From Umm Kulthum to Timbaland: A History of North African Samples in Pop & Hip-Hop

In my biased opinion as OkayAfrica’s North Africa correspondent, I believe that Arab orchestras are unmatched in their ability to make you feel all the emotions. The extraordinary precision it takes to play in the maqam system (microtonality) and evoke tarab (emotional ecstasy), while maintaining perfect heterophony and mastering taqsim (improvisation), has made 20th-century Arabic music timeless, even though many legendary songs remain unknown internationally. 

Musicians and producers from both the West and North Africa have long tapped into the unique rhythms of folk music from the past century and found inspiration in legends like Umm Kulthum and Abdel Halim Hafez. Here’s a list of songs that have borrowed some of North Africa’s timelessness by sampling its melodies, rhythms and vocal lines. 

Jay-Z - “Big Pimpin” (US)

Sample: Abdelhalim Hafez - “Khosara Khosara” (Egypt) 

Produced by Timbaland, who had a phase in which he eagerly sampled Arab music, Jay-Z released “Big Pimpin” in 1999. Timbaland had found the four-bar flute loop and string arrangements that make “Big Pimpin” so memorable on an unmarked, unlicensed CD of Middle Eastern music; he assumed it was royalty-free and didn’t credit anyone. The song he sampled was actually “Khosara Khosara” (1957), written by Egyptian composer Baligh Hamdy and performed by legendary Egyptian singer Abdel Halim Hafez. In 2007, Hamdy’s nephew sued Jay-Z and Timbaland, claiming that their track’s explicit lyrics violated the composer’s moral rights–the original song expresses deep sorrow over a lost love while “Big Pimpin” promotes wealth, luxury, a jet-setting lifestyle, and casual, non-committal relationships with women. A US judge threw out the case, but it sparked interesting debates around the ethics of borrowing across cultures.

Aaliyah - “Don’t Know What to Tell Ya” (US) 

Felukah - “Batwanes Beek” (Egypt)

Sample: Warda - “Batwanes Beek” (Algeria)

Aaliyah’s “Don’t Know What to Tell Ya” (2003) is another hit song produced by Timbaland. This time, he sampled the strings and instruments of “Batwanes Beek” (1992), a love song by Egyptian composer Salah El Sharnouby, with lyrics by Omar Batiesha, performed by Warda Al-Jazairia, who was also Baligh Hamdy’s wife. A prolific singer, Warda’s legacy spans over 300 records, 100 million album sales worldwide, and impactful revolutionary songs supporting the Algerian National Liberation Front (FLN). After French authorities raided her father's Paris cabaret in 1956 for storing weapons for the resistance, her family was expelled from France and eventually settled in Lebanon. Her voice remained associated with Algeria’s resistance against France’s oppression. In 2024, Egyptian singer Felukah paid tribute to Warda’s legacy with her own trilingual interpolation and reimagining of “Batwanes Beek.”

Alewya - “Cairo FM” (UK, Ethiopia, Egypt)

Sample: El Shab Arrab - “Law Kan” (Libya) 

London-based Ethiopian Egyptian artist Alewya recently released her debut album Zero, featuring the standout track “Cairo FM” which successfully features three familiar tunes: Nas and Ms. Lauryn Hill’s “If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)“ (1996), Azaelia Banks’ “hip-house” flow and, less known but no less iconic, El Shab Arrab’s “Law Kan” (1992). The mysterious Libyan musician was born in Tripoli, but spent much of his life and career in Cairo, where he was part of the Jeel music movement, which blended traditional Arab/North African melodies with Western synth-pop, disco, and electronic drum machines. Much of his catalog lived on cassette tapes, which helps explain why his music isn't as well known as it deserves to be. With artists like Alewya and Saint Levant sampling his songs, El Shab Arrab’s timeless, groovy tracks have been making a comeback. 

Saint Levant - “WAIN MAADY WAIN” (Palestina, Algeria) 

Sample: El Shab Arrab - “Wain Meaady” (Libya)

On “WAIN MAADY WAIN,” Palestinian Algerian singer Saint Levant doesn't sample, but interpolates the modern arrangement and vocal melody popularized in El Shab Arrab’s “Wyn M3ady,” which was in turn taken from Mersawi style, a traditional Libyan folk composition. Both El Shab Arrab samples in this list are from “Law Kan,” the artist’s only album. 

Petey Pablo - “Raise Up” (US) 

Sample: Hossam Ramzy - “Enta Omri” (Egypt) 

Petey Pablo’s “Raise Up” (2001) is another American song built around an Arab sample produced by Timbaland. He took orchestral arrangements of “Enta Omri,” arguably the Arab World’s most beloved song of all time. Composed in 1964 by Egyptian legend Mohamed Abdel Wahab for Egyptian legend Umm Kulthum, also known as “The Star of the East,” “Enta Omri” is an epic, very long romantic song. Timbaland chose a sample recorded by Egyptian master percussionist Hossam Ramzy, an influential figure also known as the “Sultan of Swing,” who worked with many Western artists and helped infuse Western pop music with North African rhythms.