El Mehdi Premieres “EL FILM,”, film musik sing disutradarai dhewe, kanggo mbantu EP debut “SALAM”
Dirobah Maroko, disruptor budaya sing dibesarkan saka Kanada El Mehdi nawakake entri berani ing percakapan pop global karo "SALAM,” his landmark debut EP released Januari 30 via RENAISSANCE/AWAL, accompanied by “EL FILM,” a self-directed musical short film premiering today. The genre-defying project marks a historic debut for an openly queer Arab artist, expanding music into a cultural statement.
Piyambakipun ngandika: “Tidak ada nabi ing tanahipun.SALAM,” El Mehdi breaks the adage — and with it, silence, shame, and the glass ceiling.
Proyek iki mbukak karo presisi art-pop, jembatan identitas regional karo resonansi pop global. A lompatan iman ing lanas sing tetep polisi sing njupuk eksistensi bebas, "SALAM” asserts presence without compromise. Ceremonial and defiant, El Mehdi’s sound fuses modern pop with North African and Middle Eastern influences, pairing rich vocals and cinematic strings with dance-driven energy, sensual urgency, and multilingual song writing in English, French, and Arabic. The result is an incandescent world that feels ancestral yet radically future-facing. El Mehdi doesn’t dilute identity to reach wider audiences — he expands pop itself to hold it.
Ini pop sing ngingat ngendi ana - nanging ora memawa memawa ngendi ana.
Sampun lima track, kalebu track judul-seperti manifesto "SALAM” (meaning both “hello” and “peace” in Arabic) — El Mehdi transforms vulnerability into power. Written and creative directed by El Mehdi, and produced by El Mehdi and Sūn Jùn (LayLow, AntsLive, Dior), with mixing by Grammy-winner Wez Clarke (Zara Larsson, MARINA, Sam Smith) and string performances by Grammy-nominated Drew Jurecka (Dua Lipa), “SALAM” iki diciptakake ing saindhenging benua - rekaman pop global sing lahir saka emansipasi, visi, lan reclamation.
"Aku kudu nggawe ruang ing ngendi kita bisa wujud tanpa bersembunyi. El Mehdi says. “SALAM is that place.”
Premiering today, “EL FILM” extends this declaration into cinema. Directed, choreographed, edited, and costumed by El Mehdi, the musical short film reflects his multidisciplinary approach, weaving music with dance, fashion, image, and storytelling. Set inside a Moroccan riad, the film unfolds as a passage from darkness into light, centered around a traditional mint tea ceremony. Beneath the anonymous male gaze, ritual chants and El Mehdi — an iconoclastic figure with an androgynous presence — fracture normative masculinity, allowing a fluid, liberated force to emerge. Traditionally associated with the sacred, these elements are reimagined — not as provocation, but as transformation.
“They wanted me in Hell. Baby, I went there. I came back. I only warmed up my tea.”
El Mehdi, "El Film" (Video resmi):
https://ffm.link/elfilm.OPR
Disruptive kanggo sawetara lan nginspirasi kanggo sawetara, "SALAM” opens a dialogue many were waiting for and others feared. More than a debut, “SALAM” adalah pernyataan budaya.
Sebuah suara anyar wis kedhaftar - lan iku datang kanthi damai.
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Moroccan-Canadian artist El Mehdi first emerged with his debut single “ELKASS HLOU,” which sparked rapid traction across platforms, amassing hundreds of thousands of streams and views and breaking into Anghami’s Top 50 across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) — the leading streaming platform of the Arab world.
He crafts a magnetic, genre-defying pop sound shaped by his North African heritage, shimmering across English, French, and Arabic. A former spokesperson for Amnesty International Canada, El Mehdi has established himself as a distinctive voice within the global MENA diaspora.
Dadi iku iku iku “ENCORE” lan video musik sing diwenehi dhewe sing digawe kanthi kolaborasi karo Museum Yves Saint Laurent, Marrakech, El Mehdi mengkonfirmasi visi kristal lan tanpa kompromi. Dheweke wis diwenehi minangka "fenomèn muda sing ngluwihi" (CBC) lan "emblematik saka generasi" (L'Orient Today), nalika ICON MENA nggambarake karya-karyanya minangka "revolusi tenang, jauh saka cliché." Flaunt dipuji El Mehdi kanggo menantang harapan sosial lan budaya, The New Arab ditandhangake kehadiran panggonan sing uga “elegant and subversive,” lan Vogue Arabia mencaté kemampuan kanggo nggerakake “with grace and intention.”
Dadi artist-in-residence ing Cité internationale des arts ing Paris, El Mehdi wis nuduhake karya-karya ing TIFF, Festival Aesthetica ShortFilm-kualifikasi BAFTA, lan Amsterdam Dance Event, lan wis tampil kanggo kapasitas kerumunan ing Kanada (Nuit Blanche, Canadian Music Week, Montreal Pride).
Ing taun 2025, dheweke nggawe debut layar gedhe minangka aktor utama ing "L’Héritier des secrets” (dir. Mohamed Nadif), sing dirilis ing Montreal Museum of Fine Arts minangka bagian saka Cinémania. Set kanggo rilis teater ing 2026, film iki minangka fitur Maroko pisanan kanggo ngatasi identitas trans lan co-star Nisrin Erradi, kang uga muncul ing "Everybody Loves Touda” (dir. Nabil Ayouch), nominasi resmi Maroko kanggo Best International Feature Film ing 97th Academy Awards.
On stage and in the studio, El Mehdi challenges what it means to be an Arab man in the modern world, transforming pop into ritual. With his debut EP “SALAM,” ing nyimpen ing era anyar - free, lumineus, lan indelible.
