Abu Dhabi’s Happy Voice set to go universal

ABU DHABI: An Abu-Dhabi based Egyptian singer and lyricist is all set to release her first music video with Universal Music MENA.

As a local celebrity, Sarah Al Gohary has 2.5 million plays on soundcloud and thousands of fans across online platforms. Now the singer-songwriter is reaching new frontiers with her first Arabic original e-single HIGH releasing as an official music video on July 14.

HIGH is directed by famous Palestinian filmmaker Ahmad Samara. The concept of the music video revolves around the idea of oneness, with music being the language of all nations; regardless of backgrounds.

“It’s refreshing to listen to Al Gohary’s music. The market is hungry for unique sounds with rich cultural diversity. We are dedicated to pave the way and provide opportunities to local talent, and Al Gohary certainly has an interesting mix of Arabic, electronic and African tunes. We are excited to have Sarah joining our roster,” said Patrick Boulos, CEO of Universal Music MENA.

Al Gohary attributes her deal with Universal to the power of the internet. She posted a few songs of HIGH on a popular Facebook group called Musicians of the UAE and got a response from Sky Sommers, founder of Boom Box Entertainment. “After my video’s teaser was released, Sky was able to pitch my song to Universal Music Mena who fell in love with my music and style — we met and the magic happened instantly,” she said.

“The song HIGH originally means ‘Hi’ as in ‘Hello’, but when I collaborated with [producer] Talal Qureshi, he gave the song a whole new sound and feel — a sensation that makes you want to fly. Hence we renamed it HIGH.”

All in the family

Al Gohary who was born and raised in Abu Dhabi, has been lovingly given the sobriquet ‘Happy Voice’ by her fans. The singer is known for her role as Disney’s Cinderella in Arabic. She was shortlisted as one of the UAE’s top-ten emerging musicians by YA SALAM and chosen as one of the fastest growing online artists by nextbigsound.com. She recently collaborated with Will Smith’s son Trey in his upcoming reality TV show The World is Spinning and was invited to perform at the Ludacris Foundation Dinner.

“I was born into a family of music lovers — my mom and dad actually met on the school stage where they were performing a musical. My father was a professional singer back in the day with his own band. He performed all over our hometown in Monofia, Egypt. My three brothers are successful musicians too. Jimi is the frontman of one of Egypt’s most popular bands SALALEM, AJ is drummer in Malaaz and the youngest MJ is currently learning the saxophone and an aspiring rapper,” said Al Gohari who has been writing songs in Arabic and English since she was 13.

So why is she called ‘Happy Voice’?

“It’s what my fams [because my fans are almost family] call me. I guess it’s how they feel when they hear my music, see me or watch my instastories. I am told I bring positivity and happiness into their lives which is something that leaves me overwhelmed. It’s such a blessing to be referred by this name and I am proud of it,” she added.

Gohary is currently working on a variety of singles for release on her debut Extended Play (EP) by the end of the year.

The teaser to HIGH can be viewed below...