Tarab – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Technical and general information from the podcast's RSS feed.

Tarab

The National News

Music

Frequency: 1 episode/9d. Total Eps: 12

Explore the creative worlds of the Middle East’s most compelling musicians through candid, behind-the-scenes conversations that reveal the voices shaping the region’s evolving music scene.

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Apple

Recent rankings

Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.

Apple Podcasts

🇨🇦 Canada - musicInterviews
18/08/2026
#86
🇨🇦 Canada - musicInterviews
17/08/2026
#61
🇨🇦 Canada - musicInterviews
16/08/2026
#41
🇬🇧 Great Britain - musicInterviews
13/08/2026
#82
🇬🇧 Great Britain - musicInterviews
12/08/2026
#43
🇫🇷 France - musicInterviews
13/07/2026
#91
🇫🇷 France - musicInterviews
12/07/2026
#82
🇫🇷 France - musicInterviews
11/07/2026
#60
🇫🇷 France - musicInterviews
10/07/2026
#50
🇫🇷 France - musicInterviews
09/07/2026
#27

Spotify

No recent rankings available

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

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https://open.spotify.com/show/13Uf7RJmS4ObUUzY99NkuH
1 share

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLma0js7FndJcwhZJyygzdE9YaxAXoH4Np
1 share

https://podcasts.apple.com/ae/podcast/tarab/id1833425280
1 share

RSS feed quality and score

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RSS feed quality

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Score global : 58%

Publication history

Monthly episode publishing history over the past years.

Year

Latest published episodes

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Tarab named one of Apple Podcasts’ Best of 2025 in the Middle East

Episode 11

Monday, November 24, 2025 • Duration 01:12

We’re thrilled to share that Tarab was named one of the Best of 2025 by Apple Podcasts in the Middle East.

Hosted by Saeed Saeed from The National News in Abu Dhabi, Tarab dives into the sounds and stories redefining Arab music.

In Season 1, artists from across the region, from classical composers to hip-hop trailblazers, shared what Tarab means to them.

Featured artists in the first season included Yasmeen Hamdan, Le Trio Joubran, Felukah, Sons of Yusuf, Malek Jandali, Lina Makhoul, Adonis, Tania Saleh, Ghaliaa, and Taymoor Marmarchi.

Stay tuned for Season 2 coming soon on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you listen.

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Season finale: Taymoor Marmarchi on breaking silos, building a Grammy moment for the Middle East

Episode 10

Tuesday, October 28, 2025 • Duration 29:48

As we wrap up the first season of Tarab, we look at where the Middle East’s music industry may be heading next.

A Grammy Awards for the Middle East. That’s the vision Taymoor Marmarchi is bringing to life.

As the first executive director of the Mena Recording Academy, Marmarchi is laying the groundwork for an inclusive regional music ecosystem that connects artists, producers and industry figures from across the Arab world and its diaspora.

In this season finale of Tarab, Marmarchi joins host Saeed Saeed to discuss plans for a regional membership network, and, eventually, a full-scale awards ceremony. Inspired by the success of the Latin Grammys, he believes the time is right for the region to unite and showcase its musical excellence on a global stage.

In the episode, Marmarchi talks about the challenges of building infrastructure for a fragmented industry, and the opportunities that lie ahead for young musicians.

He also looks back on his work with Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, and the charity anthem Bokra, and shares why his new role feels like the culmination of a 25-year career spent bridging cultures through music.

Over ten episodes, Tarab has explored the depth and diversity of the Middle East’s evolving sound, from oud virtuosos and hip-hop innovators to indie dreamers and classical composers.

Make sure to listen to all the episodes on Spotify, YouTube and Apple Podcasts. Stay tuned for the next season.

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Yasmine Hamdan on new solo album and the legacy of SoapKills

Season 1 · Episode 1

Tuesday, August 26, 2025 • Duration 33:19

Lebanese singer Yasmine Hamdan remains one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary Arabic music. She forged a trailblazing career with the seminal band SoapKills before going solo, following a path defined by restless energy and a search for new forms of expression.

Her latest album, I Remember I Forget, continues that journey, drawing on themes of memory, exile and distance.

Written and recorded in Paris, Sicily and Beirut, the work is both personal and political, shaped by regional dislocation and the freedoms and costs of life abroad.

In this debut episode of the Tarab podcast, host Saeed Saeed speaks to Hamdan about the making of the album, the legacy of SoapKills and how living outside Lebanon influences her voice and artistic vision.

Tarab is a new weekly podcast that takes listeners inside the Middle East’s music scene through candid conversations with the region's artists. A new episode drops every Tuesday across all podcast platforms.

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Tarab Trailer

Thursday, August 14, 2025 • Duration 01:42

Tarab is a new weekly music podcast hosted by The National’s Saeed Saeed that takes you inside the Middle East’s music scene.

The first season brings you conversations with some of the region’s most captivating voices, from genre-defying performers to industry visionaries.

You’ll hear from artists reshaping Gulf hip-hop, reinventing Arab music, using the piano as a call for peace and bringing jazz, folk and R&B to audiences in the region, all while elevating Arab music on the global stage.

A new episode drops every Tuesday across all podcast platforms.

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How Al Ain shaped Ghalia Chaker's music and her debut album

Episode 9

Tuesday, October 21, 2025 • Duration 28:13

Born in Damascus and raised in the oasis city of Al Ain in the UAE, Ghaliaa Chaker grew up between quiet streets and a house full of instruments. She taught herself production, wrote in English first, then pivoted towards Arabic lyricism, as audiences asked to hear their stories in their own language.

In this episode of Tarab, Chaker joins host Saeed Saeed where she talks about working on her first album that gathers her singer-songwriter roots with new sounds.

Chaker explains how a recent single drew her towards indie rock, how she balances sincerity with experimentation and why she refuses to chase hits that do not feel true.

On her early career days, Chaker talks about how Al Ain’s scenery shaped her as an artist, the open mic sessions that built her confidence, the institutional support she found across the UAE and the social media backlash that followed when her image as a hijabi artist became visible.

Tarab is a weekly podcast taking listeners inside the Middle East’s music scene through conversations with its artists. New episodes drop every Tuesday on all podcast platforms.

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Malek Jandali's vision for Arabic symphonic music and the sound of legacy

Episode 8

Tuesday, October 14, 2025 • Duration 28:45

A classically trained pianist with performances spanning Vienna, Chicago and London, Syrian-American composer Malek Jandali has dedicated his career to preserving and elevating Arabic symphonic music on the global stage.

In this episode of Tarab, host Saeed Saeed sits down with Jandali, whose work bridges western classical tradition and Middle Eastern heritage.

Jandali speaks about the inspiration behind his non-profit Pianos for Peace, a movement that transforms pianos into public artworks before they are donated to schools, hospitals and refugee centres.

Jandali also reflects on art’s duty, which he says goes beyond entertainment, as well as its power to unite, heal and archive culture for generations to come. Jandali shares how he integrates Arab melodies into the classical canon, and composes with a view towards a legacy he hopes will last “for a hundred years after my death”.

Tarab is a weekly podcast taking listeners inside the Middle East’s music scene through conversations with its artists. New episodes drop every Tuesday on all podcast platforms.

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Tania Saleh on language, silence and packing her bags

Episode 7

Tuesday, October 7, 2025 • Duration 28:33

You can only take so much in a suitcase. When Tania Saleh left Beirut in 2022, she packed lightly and started over. Now living in Paris, the Lebanese singer and visual artist has translated that rupture into a new album called Fragile.

It is sparse, introspective and stripped of the social critique for which she's long been known. Instead of grand statements, the songs chart quieter emotional terrain: loneliness, resilience, the small rituals that help her keep going.

On this episode of Tarab, host Saeed Saeed hears from Saleh on exile, silence and what it means to live and create from a suitcase.

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Anthony Khoury on Adonis, Lebanese indie, and music for fun

Episode 6

Tuesday, September 30, 2025 • Duration 21:32

They're known as the Lebanese Coldplay.

Their shows are electrifying, their songs punchy and heartfelt. They've tackled themes from loneliness in the Covid-19 pandemic to heritage and a deep love of land.

On this episode of Tarab, host Saeed Saeed speaks to Anthony Khoury of Adonis, the indie-pop band he established in 2011.

He talks about the band's evolution and the emotional core of their seventh album, a project shaped around solitude, self-reflection and letting go.

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Lina Makoul on Palestine, contentment, and Arabic lyricism

Episode 5

Tuesday, September 23, 2025 • Duration 29:55

How do you write a song about contentment in Arabic pop? Not joy, not heartbreak, not resistance, but stillness. Palestinian singer Lina Makoul has spent years exploring that question

She is part of a growing wave of artists who are reshaping what emotional honesty sounds like in Arabic music, from a songwriting challenge with Palestinian teenagers during the pandemic to her ongoing solo work, she's found ways to turn reflection into rhythm.

Hear her full conversation with host Saeed Saeed on Tarab.

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Ya'koob Al Refaie on Sons of Yusuf and Kuwaiti hip-hop

Episode 4

Tuesday, September 16, 2025 • Duration 26:34

On this week's episode of Tarab, host Saeed Saeed dives into Khaliji hip-hop with Ya'koob Al Refaie, one half of Kuwait's groundbreaking sibling duo, Sons of Yusuf.

Joining The National from Kuwait City, Ya'koob discusses their second album, Granada, a project crafted across continents that draws inspiration from spirituality, Islamic art, and history.

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Tarab – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Tarab – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Spotify1

Youtube1

Apple Podcast1

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Spotify1

Youtube1

Apple Podcast1

Apple Podcasts

Spotify