Zeyne is a rising Palestinian-Jordanian artist pop star making waves globally. Her boundary-pushing sound and evocative voice have positioned her as one of the most important cultural voices rising from the Arab world.
Her debut album, out later this month via MDLBEAST Records, will showcase her fusion of contemporary pop with her cultural roots like never seen before.
Zeyne has long presented herself in this holistic identity: both as a fierce figure looking to disrupt the status quo of Arab pop music and as an emotionally vulnerable person navigating overwhelming trauma and personal adversity.
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The 27-year-old artist has quickly become one of the faces of this emerging scene by merging her Palestinian identity with the R&B of the 2000s she grew up listening to. And she’s done so in a way that cuts through the noise of algorithm-driven hits, leaning instead on authenticity and community.
It all began in 2020, when Zeyne started posting covers online during the pandemic. This led to her debut studio single, Minni Ana, a Daniel Caesar-style R&B slow jam that caught the attention of a growing fanbase. She followed it up with Nostalgia, a throwback to 90s soul track.
Her upcoming debut album, Awda (Arabic for “return”), tells the full story. Written and recorded over two years, Awda is deeply personal and sonically bold. It explores themes of love, belief, displacement, and community with raw honesty. At its heart is Zeyne’s new single Hilwa, an upbeat, celebratory track dedicated to Palestinian identity and the enduring strength of women.
“When I wrote Hilwa, I was thinking of the women in my family, about the way they carry themselves with quiet strength, how they pass down love in food, in prayer, in small affirmations. That word, Hilwa, holds so much tenderness in our culture. It’s not just ‘beautiful,’ it’s a blessing, a softness you offer someone you love. I wanted the song to feel like that: like your mother brushing your hair, your grandmother holding your hand. It’s beauty that’s inherited, not earned. With this song, I hope to honour the kind of beauty that survives displacement, silence, and shame,” explains Zeyne.
“Hilwa feels like a beginning, but also a homecoming. For so long, I was navigating what it meant to be visible as an Arab woman in music — how to take up space without being reduced to a symbol. This song marks the moment I stopped trying to explain myself. I’m not here to soften my edges. I’m here to tell stories, be those mine, my mother’s, my grandmother’s; through sound, through image, and most importantly, through feeling,” added Zeyne.
The new single Hilwa is streaming now on all platforms.