Natacha Atlas: Great Arabic and African Music

Natacha Atlas was born on March 20, 1964 in Belgium.  This great singer has become very famous due to the fact that her music encompasses North African and Arabic music.  Nevertheless, hip-hop, reggae and drum and bass rhythms are also comprised in her music.  According to her own definition, her music is considered to be “cha'abi moderne”, which corresponds to a new form of the pop music in Egypt.

Determining Natacha Atlas’ parents’ origins has become difficult.  What it is known for sure is that her father is not a Sephardic Jew.  On the other hand, her mother is believed to be and English Muslim, as well as her.  As she grew up in Brussels, a suburb in Morocco, she learned the belly dance and the cha'abi.  Natacha Atlas was the lead singer and a belly dancer of TGU, which is a really eclectic crew.

These days, she is not part of TGU anymore despite they still produce some tracks for her.  In fact, it can be said that almost all of her albums have been produced by TGU.  Even though she got more interested in going back to her roots when she started her solo career, she admits that she loves some modern music, including salsa and reggae.  The fact that several of Natacha’s songs are in French, she has become very popular in that country in particular.  Last year, she participated in the song titled “Just Like A Dream”, which is part of the charity album called Voyces United for UNHCR.  Thus, it is not possible to talk about Arabic and North American fusion music without thinking about Natacha Atlas.