Wissam Khodur
Vice President, A&R and Acquisitions, PopArabia
Wissam began his career as an accomplished artist, pioneering Hip Hop in Syria and Lebanon, as the regional scene began to take shape beginning in the early nineties. In 2003, he relocated to London, quickly finding himself a niche space by introducing Arabic rap music to the UK.
He founded Arab rap group ARAP with collaborators, Cilvaringz and Salah Edin, and went on to tour with the likes Wu Tang, Gorillaz, The Good The Bad & The Queen, Africa Express and Fun-Da-Mental. Wissam released a solo effort ‘The Mammoth Tusk’ in 2009 with features from Damon Albarn, De La Soul, RZA, GZA, and Focus.
By the early 2000’s Wissam began his executive career, initially as Director of Special Projects at RPEG Ltd. – The company responsible for the single copy album ‘Once Upon A Time In Shaolin’ by Wu Tang Clan; a Guinness record holder as the most valuable album and music NFT. Later he became Executive Director at Quincy Jones’ G3, and by 2019 he was brought on as the Head of Artist & Label Partnerships across the MENA region for Spotify.
Wissam is an American University of Beirut graduate and has lectured on the Gulf entertainment industry at Cambridge University’s Judge Business School. He has also consulted for the region’s key players.
‘I am happy to bring my expertise and energy to PopArabia, and happy to get to learn from the region’s main player in the publishing space. Keep watching, the region is ready, and there’s so much to come.’
