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Music of United Arab Emirates

Maqam-based art music, Turkish makam and aşık bards, Persian dastgah and radif, Arabic tarab, Sufi zikr, Kurdish dengbêj and Yemeni oud song.

Sung and searched in Arabic. The YouTube button above can run your search in that language.

A brief history

Original music in the UAE

The UAE houses a lively underground music scene consisting mostly of expatriates. Concentrated in Dubai, the majority of local artists play rock and metal music. Some musicians also play alternative styles of music such as ska, punk, house and experimental music. Yassin Alsalman, better known by his stage name Narcy, was born in Dubai in 1982. Canadian singer Karl Wolf lived in Dubai between the ages of three and seventeen, and has since returned to perform in the UAE. Wissam Khodur, better known as the Syrian/Lebanese MC Eslam Jawaad, has been living in the UAE since 2011. In 2017 he appeared onstage with Gorillaz, having previously worked with bandleader Damon Albarn on The Good, the Bad & the Queen. Members of the psychedelic indie band Flamingods lived for a time in the UAE, and founder Kamal Rasool credits Dubai as a pivotal incubator and inspiration behind 2016's third album Majesty. In 2012 the UAE's only chain music retailer, Virgin Megastores, revealed a chart of the best-selling local acts to entertainment magazine Time Out Dubai.

Read the full article: Music of the United Arab Emirates Text under CC BY-SA 4.0

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What United Arab Emirates is listening to in 2026

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Live radio

Radio from United Arab Emirates

Music only, no news or talk. Stations that play the local tradition come first, then the most listened. They play in the corner of the page.

Station directory by Radio Browser Streams come from each station's own server.