OUM KALTHOUM: The Savage Siren

Recently, I took a survey amongst my social network to see which Middle Eastern women were considered style icons,  social distruptors & muses to them.  Over a hundred comments later on my feed and the muses kept rolling in. I was both humbled and blown away by the rich herstory of fiercely talented and beautiful women who have broken boundaries, healed the hearts of their nations, and brought decades of inspiration to those they have touched with their lives' work and missions. Please note: I'm using the term "Middle Eastern" somewhat loosely here to include North Africa, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq and all of the Arab-speaking nations.

One of the most iconic and celebrated of these women is Oum Kalthoum (also spelled Umm Kulthum).  She was an internationally famous Egyptian singer, songwriter, and film actress active from the 1920s to the 1970s.  She was given the name "The Voice of Egypt", but her music and her unique singing style has been mesmerizing the entire Arab world and beyond for decades now.

Iconic images of Oum Khaltoum/Umm Kulthum

“ Imagine a singer with the virtuosity of Joan Sutherland or Ella Fitzgerald, the public persona of Eleanor Roosevelt and the audience of Elvis and you have Oum Kalthoum, the most accomplished singer of her century in the Arab world. ”
— Virginia Danielson, Harvard Magazine

What I love about this singing diva of divas is that not only did she have a unique singing style, but she also had a very distinct personal sense of style.  To me, she looks like an Arab goddess mashup of Roy Orbison (with her dark sunglasses), Jackie Kennedy (with her smart tweed tailored suit skirts) and Amy Winehouse (with her bouffant beehive hairdo).  

I will be exploring Oum Kalthoum, her style and the impact she has had on generations of Arab/Middle Easterners in future posts.  For now though, I leave you with this live performance that Beyonce did where the music she sampled is from an iconic Oum Kalthoumsong “Enta Omri” (you are my life), one of Kalthoum’s biggest hits and most famous musical pieces of all time in the Arab world.  Though definitely a sexy way to start the show, Beyonce's use of Kalthoum's iconic music has been criticized as cultural appropriation and according to this Muslim Girl article "an orientalist nightmare".

And here is some (blurry) but amazing footage of Oum Khaltoum performing "Enta Omri" live many moons ago.  I feel swept away be her voice and the rhythms of the music and beat.  I can only imagine how the audience felt in her presence, allowing her voice and the hypnotic rhythms lull them into a trance-like state of ecstasy.

CELIA CRUZ: THE Savage Queen of Salsa

Until a few months ago, the most I knew about Celia Cruz, other than being familiar with a couple of her songs, was that she had an iconic sense of style and that her wigs were next level in their colors and designs.

Then, I stumbled upon the Netflix "Bio-Drama" loosely based on her life, and I fell in love with that woman and her story. I actually really enjoyed learning more about her younger years in Cuba, both the storylines around how she was discovered as a star, as well as her fateful romance that led to her marriage to the one and only lover in her life, Pedro Knight.

I related to her experience as a late teen/young adult who had been raised in a strict family with a rather religious and controlling father who was a bit wary of the moral implications of the budding fierceness that was arising within their daughters' young, ambitious and creative spirits.  I also related to how Celia was viewed as unattractive and not the right aesthetic for the career she wanted to pursue as a singer.  The racism within not just Cuban society but in the record industry was touched on quite a bit throughout the 80-episode series about Celia.  Her dark skin and wide nose were seen as signs of undesirability at first and would have been a huge deterrence in her career, had it not been for the sheer magnificence and uniqueness of her voice and her exquisite talent as a singer and performer.

Images of Celia Cruz from the early years of her career.

Everything about Celia's physical appearance that made her seem like an unsuitable candidate to be the face and voice of one of Cuba's premiere big bands "Sonora Mantancera", is exactly what I find so refreshingly unique and stunningly beautiful about her.  I mean look at these pictures from her early years as a performer.  All I see is a young goddess who is redefining beauty and talent.  Her early career was especially challenging, since she was being considered by the Sonora band as a replacement to a much beloved Puerto Rican singer, Myrta Silva, who had finer, more European features and lighter skin.  But the band leader gave her a chance and with that chance, Celia went on to break boundaries and be an innovator as a musician, social activist and bring back pride in the Afro-Cubano roots of both the music and the culture of Cuba.

Here she is, later in life, performing one of my favorite of her hits "Quimbara" live.  This woman is one hell of a Savage Muse.........Azucar!!!!