“Karrouhat is a concept” Basil Al Hadi told us in an interview in 2018. Chances are, you’ve come across the artist on MBC’s Beauty Match, but there’s more to him than his sartorial choices.
While new to the big screen, the artist has been in the game for over 10 years. His career saw its beginnings in 2008 when he formed a band in Amman.
According to him, music was his first love, and that’s something he inherited from his family.
“My family name in Arabic is ‘Al 7adi’.In the old days, ‘al 7adi’, was what they called the person who sung or played music for travellers,” he explained. “My great-great-great grandfather was a ‘7adi’, and that’s why that’s my last name.”
Eventually, he made his way to Dubai, and the Karrouhat we know of today was born. Quickly, he became one of the city’s most sought-after DJs. His profile expanded over the years as he began producing his own tracks, modelling and collaborating with major fashion labels.
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From walking at Paris Fashion Week for Casablanca and Les Benjamins, to Cape Town’s fashion night for Mont-Blanc, Karrouhat has done it all. That’s not to mention starring for campaigns for the likes of Cadillac and Burberry, and his recent ELLE Arabia cover.
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With his latest Beauty Match gig, for which he produced a new track, this might just be the beginning for the artist.
Wondering what else Karrouhat has under his belt? This is everything you need to know about him.
He’s a self-taught guitarist
“We didn’t have internet, so I was self-taught, and I wasn’t really playing it right. Especially because I’m left handed, and I had to learn on a right-handed guitar, so until this day I’m still playing it upside down…” he told us in an interview.
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His biggest influences include Ziad Al Rahbany
Growing up in various cities in the Arab world, he is heavily influenced by the 90’s culture and has a love for mixed Arabic genres and artists like Hameed Elshaeri, Ziad Al Rahbany, Firqat Al Ukhwah, Aisha Almartah, and Awad Al Dokhi.
He was one of the first to fuse together Arabic music and reggae
“I think the first reggae song I listened to was Bob Marley’s Buffalo Soldier, and I just got into it. I eventually started finding links between reggae and Arabic music, or like Khaleeji music, so I decided to start making it.”
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‘I love you, wallah’ is his catch phrase
“In 2016, I kind of had this thing—a very big statement I made which was ‘Ana o7eb Asdi9a2i’ which means ‘I love my friends’, and it went viral al hamdoulilah, then I kept saying ‘I love you, wallah’ and I mean it so much. I just wanted people to just say the words.” The line is now printed on his signature tee which is available on his online store.
His latest track Nefsi Aghaneelik is available on Spotify
