Ebaa Monther
Bio
She describes herself as “the mountain girl who raps.” The mountain that is featured in her songs is part of her memory of the folkloric songs through which she connects with her identity and sense of belonging. In doing so, she creates her alternative musical style while also conveying the voices and experiences of women.
Her connection to singing and music began at an early age in Majdal Shams in the Occupied Syrian Golan, where, influenced by her family, she learned the piano and theater performance. With her university studies in theater and performance art, her musical approach shifted toward treating songs as integrated performance pieces.
In 2017, Ebaa put out her first song, “Mansi” (Forgotten), in which she raised questions about her dual Syrian-Palestinian identity in an occupied country. Grappling with the same questions, she followed up with “Lamma Nmoot” (When We Die), where she focused on the questions of travel and borders.
The music of her environment — songs of the orchards, popular folklore, and protest music — remained with her, and she decided to create a musical style in which those songs are recreated with a modern approach. Her song “Cognac,” for example, is a representation of the folkloric song “Min wein abda ya qalbi.” “Ghabeshe” was influenced by the popular uprising that took place in Palestine and the occupied Golan in May of 2021.
Released track Comrade
“Rafiq” is a callback to a popular resistance song and another about love. In “Rafiq” a woman is in the midst of love and war, and the song is a reflection of the artist’s own experience in an occupied homeland, where resistance is coupled with the quest to find a partner in the struggle, not merely against a known enemy, but also in the face of systems of oppression that compound a sense of anger and injustice. As she resists, she seeks out a companion in love and in war.
Despite having words that are overshadowed by sadness, the song is presented with a joyful melody, as if it is a reference to the state of the "Pessoptimist” existing in the Occupied Syrian Golan and Palestine, and to life that leans on the edges of love and war.
Production Team
Composer, Performance: Ebaa Monther
Production, Arrangement: Julmoud
