A chance encounter got Nooriyah into the world of radio hosting from which she began to DJ and curate music mixes. Her visually rich music compilations were unique, highlighting how some of the most iconic Western pop songs sampled Arabic melodies. When she started posting them on Instagram and Twitter, they quickly went viral.

Growing up between Saudi Arabia, Japan and the UK, Nooriyah is now known for her vividly diverse music sets that blend music from around the globe. At the end of 2022, Nooriyah played a phenomenal Boiler Room set that cemented her role in the DJ hall of fame and gained international acclaim. In this episode, Nooriyah speaks to Dana Ballout about her journey into the world of DJing, how she founded ‘Middle of Nowhere’ to champion sounds of the diaspora as well as the importance of representation on the dancefloor.

This episode is hosted by Dana Ballout, produced by Al Shaibani and edited by Heba El-Sherif. Fact checking was by Laura Wahied and sound design and mixing by Ahmed Mitry. Bella Ibrahim, Soumaya Bouabdellah, Malak Jarrar, Nadine El Shiaty, Tala Toukley, and Ahmed Salhab handle our marketing, and Batould Khalifeh is our operations manager.

Al Empire is a production of Kerning Cultures Network.

Find a transcript for this episode at kerningcultures.com/al-empire.

Watch Season 3 of al empire on YouTube.

Danny Hajjar referenced in this episode: https://www.saalounielnas.com/

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