Emel Mathlouthi

Emel Mathlouthi (Arabic: آمال المثلوثي; born 11 January 1982), also known professionally as Emel, is a Tunisian-American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger and producer. She rose to fame with her protest song "Kelmti Horra" ("My Word is Free"), which became an anthem for the Tunisian revolution and the Arab Spring. Her first studio album, also titled Kelmti Horra, was released worldwide in 2012 to critical acclaim: she combined Arab roots with western influence. Her second album, Ensen, was released in 2017, blending electronica with classical music. On Everywhere We Looked Was Burning in 2019, she sang all the lyrics in English. In 2020, the video of her song "Holm" ("A Dream") that she sings in Tunisian Arabic had been viewed several million times within a few months. "Holm" was included in the double album The Tunis Diaries which she recorded with just a voice, an acoustic guitar as the sole instrument and a laptop. Holm is an Arabic remake of the Iranian song "Soltane Ghalbhaa" with music composed by Anoushiravan Rohani and original lyrics by Emel Mathlouthi. She has also collaborated with other musicians such as Tricky, Valgeir Sigurðsson, Steve Moore and Vitalic. Emel Mathlouthi began her career in singing and acting at the age of eight in a suburb of her hometown Tunis. She wrote her first song at the age of 10. Encouraged by her entourage and inspired by the popular pop singers of the 1990s, she discovered her strong vocal abilities at 15. A little later, she found an interest in heavy metal and Gothic music, and formed her first metal band at a Tunisian university when she was 19. A few years later, moved by the voice and ideas of Joan Baez after her bandmate played "The Boxer" for her, Mathlouthi quit the band and began writing political songs, discovering her frustration by the lack of opportunities and the apathy of her compatriots, such as "Ya Tounes Ya Meskina" ("Poor Tunisia"). In 2006 she was a finalist in the Prix RMC Moyen-Orient Musique competition. She decided to move to Paris, France, in 2008 when the Tunisian government banned her songs from radio and TV. Although banned from Tunisian airwaves, bootlegs of her live performances in France circulated on the internet in Tunisia. After the death of Mohamed Bouazizi she dedicated an Arabic version of the Joan Baez song "Here's To You" to him.