If there was ever any doubt that our region’s soundscape has gone global, the growing number of world tours by Arab artists should settle that debate once and for all. A few days ago, part-Palestinian artist Saint Levant announced
Afandi, a 41-date run taking him across cities in Europe, the Middle East, and the United States in the coming weeks.
But he’s not the only one. Egyptian rapper Wegz announced his own international tour, kicking things off with a performance in Amman on July 17. The Alexandria-born artist will then head to New York on Sept. 11, Washington, D.C. the following day, Dallas on Sept. 20, and Los Angeles on Sept. 26. In October, he’ll make stops in Athens and Istanbul on the ninth and 11th, respectively, before continuing on to Milan, Barcelona, Amsterdam, and Berlin later that month. The exact dates for those shows are still unannounced. The run will conclude with performances in Doha on Nov. 20 and Saudi Arabia, with the city and date for the latter still to be confirmed.
But Saint Levant and Wegz aren’t the only Arab artists clocking air miles this year. Casablanca-born rapper ElGrandeToto is also gearing up to take his music across the globe with a European tour dubbed SALGOAT, named after his project series, the second installment of which was released earlier this year. Kicking off in Madrid on Nov. 2, the run will continue through Barcelona, Zurich, Milan, Luxembourg, Frankfurt, Berlin, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Hamburg, and London before culminating at Paris’ Accor Arena on Nov. 27.
Fellow Moroccan MC Stormy will also be hitting the road, embarking on a European tour in support of his latest album,
Desperado. Spanning 10 cities, the run will kick off in Brussels on Oct. 6 before making stops in Geneva, Paris, Stockholm, Milan, London, Madrid, Barcelona, Frankfurt, and Amsterdam, where it will wrap up on Nov. 3.
In an era where borders and visas still make traveling harder than it should be, these tours feel all the more special. So if you can’t go see these artists where they are, make sure you catch them when they come to you.