Natacha Atlas

Natacha Atlas (born March 20, 1964) is a singer born in Belgium. She is known for her fusion of Arabic and North African music.

Early Life

People tend to disagree about the origins of Natacha Atlas's parents. She has denied claims that her father is a Sephardic Jew; she admits to being "maybe 10 percent or something." She says: " is one of those things where someone had a grudge against me and wanted to hurt me. My great-great-grandfather was Jewish. But Jews have always been part of Arab society, so it?s not so unusual for someone to find out that they have Jewish blood. At the end of the day, we really are so connected"(3).

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Her mother is said to be an English Muslim. Natacha herself is Muslim. Natacha referred to herself as a "human Gaza Strip" (2):" conflicts between my European and Arabic sides will continue ? my genetic code almost inevitably made me a nomad" (1) Natacha grew up in the Moroccan suburb of Brussels, where she was introduced to the art of raqs sharki (belly dance) and cha'abi (modern Egyptian pop music).

Related Topics:
Muslim - Gaza Strip - Belly dance - Modern Egyptian pop music

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Natacha learned several languages, i.e. English, French, Spanish and Arabic – in the course of her career, and she uses all of them. After her parents separated she went to Northampton with her mother and became the first Arabophone rock singer. Later on, she had two jobs – belly dancing on the one hand, and being the lead singer of Belgian salsa band. In 1991 she recorded the track "Timbal" with Balearic Beat (¡Loca!). She also worked together with Jah Wobble, composing five tracks for the LP "Rising above Bedlam." Thanks to Nation Records, which recorded ¡Loca!, Natacha met labelmates Transglobal Underground who at the time had a Top 40 hit, "Templehead."

Related Topics:
English - French - Spanish - Arabic - Jah Wobble - Transglobal Underground

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