Before hitting "play" on Amir Abu's latest single, it might give you the wrong impression. With a title like Balagan ("Chaos"), the first thing that comes to mind is a Middle Eastern upbeat pop song. But a few seconds into it, it turns out to be a ballad by an artist who defines himself as "sensitive." The "chaos" he is singing about is in his own heart.
Abu, a 26-year-old Muslim Arab, was born and raised in Beersheba and attended Jewish schools his entire life. He caught the music bug from his father, who plays the oud.
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After appearing on a musical reality show that ended after only nine episodes, Abu recorded Arabic covers of Hebrew songs, made his own music videos, and put them online. His latest song, Balagan, features the two languages in which he has lived his entire life -- Arabic and Hebrew.
"This is the first song that I wrote together with my musical director, Nofar Makover, and it's really us," he says. "It focuses on chaos of the spirit. Feelings of confusion."
Video: Ron Kedmi
Some call him the "Arab Omar Adam [a popular Israeli artist]."
"It started with a cover I did of Omer Adam's Pa'am BaHayim ["Once in a Lifetime"]. People started to send me all sorts of [social media] stories of Omer was listening to it. He himself put the cover in his own story, and that started to spark interest among people in the industry. I turned out that I did another cover of an Omer song, and then I was interviewed in a few places and the headline was 'the Arab Omer Adam.' First of all, it was a compliment, because Omer is an amazing singer."
Asked what he thinks about the added word "Arab," he said, "In general, I think there's no need to categorize people. I'm here to make music, sing in Hebrew as well as Arabic, because that represents who I am: a Muslim Arab who lives in Beersheba. My Jewish friends never made me feel any different. I spoke Hebrew before I spoke Arabic. Sometimes I think in Hebrew, but I dream in Arabic.
"My parents raised me to think that we were no different from anyone else, and I never felt different. I went to a Jewish school and I never felt discrimination. I think it's a matter of what you project."
