FEATURE: Spotlight: Revisited: Lana Lubany

FEATURE:

Spotlight: Revisited

Lana Lubany

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HERE is a remarkable…

human who is Palestinian-American artist blending Middle Eastern influences with Western sounds. Lana Lubany is someone I have been a fan of for years now. I spotlighted her back in 2022. A lot has happened since then. I am going to bring in a few interviews that have happened since then. It is a terrible time for so many of us but, for someone who has Palestinian heritage and is seeing genocide is Gaza and has connections to the country and people, it must be especially heartbreaking, angering and raw. We need to herald and highlight more artists who bring in sounds of Palestine and sing in Arabic. Whilst the news focuses on Israelis, their struggle and how they are benefiting from a ceasefire, there is very little about those in Gaza. The news speaking about Hamas post-ceasefire and them not disarming. Ignoring the fact that Israeli forces have killed Palestinians since the ceasefire deal. There is this huge bias towards Israel. Very little is being done to reverse this. I want to start out with this feature. An interview with Lana Lubany. She spoke about embracing her heritage, bilingual pop and the richness and importance of Palestinian culture:

“Your music seamlessly blends English and Arabic sounds, creating a unique fusion that reflects your Palestinian-American heritage. How did you decide to integrate both languages into your songs? And what significance does this bilingual approach have for you?

My mom has always encouraged me to sing in English and Arabic because of my Palestinian heritage. My grandmother, who’s American and from New Jersey, also greatly impacted me, blending different cultural experiences into my life.

For the longest time, I didn't want to sing in Arabic. I didn't think it was something I wanted to do, and I felt like I couldn't be successful singing in Arabic - especially in the Western world, where there were no examples to follow. But a few years ago, I hit a breaking point. I had been trying to find my thing for so long and nothing worked. Then a friend told me about someone looking for a girl who could sing in both languages.

I had to talk myself into it because I didn't think I could, but I wrote my first English-Arabic song, and to my surprise, I ended up liking it. There was something special about it. That experience led me to a path of accepting my identity and discovering who I am. I had to go through the tough times of not being true to myself and watering down my personality and cultural identity, but now I'm so glad I did because it led me to embrace who I am fully. Singing in both languages and doing whatever the fuck I want in my music feels incredibly powerful.

PHOTO CREDIT: Chloe Sheppard

It’s so powerful! Growing up with Arab heritage, I had never heard of or seen that. To see that happening now in the Western world is so incredible. I wish I had that as a little girl. It would have changed my thoughts on myself and music in general. It's incredible what you're doing. As a third culture kid, how do you navigate the duality of your heritage and influences in your music so well. How do you balance these two worlds creatively? And what unique perspectives do you bring to your work?

I find it really enjoyable to be creative in a way that hasn't been done before. It's like working on a blank canvas and I love being in the flow of constantly creating. It's surprising how two seemingly unrelated things can end up meshing together. Authenticity is the key. I will never do something that feels gimmicky or inauthentic to who I am, even if it's related to Arab culture or anything else. I stay true to myself while being open to experimenting and not afraid to be different. I want to do more than just follow trends – I want to do my own thing and create meaningful art.

Representing your homeland through your music is a powerful form of storytelling. How do you approach this responsibility, and what messages or narratives do you hope to convey about Palestine through your songs?

I want to show people what we're really like, the true face of us Palestinians, because we have a beautiful culture and we're such generous, giving people. Everything you see about us in the media is very harmful and sad. My role is very specific to me and to my experiences. There isn't a representation for everyone right now out there in the world. It's really important to me to make people feel they don't have to water down their personalities and backgrounds to fit in. You should be proud of where you're from.

I did that at the start of my career, which I feel sad about now.

I can understand, you felt like you wanted to fit in.

You've been a pioneer in representing your culture through your art; what challenges have you faced in this role? And how important is it for you to speak up?

I feel like you don't know someone entirely online. You can't. It's just impossible. And a lot of people are very judgy. They misjudge you based on one thing that you've said or not said, and they don't think about the whole story. Because the internet is so polarising, I've had difficulty navigating social media, especially in the past year.

Not just that, the political situation has been very difficult for me. I had to step back from social media because I didn't know how to navigate it. But now I know that people are going to judge no matter what.

It's important, especially as a Palestinian artist, for you to protect yourself and your mental health. Have you spoken about the adversity and racism you experienced growing up? If you could go back, what advice would you give your younger self to navigate those challenges?

If I could go back, I would tell my younger self so many things. Being Arab is fucking cool. It's the coolest thing in the world, and you should embrace it. Because I think everybody's hating us because they ain't us. Do you know what I mean?

When I look back now as an Arab woman, I didn't even realise how much pop culture is influenced by our music - like Timbaland. All these artists used our beats and our movements. I looked at it through that lens and was like, ‘Oh, my God, we were there all along.’ People were so into our culture. If I had that perspective back then, things would have been different.

I would tell my younger self not to listen to the narrative that's been so loud in the media for the past years. Because it's all storytelling. I've learned so much about how the media can change the narrative, even if they're lying, which is crazy and scary.

I would tell her to accept herself, which is harder said than done. It’s much cooler to be unique and individual and yourself. It's so corny, but it's so true.

I am going to come to some coverage and interviews from this year. However, last year was one where Lana Lubany was on the radar of a selection of music websites. Her YAFA E.P. was released last Hallowe’en. This year has seen her release extraordinary singles, KHALAS and 73T. It is the fact Lana Lubany strives to incorporate, represent and highlight her Palestinian heritage in her work that is a huge reason to be drawn to her. So few artists who sing in Arabic are talked about. It is perhaps more important now than ever that this language and the voices of these artists is discussed. Last September, ahead of her appearance at Germany’s Reeperbahn Festival, Lubany was interviewed by DIY:

“When it comes to discovering music’s most exciting artists, there’s no better place to do it than Hamburg’s Reeperbahn Festival later this month. As ever, the city will be transformed into Europe’s premier new music hub, with performances coming from some of the buzziest breakthrough acts about – including Lambrini Girls, Soft Launch, Wasia Project, Moonchild Sanelly and more – as well as some more familiar faces for good measure (Swim Deep, Kate Nash, The Lemon Twigs, Rachel Chinouriri, we’re looking at you…).

You’ve had a busy year so far, releasing a handful of singles; how did you want to move forward after the release of ‘THE HOLY LAND’ - did you have a plan of where to go next, or was it much more reactive?

I definitely had a plan post ‘THL’, but it had to shift due to the unforeseeable circumstances back home that were out of my control. I was experimenting with my sound with the releases that I had lined up, and I almost wanted to surprise people with the versatility I know I’m capable of, whilst also staying quite reactive to what fans wanted and keeping them in the loop.

We can only imagine that it’s been incredibly difficult this year to be away from your family and home. You mentioned that ‘make it better’, which came out earlier in the year, stemmed from those feelings; without meaning to pry, can you tell us a little more about how challenging it been to stay creative as a Palestinian-American artist in recent months?

This past year has been beyond difficult. The world was and is burning, inside and out. The basic concepts of humanity have shattered, and this has changed the face of normality. As creative as I always am, there seemed to be no room for art when basic survival was being fought for. I had to take a break to process everything and to give humanity priority, and when I was finally ready and able, I started expressing my emotions and frustration through my art. Everything I wrote this year has my pain and experiences as a Palestinian burned into it.

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Can you tell us a little more about your most recent track ‘PRAYERS’, and what the inspiration was behind it? It has you singing in both English and Arabic - why was it important to explore both languages here?

I wrote ‘PRAYERS’ during a time of desperation as everything fell apart around me, and to advocate for relief of all the pain that’s being inflicted. As a powerless being on this earth, I turned to a higher power to try and understand how this can be happening.

Adding Arabic to my songs is something I’ve been exploring and loving for the past couple of years, and it’s proved to be an important part in me showcasing my full identity truthfully, but during these times it’s felt even more important to me. I feel like my story as a Palestinian, born in her place of origin as a minority, is underrepresented and should be heard, and language is one of the ways I can tell that story.

Is this new material leading to a bigger project? If so, are you able to tell us a little bit about that?

I’m always thinking of the bigger picture when I write, and this new material is definitely building up to something… I’m not gonna reveal too much, but the project incorporates pieces of me and my story, and the role family and home have played in my life. The name of the project is highly personal to me as well! I’m very proud of it”.

It is clear that Lana Lubany has paved the way and changed the game for Arabic-speaking artists in the West. There is now more representation than ever, so Lubany should be hailed for that. However, I still think that the media and music industry needs to do their part more. Show why it is so important that there is more awareness of Arabic-speaking artists and why that is so important. In terms of their stories being told, now is a time in history that they need to be heard and never forgotten. Going back to DIY and their interview from this January. Including Lana Lubany in their Class of 2025, they commended Lubany’s world-building and ensuring that more Arabic voices are heard. Lubany revealed how she wants to let the whole world in. How, also, that she would be releasing a bunch of songs that would hopefully be included on an album. I hope that we hear an album from this remarkable talent next year:

“With Lubany leading the way, it feels like there’s no shortage of Arabic artists finding global stardom right now. Having opened for her friend and viral rapper Saint Levant for a run of sold out shows across Europe earlier in the year, does she feel like the narrative is beginning to shift? “I think there’s definitely a lot more people out there providing people like me representation,” she says. “That part of the world is being explored more through the arts and that’s so cool; suddenly there’s exciting things coming out of the Middle East and its diaspora. I don’t know where it’s going to head but I know it’s going to go far and it’s an honour to be a part of it.”

She also attributes parallels to breakthrough artists in Western culture, with a standout 2024 moment coming when she supported The Last Dinner Party earlier in the year. “I learned so much through watching them perform every night, they’re very inspiring to watch. I love artists who build worlds and it was so fun performing on those big stages to a lot of people who didn’t know me necessarily.”

Having spent so much time on the road this year, Lubany has been able to see the impact her music has had on the Arab diaspora first hand. “I’ve had people come up to me and say that, because of my music, they feel proud to be Arab now,” she muses. “I think that was so beautiful and such a privilege. “I’ve had so many people tell me that they want to learn Arabic through it as well which is really special.”

Given the weight of the ongoing crisis in her home nation, it’s understandable that the shockwaves coming from the Middle East initially brought about a creative pause at the start of the year. “I took a little break; I kind of got a little shaken up by everything going on so I wasn’t able to create in the way that I normally could and I wasn’t able to focus,” Lana says. But after some time for reflection, the musician realised that her art is a form of defiance. “I realise now it’s more important than ever to focus on art and to be telling my story,” she nods. “That’s my way of communicating and that’s my purpose.”

There’s a resulting sense of pride and freedom in her latest EP ‘YAFA’: a love letter to home and her Palestinian culture. The EP is a beacon of hope, celebrating the real Palestine and its people. “It’s important to tell the stories of the things that I’ve seen,” she says. “I love the culture, the people, and I want to bring that representation through. I think you do have to tell real stories of people because we’re not numbers. In the news we’re not humanised and art can really humanise people.”

The most direct way Lubany tells those stories is by leaning into her own family heritage. On ‘YAFA’’s meditative and otherworldly title track, she samples an emotive recording of her own late grandmother discussing her home as a dramatic synth swells around it. “It was really important to me to tell her story within mine because obviously they’re very interlinked,” she smiles. “Family is such an important part of my artistry and my life.”

The release also broaches the struggle around her identity. On the haunting and dramatic ballad ‘I WISH I WAS NORMAL’, one of the very few lines in English yearns, “I wish I was born without something to say”. She says the line came from a particularly difficult time. “I was just wishing I was making songs about normal topics like boys or something,” she explains. “I ended up writing that song which is very vulnerable. It definitely helped me through the healing process that I was going through back then”.

In July, The New Arab spoke with Lana Lubany. They spoke with he about navigating the industry and her career after gaining popularity through TikTok. They also asked about her 2024 E.P., YAFA, and its incredible and powerful title track. If you have not discovered this artist, then make sure the supreme Lana Lubany is on your radar:

“Then there’s the title track, YAFA, which Lana describes as a way of preserving memories, particularly those of her grandmother, who was from Yafa, a city that, like many other Palestinian cities, came under Israeli occupation after the 1948 Nakba.

She shares, “The woman speaking in the song is my grandmother, my teta, from my dad's side. She would always visit us when we lived in Yafa, telling us stories about their grand home. They had a grand piano shipped from Europe, and they would host gatherings where they sang and played together. I was young when she told me these stories, so I wasn’t fully aware, but I remember them clearly.”

YAFA, named after Lana's hometown, incorporates elements of her upbringing and experiences that have shaped who she is today

In sharing this, Lana reveals that the idea for YAFA came to her when she discovered a video of her grandmother telling those very stories.

“I had already created the song when I found that video, and everything just clicked. Her story and mine connected so naturally, it felt like the perfect way to preserve a memory that needed to be shared. It's my love letter to the places that raised me — two places, both of which had an impact on who I am and who I’ve become.”

As for the YAFA visualiser, Lana describes the setting as both simple and powerful: “I’m in a room covered in red material, and the imagery symbolises so much. Everything is covered, with memories scattered on top. There’s a TV that stays off until my grandmother’s story starts, like a news flash interrupting the moment. It’s a video of her," she says.

"Watching the video makes me emotional because it’s so simple, but so powerful. It’s just an older woman sharing her life, and even after all those years, she still remembers where she comes from. And that, to me, is so powerful”.

I have so much respect and love for Lana Lubany. I hope to interview her at some point. I feel next year is going to be her most important yet. For that reason, I was keen to revisit her work. I am going to end there. Go and follow Lana Lubany. Truly, one of the most essential artists in music right now, she is also someone who has helped bring Arabic-speaking music more to the forefront. Her own path is looking bright! I can see her headlining festivals and releasing a string of albums. If you do not know about this American-Palestinian queen, then go and ensure that you…