded by Steve Goodman, a.k.a. Kode9. The label was formed in 2004, and grew out of the UK's early dubstep scene. Artists signed to the label hav ...
. Marking Qadiri's move towards more dance-orientated material, ''Shaneera'' is conceptually about an "evil queen" that defies "binary status quo gender roles," a character that Qadiri appears as on the EP's cover art. Many
critics A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governme ...
found ''Shaneera'' much better than Qadiri's previous records for its playful use of its concept.


History

Qadiri stated in an interview that, since she was a child, she was "rebelling" against Kuwait's "binary status quo gender roles" that she claims to have always been "shoved down eople'sthroat by society. As she explained, "I go backwards and forwards with it, and especially in the music industry, I'm very aware of the role of gender and the need to be sexy, the need to sell a sexualized persona." The concept of making an album about a "gender-defying person" was formed by Qadiri in November 2016 while she was in Kuwait. That same month, she met some
non-binary Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typicall ...
people at a party who would later become friends with her and make vocal contributions to ''Shaneera''. For safety reasons, most of the featured acts are credited on the EP under fake pseudonyms, including Bobo Secret, a worker in finance, Lama3an, a Kuwaiti/Iraqi architect, and Nayglow. The only featured artist credited under his real name is Khalid al Gharaballi, also known by his stage name as Chaltham. Describing ''Shaneera'' as her most "anxiety-ridden" release, Qadiri stated: "I actually had to censor parts of the record. Originally, I wanted it to be a lot more obscene, a lot more graphic. Sexually graphic. It's easier to attack things when they're more overt." The artwork for ''Shaneera'' depicts Qadiri as the LP's titular evil queen wearing "extreme makeup," something that she stated was a huge trend in Kuwait media and popular culture in the 2000s. The makeup was done by drag queen makeup artist Arabia Felix, whom Chatham discovered via
Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
. With "Alkahaf" issued as the EP's lead single on 12 September 2017, ''Shaneera'' was released by
Hyperdub __NOTOC__ Hyperdub is a British, London-based electronic music record label and former webzine, founded by Steve Goodman, a.k.a. Kode9. The label was formed in 2004, and grew out of the UK's early dubstep scene. Artists signed to the label hav ...
on 13 October 2017.


Concept and composition

According to the album's official press release, ''Shaneera'' is "somewhere in an undisclosed setting and is a love letter to evil and benevolent queens around the world." The LP's title is an English mispronunciation of shanee’a (شنيعة), an Arabic word that literally translates to “outrageous, nefarious, hideous, major and foul.” In Kuwait, shaneera is a
slang term Slang is vocabulary (words, phrases, and linguistic usages) of an informal register, common in spoken conversation but avoided in formal writing. It also sometimes refers to the language generally exclusive to the members of particular in-gr ...
to describe a very intelligent and dangerous “evil queen," and many of Qadiri's
non-binary Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typicall ...
friends who lived in Kuwait used the term.Renshaw, David (12 October 2017)
"Fatima Al Qadiri’s new EP is a love letter to Arab queer icons"
''
The Fader ''The Fader'' (stylized as ''FADER'') is a magazine based in New York City that was launched in 1999 by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. It was the first print publication to be released on iTunes. It is o ...
''. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
On the cover art for ''Shaneera'', Qadiri appears as this evil queen. The lyrics are in a combination of various Arabic languages, such as Kuwaiti,
Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...
, and
Iraqi Arabic Mesopotamian Arabic, ( ar, لهجة بلاد ما بين النهرين) also known as Iraqi Arabic ( ar, اللهجة العراقية), or Gilit Mesopotamian Arabic (as opposed to Qeltu Mesopotamian Arabic) is a continuum of mutually intelligi ...
. The press release labeled the lyrical content as "suggestive, imploring, shady and loving." The EP includes an equal amount of improvised vocal recordings and samples of chats and comedy skits that took place on the gay chat site
Grindr Grindr () is a location-based social networking and online dating application targeted towards members of the gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community. It was one of the first geosocial apps for gay men when it launched in March 2009 a ...
. “Spiral,” in particular, includes a snippet of the line “I'm wearing a dancing outfit, and I'm in the bordello," taken from a popular
gay anthem A gay anthem is a popular song that has become widely popular among, or has become identified with, the gay community, although some of these songs have also become anthems for the wider LGBT community. Not all songs labelled as "gay anthems" ...
by Lebanese drag queen entertainer
Bassem Feghali Bassem Feghali ( ar, باسم فغالي) is a Lebanese comedian, singer and drag queen. Career Bassem graduated from " Studio el fan" in 1996 winning a gold medal. He has performed at many shows, festivals and television programs since then. A ...
, "the most famous drag queen in the Arab world" according to Qadiri. ''
The Fader ''The Fader'' (stylized as ''FADER'') is a magazine based in New York City that was launched in 1999 by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. It was the first print publication to be released on iTunes. It is o ...
'' described ''Shaneera'' as a "record that, while certainly a celebration of the shaneeras they know and love, is also a reminder of the oppression they face, and the secrecy and codes LGBTQ people rely on to survive." Musically, ''Shaneera'' combines together Khaleeji music with the
grime Grime may refer to: * Dirt, in the form of black, ingrained dust * Grime (music genre), a genre of music * ''Grime'' (album), a 2001 album by Iniquity * ''Grime'' (video game), a 2021 Metroidvania video game * "Grime", a 2022 song by Dallas Woo ...
and
trap music Trap is a subgenre of hip hop music that originated in the Southern United States during the 1990s. The genre gets its name from the Atlanta slang word "trap", a house used exclusively to sell drugs. Trap music uses synthesized drums and is ch ...
styles present on several of Qadiri's previous records. It is a much more fast-paced and dance-oriented release that her previous works, heavily containing influences of
UK bass UK bass, also called bass music, is club music that emerged in the United Kingdom during the mid-2000s under the influence of diverse genres such as house, grime, dubstep, UK garage, R&B, and UK funky. The term "UK bass" came into use as artist ...
, Qween Beat-style ballroom house, and hard drum sounds a la UK electronic label Her Records.Zhang, Mollie (10 October 2017)
"Fatima Al Qadiri"
''
The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quietu ...
''. Retrieved 14 October 2017.
Bobo Secret sings on most of the EP's tracks, and his vocal performance is a major part of the record's sinister tone, described by ''
Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...
'' reviewer Ben Cardew having "the melodramatic menace of a Disney villain."


Critical reception

Cardew favorably stated that ''Shaneera'' is "packed with melody, drama, and joy," also describing it as "theatrical, intense, and frequently funny, marked by Secret’s vampish, regal projections." He praised Qadiri's production, writing that it has a "furious intensity that amplifies the EP’s drama." He also compared the EP's vocal melodies to her studio album ''
Asiatisch ''Asiatisch'' (German for "Asian")Sandhu, Sukhdev (5 May 2014)"Fatima Al Qadiri: 'Me and my sister played video games as Saddam invaded'". ''The Guardian''. Guardian Media Group. Retrieved 22 September 2017. is the debut full-length studio album o ...
'' (2014), stating that both releases contain "Al Qadiri’s most powerful hooks." Writer Mollie Zhang called ''Shaneera'' a superior release to Qadiri's previous record ''
Brute Brute or The Brute may refer to: People * Brute, a pseudonym of English commercial artist Aidan Hughes (born 1956) * "Brute", nickname of US Marine Corps Lieutenant General Victor H. Krulak (1913–2008) * Brute Bernard, ring name of Canadian ...
'' (2016). She praised Qadiri's direction towards a more dance-infused style, reasoning that while ''Brute'' "felt somewhat tired in how Al Qadiri hammered home her conceptual and political intents behind the record, stifling the music in the process," ''Shaneera'' involved Qadiri having fun with the concept she was working with. Similarly, critic Tom Faber wrote ''Shaneera'' had a "far stronger marriage of idea and execution" than Qadiri's previous releases, reasoning that she "tackles the music with an original approach and a playful ear." The EP placed number four on ''
Time Out New York ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition beca ...
'''s list of the best albums of 2017.


Track listing

The track lengths are derived from the official
Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...
page for ''Shaneera''."HDB110 Shaneera"
Official Fatima Al Qadiri
Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...
. Retrieved 13 October 2017.


Release history


References


External links


Fatima Al Qadiri official website
{{Fatima Al Qadiri 2017 EPs Fatima Al Qadiri albums Khaliji albums Grime music EPs UK bass albums