Vocalist, daf player and experimentalist Dina El Wedidi was born on October 1, 1987 in Giza, Egypt.
She performed traditional Egyptian folk music with the Warsha Theater Troupe and Habaybena band. Grounded in these roots, she produces music that is familiar and relevant for Egyptians, but at the same time incorporates other musical forms. Her participation in these projects unavoidably led her to write her own music, and in 2011, she took the essential next step in her career and formed her own band. From there, her success has soared, not only gaining her stardom in Egypt, but a fan base internationally.
Beginning in 2012, Dina joined The Nile Project. Her experience collaborating with musicians from 11 East African countries introduced her to a larger musical world, and since then she has incorporated elements of these cultures, specifically Ethiopian, into her music. She is featured on the first two Nile Project albums, Aswan (2013) and Jinja (2014).
That same year, she was chosen by Gilberto Gil and the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative as a protégé. In 2014, Dina released her debut album Turning Back (Tedawar W’Tergaa), which she described as New Arab Folk.
On Turning Back, Dina El Wedidi uses the iarghul, a rare reed instrument from Upper Egypt that El Wedidi learned to play.
Over the past years, Dina has followed a very different artistic track, symbolically and literally, drifting from the music that earned her success. Fundamentally, this meant exploring the world of music production to increase her skills outside of singing and songwriting. This route also introduced another new, and even less common instrument to Dina: trains.
Her album Slumber features the collected sounds of railways, train stations, train whistles and rails in Egypt. She processed these sounds electronically, creating a dream-like and beautiful sound landscape around her own voice, at times like a symphony, taking the listener on a journey that passes seven stations. The title “Slumber” refers to her vision of this listening experience as a dream.
The 30-minute voyage is like a short nap crossing seven stations, in which Dina tells hallucinatory stories.
“I believe I have the freedom to talk about anything in my music,” said El Wedidi. “When I want to sing about something, I do. The reality is that ‘the street’ talks about many things, and I’m inspired by the people on the street.”
Discography:
Aswan, with The Nile Project (2013)
Jinja, with The Nile Project (2014)
Turning Back – Tedawar W’Tergaa (Kirkelig Kulturverksted/Valley, 2014)
Slumber (Kirkelig Kulturverksted, 2018)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
