The 75 Best Arabic Songs of 2025

2025 was heavy. At times, it felt like a never ending stretch of political turmoil, regional wars, and seismic shifts.

Yet under these hardships, culture endured. Arabic music continued to live through a regional renaissance complemented by a growing global presence. The region’s industry kept leaping to catch up with burgeoning talent, and more artists had the backing they needed to deliver some of their best works.

The sound of 2025 was dominated by autotune-drenched, crooning mediterranean R&B, defined by a balance between A-lister and emerging pop stars, and marked by modern classics that feel destined to live on in the Arabic music canon.

It is a Fadel Chaker year, a Lella Fadda year, a TUL8TE, Saint Levant, Draganov and Lege-Cy year. A year of Moroccan grunge rap, introspective and political lyrics, and regional-diasporic crossovers. A year of softer mahraganat and a breezy wave of indie pop stretching from Saudi to Syria.

Dig into our list of 75 standout releases and cultural milestones that trace different scenes and sounds across the region.

Contributions by: Ahmed Amin, Ammar Manla Hasan, Hesham Badr, Mai Al Mokadem, Sami Bennani, Salma Mousa. Artwork by Amani Yacoub.

75. Men Barra | Kaso

Over the past few years, Kaso has glided his way into the Tunisian mainstream, stepping away from the gangster and hardcore rap that defined his early releases toward radio-ready R&B. “Men Barra,” and more broadly his new EP Mode Avion, marks the completion of that shift and introduces some of his most potent melodic verses yet.

74. Taf Taf | OldyGotTheSound, Anys, Shaw

“Taf Taf” dominated last summer in Moroccan rap, racking up tens of millions of streams with a dotted, dynamic beat and lyrics that read like a numb confession from someone stuck in a cycle they can’t escape. The track’s dead-eyed honesty made it resonate far beyond its catchy hook, capturing a quiet frustration that was already simmering across youth culture.

73. Shar X Kheir | Mousv

Since his 2018 debut mixtape OV, Ismailia rapper Mousv has built one of the most loyal fanbases in Egyptian rap. His sporadic, highly anticipated drops mark yearly peaks for his listeners, and this year “Shar X Kheir” left the deepest imprint. A trappy beat carries reverb-drenched, dark melodic verses, placing mood front and center and echoing the shadows of early deep cuts like “Mhma Tkalemt Lal Sama.”

72. L’7eloufStyle #1 | Khtek, Villain

Khtek’s 2025 output may be sparse, but every drop has been sharp enough to keep her at the front lines of Moroccan rap. Out of the three tracks she released this year, “L’7eloufStyle #1” stands tallest, with Khtek treating the beat like a boxing bag and unloading a stream of punchlines that land with brute precision.

71. London | Billy Tstrk, Al Nather

Billy Tstrk brings back grotesque Levantine rap on his album 7ashara, teaming up with Al Nather for the standout single “London,” which, if played censored, would probably contain no more than three words. The song’s electrifying, charged production trades jolts with its gritty lyrics, creating a festival of unapologetic indulgence.

70. Obsessed | Najm, Zamdane

“Obsessed” stands out from Najm’s EP U like smoke leaking from a hotbox, a hazy late-night cruise held together by distant, ghostly vocals, sporadic melodramatic strings, and a jazz-bar piano, all punctured by sudden bursts of distorted, fuzzy bass.

69. Ha Wlidi | Jaylann

Jaylann’s Moroccan pride anthem “Ha Wlidi” became one of the year’s most ubiquitous hits across the country. The song – a reworked version of a 1972 classic by legendary Moroccan roots-pop band Lamchahab – is driven by large-scale production, airy instrumentation, and stadium-ready vocals compressed and lifted by choirs.

68. Haroun | El Rass

“Haroun” opens like a straightforward rap cut: sharply political, rhythmically tight, with just the right amount of old-school punch. Halfway through, a lo-fi vocal sample signals a shift, dropping the track into classic boom bap territory – slower, denser, more contemplative. Here, El Rass walks through homes and graveyards, makeshift weapons and hovering drones, prophetic sights and holy sites, each line sinking the listener deeper into regional turmoil like a K-trip gone wrong.

67. Eh El Arf Dah | Ziad Zaza

This song is a bit like stumbling on a modern art piece – a red square on a white canvas hung in a museum – and pausing to ask yourself if you’re looking at a meme or a defiant art statement. Pedantic or painfully relatable? Pretentious or quietly genius? Its key phrase, “Eh El Arf Dah (What the shit is this)?”, lands both as lazy and overused, yet also as a Gertrude-Stein-like onion, peeling into new layers every time. “Eh El Arf Dah” is “Eh El Arf Dah” is “Eh El Arf Dah.”

66. Yimken Bokra | Yazeed Fahad

Part of a promising new indie wave in the Gulf, Yazeed Fahad approaches Saudi pop through guitar-led singer-songwriter balladry, striking an unexpected sense of familiarity between soft rock and local aesthetics.

65. Tufan | Nagham Saleh, Sulisizer

Nagham Saleh’s “Tufan” trails a year of political rage and sorrow across the region, using aesthetics as timeless as unrest in the Middle East. It balances shaabi bravado with leftist balladry, and traditional vocal delivery with synth-heavy production, then twists the mix around Sufi and mouled-style loops.


64. Batfy Amr Diab W Ashghl Yeat | Lil Baba

The lead track off Lil Baba’s compact EP Something or Nothing, this slick banger slipped quietly under the 2025 radar. It pairs a metallic rage-trap beat with SoundCloud-rap-core lyrics, merging the two sounds that defined absurdist rap in 2018 and again today.

63. Bismar | Ali Najm

Ali Najm looks at Iraqi music with a sense of infinite possibility. Each release explores a new corner of the genre, and his latest, “Bismar,” draws inspiration from Iraqi laments known as Qawlats, particularly Muswasat Zahraa, bringing a dark sound to a polished stage and pushing it through maximalist, colorful production.

62. Walla 3ad Farigli | The Synaptik, Riff

The Synaptik remains one of the Levant’s strongest contenders to shape a regional R&B variation, having honed an unmatched familiarity with autotuned crooning over the years. “Walla 3ad Farigli” ranks among his best offerings this year, marking a first collaboration with Cairo producer Riff that feels like the opening of a longer conversation. Riff supports The Synaptik with jazzy riffs and peculiar textures that set the track apart in a crowded R&B year.

61. Do You Love Me? سنيورة | Saint Levant, Fares Sokar

There is something undeniably comic about hearing “Do You Love Me?” for the first time. To see mahraganat, one of the hardened genres in the region, suddenly show up dressed to the nines, glittery and polished, invites an inevitable chuckle. Yet it is exactly that light-hearted silliness that keeps you coming back. The song’s bubble-gum charm only grows with each listen, becoming sweeter the more you chew on it.

60. Tfargina | Rahma Riad

Iraqi pop has long been one of Arab pop’s most resistant branches to EDM-leaning production. On “Tfargina,” Rahma Riad tests what happens when that taboo is broken, and the result goes far beyond a simple house-flavored fusion. The contrast between the track’s upbeat electronic pulse and Rahma’s human, modestly mighty delivery creates a satisfying dynamism that feels both new and oddly natural.

59. Kol 7aga Ok | Double Zuksh

This half-mahraganat, half-pop banger throws us back to the days of “Ummi Msafra” – lighthearted Egyptian hip-hop grooves touched by folksy humor and Cairo randomness. “Kol 7aga Ok” lands at a moment when mahraganat is mutating, exciting some listeners and irritating others. But branching out is a necessary checkpoint in any genre’s path to maturity, and Double Zuksh clearly want to stand at the front of this post-mahraganat wave.

58. Khallini, | Tawsen

Tawsen’s Spotify bio is short and sweet: “Tawsen is Tawsen.” The Moroccan-Belgian rapper knows one thing and knows it well, which is to double down on his own sonic brand. His sound sits at the crossroads of Mediterranean R&B and raï, colored by a subtle diasporic touch. “Khallini,” shows how far he has sharpened that signature. The track deepens the emotional weight of his writing and further polishes his sandpaper, warm vocal delivery.

57. Ahwak | Shams

Formerly releasing rap under the moniker Thawra, Syrian vocalist Sham turns to indie pop in her new project, Shams. Late this year she dropped her debut single, “Ahwak,” an ethereal pop record with witty romantic lyrics, vocals as smooth as a chilled glass of rosé, and floating, sunlit synth work from Kubbara.

56. Makan Fi Albak | Marwan Moussa, Donia Wael

The Arab music scene has been so saturated with collaborations lately that it is rare to find two artists who have not crossed paths one way or another. Yet genuine chemistry is much harder to come by. Maro and Donia Wael are among the rare pairs whose work keeps delivering songs that spark joy. On “Makan Fi Albak,” the two set the tone in equal measure, trading verses and gestures like friends in a practice tennis match, easy, comfortable and quietly delightful.

55. Bghit | Smallx, Saib

Far from maximalist production and endless collaborator lists, Smallx carved out a very specific sound for his album Nafida, and production wise, lofi beatmaker Saib was all he needed. The record is sneaky in how easily you can forget it on repeat, never wanting to switch to anything else. Its energy stays consistent and refuses obvious hits or standout singles, yet all seven tracks demand a nod through this window in our list.

54. Doberwoman | Valerieblud, Furelise

From Marwan Moussa to Abyusif, and from El Rass to Draganov, Arabic rap has been turning inward, leaning more on vulnerability than brute force. “Doberwoman” takes the measure of this new, warmer sound that has marked the year, proving that tenderness can be more lethal than muscle.

53. El Gai Beta3i | Houda

Mahraganat once thrived mostly on SoundCloud and YouTube, but watching Houda – and several others this year – stack millions of plays on Spotify signals the genre pushing into new audiences. You can hear that shift in the aesthetics. “El Gai Beta3i” keeps the raw grit, yet carries a certain studio polish and lands softer on the ear, using its addictive hook to spread like wildfire across platforms and listeners.

52. L.V.L 15 | A.L.A

Tunisian rapper A.L.A’s killer year was cut short by his arrest on drug-related charges last July, making “L.V.L 15” his final release of the year. The track finds him locking horns with the powers that be, giving a voice to Tunisia’s disenfranchised and exhausted youth. He closes the hard-hitting number with a stark question: “What’s Tunisia’s worth without me?”

51. Hwwa Da Ba2a | Tamer Hosny, Karim Osama, El Waili

Tamer Hosny took his time before exploring a real rap crossover, but when he finally did it, he did it right. “Hwwa Da Ba2a” doesn’t just bring in a rapper having one of his strongest years, Karim Osama, but also a producer who’s become a household name across Egypt’s rap and indie circuits, El Waili. The result is familiar, fresh, and most importantly – genuinely fun.

50. Bad Days | Wegz

“Bad Days” works for the exact reason some fans claim that it doesn’t: it’s the perfect braggy, hazy, carefree track of the year. Wegz is at a stage where he’s earned the right to flaunt (okay, over-flaunt) his recent success, and on “Bad Days” he does it in style. Backed by ZULI’s jolted production, the song delivers one of the most fun numbers on the list.

49. Sahby Ya Sahby | Bahaa Sultan

Bahaa Sultan has been one of the most consistent fixtures on Egyptian and Arab pop playlists and charts over the past few years, cementing his place by drawing from a bottomless well of hits that modernize the shaabi pop sound and make it far more accessible and much less gritty. The shaabi dose in tracks like “Sahby Ya Sahby” is diluted for safe usage, but it still carries its street DNA, folded quietly into the smallest details.

48. Bono | Marwan Pablo

In a year where rap keeps getting swept into radio-friendly R&B, sticking to the genre’s rhythm-first sound is becoming a rarified move. Marwan Pablo is one of Egypt’s biggest rap names who isn’t tempted to pile on extra melody – and the fans are here for it. Tracks like “Bono” cement that stance with some of the year’s most crafty bars and focused, unshaken delivery.

47. El Malayeen | Mc Mego

Libyan rap has been rapidly catching up to its North African peers in recent years, often using Tunisian rap as a reference point to branch from. Mc Mego’s “El Malayeen” marks a real takeoff away from that influence, playing with club-rap sounds and pop-friendly flows that make the track a natural fit for any North African rap playlist.

46. For Real | Afroto

Afroto has been open about wanting to tighten his musical output, and he’s already releasing music that carries this elevated ambition, stylistic restraint and attention to details. “For Real” starts strong with smooth, fine-tuned crooning that immediately charms, then halfway through Afroto switches gears and delivers his take on the Sayed Darwish / Fairuz classic “El 7elwa Di” – a risky maneuver he pulls off with eyebrow-raising precision.

45. Brrr | Kore, Alonzo, ElGrandeToto

Brazilian and Latin rap influences have washed onto Moroccan, French and Spanish shores more visibly this year than ever. Acoustic-leaning, frenzy-triggering beats and fire-fast flows shaped some of the best rap tracks released between West Africa and Western Europe, including this banger, spearheaded by ElGrandeToto. It races forward with the same heat that traveled across the Atlantic to spark it.

44. Oltelo La2a | Lella Fadda

Pop music is one of the most common creative vehicles for processing love, heartbreak and relationships, yet it remains unjustifiably limited. In the name of accessibility and mass appeal, it often reduces complicated feelings into one-dimensional hooks and shallow perspectives. This is why indie-pop voices like Lella matter. She carves a vocabulary out of everyday language, speaking about raw, messy situationships with the same nuance and clarity you usually hear in conversations between close friends.

43. Medical | Salvh, Kira7

“Medical” bridges two fine generations of Moroccan rap: the millennial Rai & B wave of the late 2010s and the grungier Gen Z rap of recent years. The blend hits like two liquors that shouldn’t follow each other: disorienting, tipsy if not borderline intoxicating, and containing a high volume of some of the year’s most elastic and syrupy hooks.

42. Ayel Bedan | Kokym

Kokym has been slow-cooking his falahi pop sound for years, and “Ayel Bedan” is one of its most mature outcomes. The autumn anthem captures heartbreak and emotional angst through an easy rural Palestinian dialect, borrowing expressions from the wider spoken Arabic vernacular – including its whimsically self-deprecating title. The synth work ties everything together sonically, parallel to Kokym’s immersed singing and steady presence.

41. Location | Soulja

Sudanese rap is becoming both increasingly competitive and competing, and Soulja planted his flag at the top of this year’s output with “Location,” a banger built on two extremes: tightness and understatement. The confident track thrives on subtlety yet wastes no sonic space. It delivers the most a song can offer in under two minutes and stops just before it overwhelms.

40. 2choufat | Zouj, Rita L’Oujdia

Zouj’s approach to revitalizing Raï is both fundamental to the genre and experimental in how he interprets it, and he found the perfect voice to give that vision its concrete shape when he teamed up with rising vocalist Rita L’Oujdia. Their track “2choufat” is drenched in Moroccan red, with hot and intense tones melting into one another inside Zouj’s furnace-like production.

39. Saka | Stormy

Rap has been going through so many reinventions, reinterpretations and fusions lately that one starts to miss a good old straightforward rap bruiser. Stormy delivers exactly that with “Saka,” a cut that goes hard and heavy, blending the personal and the political in an energized frenzy of rhythm and rage.

38. Lole Lole V2 | Mirv, Lakamura

“Lole Lole” became an instant sensation in Morocco when Lakamura first performed it on the talent show Jamshow, pulling in nearly 10 million views on YouTube alone. Soon after, she teamed up with rapper Mirv to release a new, more rap-leaning version that folds the hit into the broader sound of this year’s Moroccan rap, standing halfway between melodic and rhythmic.

37. Adam | El Rass

“Adam” sits at the peak of El Rass’s epic year – three albums, each more political and more “of the moment” than the last, turning him into the unofficial chronicle keeper of one of the region’s cruelest and densest years. With its dark, larger-than-life production and sharply articulated delivery, the track summons echoes of rap sagas like Watch the Throne, especially as it climbs toward its choir-charged ending.

36. Reveil | Ta9chira, Ktyb, John Six

The collaborative EP Ethics, Manners & Values marked the year’s peak in Tunisian rap, uniting three of the scene’s most forward-looking voices. Unbothered by the dominant mezwid-infused, autotune-heavy R&B sound, the trio push toward a sharper, more electric approach rooted in alternative and experimental choices. “Reveil” captures that spirit best, pairing edgy cross-genre production with tightly delivered bars that hit hard and clean.

35. I remember, I forget | Yasmine Hamdan

While trip hop never fully took root in the region, Yasmine Hamdan’s decision to stay loyal to the sound she has been shaping since the 90s keeps paying off in 2025. Her new album I remember, I forget has attracted a rare mix of critical and popular consensus. Its titular track delivers the album’s spirit in full, with sophisticated yet subtly deployed lyrics that step back and leave room for layered, rhythmic production. The song leans on striking textures and timbres that give it a concrete, tactile sound, more felt than performed.

34. Ma3lish | Dystinct, 3robi

Dystinct’s Bababa World hit the Moroccan pop scene like a thunderstorm, raining local, regional and global hits and flooding the charts so hard that even its deep cuts racked up millions of plays. “Ma3lish” is one of those cuts. The maximalist track belongs to the loudness wars, pushing Moroccan beats and Dystinct’s distinct vocals to near-distortion levels while breaking the monotony of Mediterranean R&B with an understated rap verse from 3robi.

33. De | Wegz, Savage Plug

One of Aqareb’s strengths is its winning collaboration game. On “De,” Wegz brings in Algerian rap veteran Savage Plug, who delivers the album’s most haunting opener – a brooding, dark verse built with sharp, deliberate composition. Wegz follows by ditching the idea of a single chorus and instead threads several quasi-choruses through the track, loading it with hooks and refrains that make it the ear-worm that it is.

32. 101 | 7ari, Ramoon

7ari and Ramoon’s album 101 feels outside of time, or at least from a parallel timeline where parts of the 90s, 2000s, ’10s, and ’20s happened simultaneously. Its hybrid aesthetic, embodied by the titular “101,” comes off like a cure if trendiness were a disease. It flirts with sounds from across eras, melting diverse influences into a coherent mesh, all dotted with an understated vocal delivery that gives the track its easy charm.

31. Batal El Film | Manos

Palestinian masked singer Manos ventured into new territory this year, releasing a strong debut full-length with Infisam, then following it with this standout single. “Batal El Film” catches a guitar-pop wave and adds something fresh to it, with inviting lyrics and easy vocals that land with the comfort of a favorite film.

30. El Fetra | Maryam Saleh

“El Fetra,” the lead single from Maryam Saleh’s upcoming full-length Syrr, promises one of her sharpest projects to date. The album’s sound is shaped by an unhurried and intentional process, including collaborations with Kamilya Jubran, Maurice Louca and El Waili. The track shows Maryam at her most mystical and haunting, carried by an eerie production that unsettles.

29. Kadaba | Karim Osama

It’s always a treat to hear a rapper having as much fun making their music as Karim Osama clearly does. His effortless approach to rap, with a natural pull toward Egyptian pop, has produced a steady stream of hits over the past few years. “Kadaba” stands out as his most lasting release of the year, a track shaped by college-age energy and a crafty rap/pop hybrid structure that enthralls and entertains just the same.

28. Pirate | Stormy

Stormy’s tour de force album Omega had him exploring different directions while sounding entirely at ease, as if each were his comfort zone. “Pirate” stands out as its strongest offering, with acoustic-leaning production, catchy hooks and a vocal performance delivered with full command.

27. Al Awal | Abdulaziz Louis

Al Awal isn’t your typical Khaleeji pop track. Its subtle, delicate features push gently against the genre’s usual maximalist lean. Louis’ voice moves like an undercurrent – quiet but irresistible – while the instruments are played so tenderly the strings feel more blown upon than strung. The result settles over you like jasmine-infused green tea on a chilly autumn evening.

26. Mahkama, W Dakhalna 3al Maframa | Essam Sasa

Essam Sasa continued to dominate mahraganat this year with a string of hits, the most sticky and widely spread of which was “Mahkama.” It is tightly produced, craftily composed and smoothly delivered, with just enough grit to thrill and just enough polish to reach audiences far beyond the core mahraganat crowd.

25. Carta Rouge | Manal

Hybrids are tricky. Mix them wrong and you end up with accidental fusion music. To make a hybrid work, you need real versatility and a clear vision of both ingredients. Traï is exactly that kind of wild beast: Moroccan raï meeting trap, beautiful and dangerous in equal measure. Manal has been trying to tame it for years, mastering it in her 2024 Arabian Heartbreak. In “Carta Rouge,” she offers her easiest, most relaxed performance with the tamed beast so far.

24. Ah Ya Wad | Noise Diva, Ratchopper

When Syrian producer and DJ Noise Diva finally stepped to the mic after years behind the decks, the shift made a lot of sense. Her recent work with rappers and vocalists like Logical Da9ud revealed a talent for producing songs, not just tracks, and her first vocal offering, “Ah Ya Wad,” came as an immediate validation. The soft-textured, cumbia-fused single fires on all cylinders: temptress lyrics, well-rounded themes, airy production, and articulated vocal delivery.

23. Heseeny | TUL8TE

TUL8TE continued his charm offensive this year with another impeccable pop offering, his third full-length, Narein. “Heseeny,” a standout single off the album, perfectly captures its spirit: a breezy flamenco road trip brushed with soft guitars and silk-textured vocals, refusing to deny its 80s nostalgia yet never confined by it, and balancing revival temptations with a clear, undeniable modernity.

22. Sahak Lsho2 | Fadel Chaker

There’s a timeless quality to Fadel Chaker’s 2025 songs that keeps them unmoored from any fixed era. They hold the sentimentality of early-2000s Arab pop, the mellow acoustic touch that’s accompanied Arabic pop for half a century, and a subtle minimal feel that belongs squarely to now. From the intoxicating string intro to the vocal pitch peaks and the melodic twists, “Sahak Lsho2” has all the hallmarks of a pop hit that will linger for years.

21. Bt7lm | Lella Fadda

“Bt7lm” carries flashes of the same halo that surrounds classic Arab divas like Asmahan, Fairuz and Samira Said, with some of the year’s most layered emotional writing, balancing sophistication and relatability. Lella’s delivery is both engaged and in denial, immersed and deadpan, hot and lukewarm. The track leads a strong year for indie pop, hinting at how far the scene can reach when it takes a stab at something raw and unfiltered.

20. Kalamantina | Saint Levant, Marwan Moussa

Arabic music and Arab-diaspora music have both been rising fast, but their ecosystems rarely collide. Artists collaborate constantly within each world, yet cross-ecosystem collaborations remain rare. Kalamantina shows the unrealized potential that’s been sitting there. Both Saint Levant and Maro switch between Arabic and English, breaking the binary of who sings what, landing an ease and dynamism that makes them sound more like a duo than first-time collaborators: Maro wears Saint Levant’s gloss naturally, and Saint Levant leans into Maro’s soft grit with genuine enthusiasm.

19. Kalam Forsan | Wegz, Mohamed Mounir

Some collaborations make you wonder if they’ll work, others you just know. Wegz and Mounir? Yes, please. Two generations of the same sun-tanned R&B continuum, shaping Egypt’s sound from beyond the capital, balancing experimentation with tradition, and leaning on that soft-edged, folksy grit they both wear naturally.

18. Afchetni | Shinigami, Furelise

“Afchetni” marked the peak of a standout year for Morocco’s Gen Z rappers, pushing a grungy, quasi-emo edge into a rap scene always open to experimentation. The track makes an unexpected detour into Egyptian dialect, adding to its hazy emotional terrain. What emerges is a raw, charged atmosphere where feelings sit heavy and nothing is fully in focus.

17. Kalemeny Belel | Marwan Moussa, Lege-Cy

Maro and Lege-Cy both had standout years, and they meet here with one of their strongest performances on Maro’s five-chapter album The Man Who Lost His Heart. “Kalemeny Belel” gives Maro space for sincere, personal writing that hits with viral relatability, while Lege-Cy slips in a crooning chorus that lingers long after the track fades.

16. Satarana | Alaa Fifty, Sadat

Fifty and Sadat are back. The early Mahraganat founders split in 2017, each finding solo success – fans have been craving a reunion for years, and last May finally delivered. True to their instinct, they’re not stuck on nostalgia but rather exploring what’s next. Here, they summon a minimalist, stripped-back version of Mouled – the sufi genre that accompanied Mahraganat during its early days – with producer Sulisizer building a looped, trance-y electronic base under their unhurried verses.

15. Wala Meen | Ziad Zaza, Lege-cy, Ismail Nosrat

“Wala Meen” brings together two artists who embody a hardcore fan’s dream: staying gritty and true to their original sound despite rising fame. The track draws directly from Egypt’s street-brewed R&B with immersive production courtesy of Ismail Nosrat, effortlessly accessing carefree fun and early-youth silliness.

14. Hal Di Kat Hayatak | Abyusif

You know those conversations with a grumpy friend who defaults to devil’s-advocate mode, rushing to point out every flaw in your ideas and every reason your hopes won’t work out? If you don’t have one of those in your life, Abyusif steps in to fill the gap. The lyrical mastermind twists his skills to smother any upbeat notion in his, or the listener’s, psyche. The result is a spiritual descendant of his timeless classic “Amal” – just as depressive, just as potent, and just as of the moment.

13. Qesm El Shakawy | TUL8TE

TUL8TE has been branching out, adding dabke-leaning tracks to a discography best known for flamenco touches and guitar-driven chill. “Qesm El Shakawy” is proof he should keep pushing in that direction. Its lively, jumpy production counters the sentimentality of his slower songs and opens a whole new corner of his vocal range, looser and less restrained, and absolutely more dancefloor-friendly.

12. Wasa3 | A.L.A

A.L.A’s “Wasa3” lands like an authority on cool, the way black-market streetwear does, or boastful rap done right. Trap beats glide across the wide production like a sports car making its entrance in a racing scene, while A.L.A’s warm timbre turns his bragging into something oddly relatable rather than distant.

11. Rassi | Baby Gang, ElGrandeToto, Chahid

Both Baby Gang and ElGrandeToto tend to particularly deliver in collaborations, especially the ones charged with chemistry, and “Rassi” is exactly that. Here, the two poles of Moroccan and Italian rap meet on shared ground, leaning into a Mediterranean sound that carries their common Moroccan roots, and delivering one the year’s most concrete melodic rap records.

10. Khatafoony | Amr Diab

Khatafoony became the summer hit with near-unanimous consensus. Everyone wanted this: the long-ruling king of Arab pop embracing a younger sound, bringing in his social-media-darling daughter Jana, and tossing in a rap verse reminiscent of Habibi Wala Ala Balo. It worked.

9. Tach | Draganov

“Tach” is the track that stamped Draganov’s name on 2025 in Moroccan music, partly thanks to its brilliant music video and the controversy it stirred, but mostly because it complemented a stellar lineup of releases throughout the year. The song enters the race of Raï revival and sprints to the front, offering one of the freshest attempts to bring this essential Moroccan and Algerian genre into 2025.

8. Min El Akher | Rahma Riad

Rahma Riad released five singles this year with the deliberate pace of someone perfecting every detail. “Min El Akher” is the clearest proof of that meticulous streak. Each part holds its own: the concrete pop structure switching melodic schemes with action-montage precision, the flawlessly pronounced vocal delivery that lets you savor every letter, and the hypnotic, driving rhythms binding it all together.

7. Yama | Dystinct

The Moroccan pop star is having an impatient year – rushing to conquer the world at a pace rarely seen, and mostly getting away with it. After the wide spectrum of global collaborations on Bababa World, Dystinct keeps hunting for new audiences and cultures to invade. His year-ender, “Yama,” closes that restless chase with him switching between Levantine and Iraqi accents over vivid Furati rhythms, delivering one of the year’s most danceable numbers.

6. Youmi | Fawzi, Shabjdeed, Al Nather

Youmi drops Groundhog Day into the West Bank – and does it right. Whether through Fawzi and Shabjdeed’s claustrophobic lyrics and deadpan delivery or Al Nather’s tight, wound-up production, the track locks you in a typical, gloomy, endlessly repeating West Bank day. The near-line-crossing punchlines and graphic details make it one of the year’s most daring statements in Arabic music, both lyrically and stylistically.

5. Law Nasyany | Lege-Cy, Ismail Nosrat

A fixture of Egyptian rap and R&B for more than seven years, Lege-cy emerged this year as the new writer of Arab pop heartbreak and melancholic classics. His disarmingly intimate, deeply relatable lyrics form a killer pairing with his warm, textured delivery. “Law Nasyany” is the clearest example of the fingerprint he left on Arabic music this year, with lyrics woven from everyday language, melodies you can hum all day, and a voice that soothes rather than alarms.

4. El Hob Gany | TUL8TE

Ever since his explosive entrance into the Arabic pop arena in 2023, TUL8TE has remained one of the major forces shaping the modern sound of Arab pop. His alchemy lies in making familiar elements feel new, mixing a cocktail that is half refreshingly colorful production and half intoxicating nostalgia, one that leaves the listener tipsy after a single whiff. “El Hob Gany” epitomizes that formula, borrowing from the Egyptian Pop playbook to create a song that now belongs to it.

3. Kifek 3a Fra2e | Fadel Chaker, Mohamed Chaker

Fadel Chaker made the kind of comeback this year one usually sees in epic sports games. Each release made waves and sparked trends, yet his first feature with his son, Mohamed, stands as the peak of his year. The song bridges turn-of-the-millennium Levantine pop and its modern counterpart, drawing the best of both worlds into one smooth line of continuity. What remains most remarkable is the fact that the track was recorded in Ain El Hilwe, the Palestinian refugee camp where Chaker had been hiding for 12 years before surrendering to the Lebanese army last October.

2. Psycho | Draganov

Autotune-drenched R&B dominated the year across the region, from Egypt to Morocco, but Draganov took the sound home. On his Talk Box-powered Psycho, he pushes into unexplored corners of a familiar aesthetic that stretches all the way back to the 70s. What he pulls out of it is new: precise vocals that cut through the machine’s fuzz, a viciously sticky chorus impossible not to hum, and a dreamy production that rounds the edges. In Draganov’s discography, Psycho sits the way Runaway sits in Kanye’s – a pivot point.

1. Tarat Tarat Tat | Lella Fadda

Lella Fadda’s debut album MAGNUN tested the limits of indie pop and alternative rap, taking the Egyptian scene by a breeze with social commentary wrapped in glamour and feminist statements delivered with a cool grin. At the heart of the album sits “Tarat Tarat Tat,” a track so confrontational it placed a social media target on Lella’s back.

The song’s instant-classic opener: “I cannot be trusted to be on my own / if he beats me, it’s for my own sake / if he beats me, it’s okay, he’s my boyfriend / if he beats me, it’s because … tarat tarat tat,” chews toxic masculinity like strawberry-flavored bubble gum, blows it into a bubble, and pops it. Yet the song doesn’t rely on its bravado alone. Lella’s mix of tender pop and deadpan rap tempers heat with cool, while Abyusif’s production, with its sly ad-libs and background vocals, grounds the track firmly in Egyptian rap Hall of Fame territory.