Palestinian-Chilean singer and songwriter Elyanna has been on a roll ever since her historic performance at Coachella last year as the first artist to perform a full set in Arabic. Since then, Elyanna has released new music including her latest single “Mama Eh” and just wrapped up her very first headline tour with many sold-out dates including New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Houston and others. “I’m just so grateful. When you’re on tour you build that different connection and bond with your people,” Elyanna shared about seeing the diverse audiences including Palestinian-Americans that have come out to her shows, “I’m just so proud of them because they just make me proud because they really represent me, like how they say I represent them and to me that means the world. That’s why I do music- so I can have people come together and have my culture be proud of who they are, of their roots and to whoever doesn’t know about the culture, I want them to learn about the culture because it’s one of the most beautiful cultures ever and I feel like it was not claimed like it should be so it’s it’s time.” Singing in Arabic and English, the twenty-two year-old singer, songwriter, and performer has channeled her influences of R&B, pop and traditional Arabic music. Elyanna was born and raised in Nazareth and grew up with a love for singing and performing starting at just six-years-old when she would often perform in front of the mirror dressed in her mom’s clothes. The passion for performing and singing continued throughout her schooling and eventually collaborating with her brother, Feras. It took a chance DM to fellow Palestinian Nasri Atweh, the GRAMMY® Award-winning singer, songwriter, and MAGIC! frontman that the then 15-year-old would kick off her journey into the music business. Atweh was impressed by her talent and passion to the point that he introduced her to Lebanese-Canadian star Massari and powerhouse manager, SAL&CO Founder, and Universal Arabic Music C.E.O. Wassim “Sal” Slaiby. Elyanna’s debut album is slated to be released soon and the rising artist mentioned it will represent varying influences from her youth as well as the sounds that resonate with her today. “I feel even my Latin side inspired me a lot in this album and all the Arabic synth coming from Syria,” Elyanna stated, “I got inspired by a lot of things from Algeria and Morocco and it was a very interesting mix of bunch of things that I just loved. I wanted to put them all together because sometimes people try to mix things together and it does not feel right or raw or real. For me, I spent so much time on this album to make sure it’s where it should be and it’s the right sound with the right message.”
Elyanna spoke with B-Sides host Pete Mar during her tour stop in San Francisco about interacting with her fans, living in America, the upcoming debut album and more.
