Soapkills or Soap Kills (in

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 ...

الصابون يقتل read as "As-Saboun Yaqtol") is an

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media *Independent media, media free of influence by government or corporate interests *Indie art, fine arts made by artists independent of commer ...

electro-pop band based in

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

. The group was formed in October 1997 when

Zeid Hamdan Zeid Hamdan is a Lebanese music producer. He was named one of 8 leading lights in Lebanese culture by CNN. He has worked with many leading artists including, Soap Kills, The New Government, Katibe5, Shiftz, Hiba Mansouri, Kanjha Kora, Kazamada ...

and

Yasmine Hamdan Yasmine Hani Hamdan (; born 1976) is a Lebanese singer and songwriter, now based in Paris. Biography Hamdan became known with Soapkills, the duo she founded with Zeid Hamdan (no relation) while she was still living in Beirut, Lebanon. The fir ...

, both born in

Beirut Beirut ( ; ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, just under half of Lebanon's population, which makes it the List of largest cities in the Levant region by populatio ...

in 1976 but not related, decided to explore and combine their interest in classical Arabic song and electronic music.

History

cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

group in Lebanon, Soapkills drew inspiration from both classical Arab music and the new electro scene blossoming in the Middle East. French media have described them as "

Trip hop Trip hop is a musical genre that has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop and electronica with slow tempos and an atmospheric sound. The style emerged as a more experimental music, experimental var ...

à l'orientale" Live - Soap Kills

arte Arte (, , ; ' ('), sometimes stylised in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European Union, European public service Television channel, channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based Europea ...

, 3 June 2003 (in German) The band's name was initially that of a song written by Zeid Hamdan, and according to him referred to the reconstruction of Beirut after the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 150,000 fatalities and led to the exodus of almost one million people from Lebanon. The religious diversity of the ...

: "We thought that at the time, in the context of Beirut being ... you know, reborn, and all the war being wiped clean, we thought, wow, it's shiny and it's awful and it's soap kills. We thought it would be a nice name for a band." The group's sound was initially dominated by a

Roland MC-303 The Roland MC-303 is the first of a series of musical instruments known as a groovebox. It combines a simple sound module with a sequencer to record and store notation, along with controls aimed at encouraging the musician to improvise the music ...

Groovebox A groovebox is a self-contained electronic or digital musical instrument for the production of live, loop-based electronic music with a high degree of user control facilitating improvisation. The term "Groovebox" was originally used by Roland Co ...

, which Zeid Hamdan had acquired to replace musicians after the dissolution of ''Lombrix'', a rock band that he had founded in the mid-1990s with Yasmine Hamdan and others. The band appeared on compilations, and recorded the albums ''Bater'' (2001, for which it was joined by

Rabih Mroué Rabih Mroué (, born 1967) is a Lebanese stage and film actor, playwright, and visual artist. Rooted in theater, his work includes videos and installation art; the latter sometimes incorporates photography, text and sculpture. Biography Born in ...

and

Walid Sadek Walid Sadek (born in Beirut, Lebanon, 1966) is a Lebanese artist and writer. He is a professor at the Department of Fine Arts and Art History of the American University of Beirut, and held its chairmanship from 2017 to date. Life and work Walid Sa ...

playing flute and trumpet) and ''Cheftak'' (2002). In 2005, Soapkills released their last album to date, entitled ''Enta Fen''. The album featured new materials as well as remixes of their previous songs. In 2007, the band was mentioned in ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' as part of "small but artistically significant rock scene" in Beirut.

Solo projects

and

both started working on solo projects. Zeid went on to form a band called The New Government, while Yasmine met with the producer Mirwais. Together, they formed the duo

Y.A.S. Y.A.S. (pronounced "yas") is an electronic music duo, formed in 2007 in Paris, France, and consists of Mirwais Ahmadzaï (keyboard/guitar) and Yasmine Hamdan (vocals). The duo began recording their debut album, '' Arabology'', in 2007. Ahmadzaï ...

The project places Arabic lyrics at the center of electronic beats, and the album '' Arabology'' was released in France in March 2009. Yasmine went on to release her first solo album, entitled ''Ya Nass'', which came out internationally in 2013 on

Crammed Discs Crammed Discs is an independent record label whose output blends world music, rock, pop, and electronica. Based in Brussels, Belgium, Crammed was founded in 1980 by Marc Hollander of Aksak Maboul and has since released around 400 albums and 300 ...

In popular culture

Soapkills were featured in the soundtracks of many feature films in Lebanon including '' A Perfect Day'' (2005) by

Khalil Joreige Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige are Lebanese filmmakers and artists. Their work includes feature and documentary films, video and photographic installations, sculpture, performance lectures and texts. Personal life Joana Hadjithomas ( ...

and

Joana Hadjithomas Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige are Lebanese filmmakers and artists. Their work includes feature and documentary films, video and photographic installations, sculpture, performance lectures and texts. Personal life Joana Hadjithomas ( ...

. One of their songs is the main theme of ''What Shoes'' (2006), a short by

Gregory Buchakjian Gregory Buchakjian (born 1971, in Beirut, Lebanon) is a Lebanese photographer, filmmaker and art historian. He studied at the Paris-Sorbonne University. He is the director of the School of Visual Arts at Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts ALBA a ...

. In 2002, Soapkills collaborated with artist

Lamia Joreige Lamia Joreige (born in Beirut, Lebanon) is a Lebanese visual artist and filmmaker. She received a BFA (Painting, Filmmaking) from Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island. Since the late 1990s, her works have been widely displaye ...

and choreographer

Makram Hamdan Makram () is a coastal town on Kamaran Island in the Red Sea. It is situated in the Al Hudaydah Governorate of Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Sa ...

for the ''Bater Dance Project'' a multimedia installation and performance.

Discography

;Albums *''Bater'' (2001) *''Cheftak'' (2002) *''Enta Fen'' (2005) ;Compilation albums *''The Best of Soapkills'' (2015) ;Extended plays *''Lost'' (1998) *''Live at Circus'' (1999)

References

External links

Official blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soapkills Lebanese pop music groups Electronic music duos Musical groups established in 1998 Male–female musical duos