A colour-blocked music video involving space buns, catchy hooks, and self-loving lyrics sung over an electro-dance beat? Say hello to Carizma, the latest all-girl pop band from the Middle East.
The bilingual trio, whose oldest member is 21 and youngest is 15, are going for the jugular of what makes young pop fans tick these days. The proof lies in their latest fun-hearted single Helwa El Hayah (directly translating into ‘Life is Good’) and its accompanying clip. Filmed in Dubai, drips with vibrant pastels and self-empowerment. It’s formulaic and done before, no doubt, but it’s catchy all the same.
Carizma is being touted as the first pop girl group to emerge from the region, but it would be more accurate to say they’re the second. It’s been 20 years since Lebanon introduced the world to 4 Cats, the all-female ensemble whose members have been changing ever since 1998. The fresh-faced foursome arrived when the appetite for acts like the Spice Girls and Destiny’s Child was at its peak, and they went mainstream with hits like Tal Intizari and Ya Antar.
Still, Carizma may be the first girl group from this region to have millennial and Gen Z appeal. Just like the UK has Little Mix, and America, until last month’s hiatus announcement, had Fifth Harmony, the Middle East now has Carizma.
#SING4THE5
Improbably, they are a girl band born out of a boy band.
The three members — 21-year-old Rana Ahmad (from Egypt), 20-year old Nour Aridi, and 15-year-old Shireen Abu Saad (both from Lebanon) — came together last year as the winners of an online talent competition dubbed #Sing4The5, backed by Clean & Clear Arabia.
They were mentored by pan-Arab boy band and current label mates The 5, who themselves rose to fame on the back of X Factor Arabia. (The 5, Carizma, One Direction, Little Mix and Fifth Harmony were all put together in talent competitions, and were all subsequently signed to imprints of Sony Music, a label keen on the return of the sub-genre.)
Perhaps an ode to how they got together, or a further attempt to tap into a hit single, Carizma collaborated with The 5’s resident rapper BMd, aka Algerian member Mohamed Bouhezza, to incorporate a rap verse into their sophomore single. (Interestingly, Helwa El Hayah is a far-cry from Carizma’s debut single Haga Gheir, which took on a much more traditionally Eastern sound.)
In a newly released clip, the trio stand against three bold backdrops in hot pink, mustard yellow and powder blue. They boast about an ambition so big it ‘fills the universe’. “Nothing brings us down. Nobody can bring us down,” they declare to the world.
It’s a familiar message, harking back to Little Mix’s Wings, which includes an almost identical line: “We don’t let nobody bring us down.”
Maybe the similarity is uncomfortable in its exactness, or maybe it will help Carizma appeal to a built-in fanbase of dance tunes married with motivational lyrics.
SOUND OF SISTERHOOD
Outside of the studio, the girls are walking the talk with their own strong convictions. In a video titled Meet Carizma, youngest member Abu Saad, who, prior to #Sing4The5, was a contestant on The Voice Kids, says she started singing as soon as she learned how to speak. “The idea of standing in front of an audience has never scared me. I’m not scared to show people who I am and I’m not going to give them a fake image of myself just to please or appease them.”
Mirroring her sentiments, band mate Aridi said she’s comfortable with who she is, and how she looks. “I enjoy spending time alone with myself, every now and then. In my experience, I’ve learned to take negative energy and turn it into positive energy. And to sing more and more,” she added.
Ahmad, the eldest member of the group, remained optimistic, too: “The thing I love most about myself is my laugh. Most people tell me that I should always laugh and give hope in life. I’m not afraid of who I am, or what I’m doing. I’ll never change myself. I’ll always do what I love and I’ll continue to dream, and sing, and do whatever I like.”
According to a statement from the band’s label, Sony Music Entertainment Middle East, the band “represent a growing generation of young women keen to express themselves creatively and celebrate sisterhood through music.” Indeed, their onscreen camaraderie serves to make their music more charming — and a behind-the-scenes clip of them recording their first single is filled with laughter and apparent friendship. If pop bands of times past have taught us anything, it’s that individual personalities only help to make the sum stronger.
It’s uplifting to watch girls and women team up in the pursuit of greatness. But this is just the beginning for Carizma. It will be interesting to watch the band continue to hone in on their own sound and presence, and see what the group has in store for their debut album.
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Check it out!
The music video for Helwa El Hayah, which released on March 26, is now available to stream on YouTube. The band’s first single, Haga Gheir, achieved over a million views since it released in September.
