Liverpool Philharmonic Music Room
£10 / £12
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Doors 6.30pm
Nxdia 7.30pm
Aar Maanta 8.20pm
Close 9.45pm
Somali-British singer-songwriter, Aar Maanta, brings his eclectic music blend and celebration of Somali culture to Liverpool Arab Arts Festival in a special concert. With support from Nxdia.
As a singer and songwriter, Aar Maanta has embraced a mix of styles including influences from rock and reggae jostling with traditional Arabic and Somali music. Despite graduating with a science degree, Aar Maanta pursued music. He began the Horn 2 Groove recording project which generated his 2009 debut album, Hiddo & Dhaqan. The album merged traditional Somali music with Western influences like house and reggae into a fusion described as Afro-hop. In 2010, the Paris-based radio station StarAfrica recognized Aar Maanta’s achievement in creating this new sound when it named him “A Somali Culture Shaper in London”.
He released the 2014 EP, Somali Songs from the Diaspora to connect with Somalis around the world. Aar Maanta hopes to take his music to the wider community with the release of Ubadkaa Mudnaanta Leh and an additional album in the works to be released in 2023.
Aar Maanta’s activism, work and creativity led him to become a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR), while leading one of the only active touring bands in the world that plays live Somali music. His work includes the recent UNHCR campaign about irregular youth migration in the Horn of Africa, Dangerous Crossings, for which his song “Tahriib” was reproduced and performed in collaboration with leading artists from Africa.
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With support from Nxdia
Nxdia is an alternative-pop singer-songwriter from Manchester. Born in Egypt, and moving to the UK when she was eight, she writes and sings both in English and Arabic. Nxdia has a new take on pop music, blending vulnerable and introspective lyrics with modern production and effortless delivery.
In 2020 she started sharing music and bits of her life on TikTok. She quickly gained traction, bringing together a community of more than 700k people. Her single ‘OUCH!’ released in 2021, has received great support, with adds in major editorial playlists and plays on BBC Introducing Manchester and BBC Radio 1. It now has more than 1.5M streams. Nxdia spent a big part of 2022 writing songs with British, Swedish and German songwriters and producers. She recently revealed her new single ‘what’s it like?’ who was supported by every major DSPs including 10+ NMF, Fresh Finds, Peach, New Pop (Spotify), Alt Pop (Apple Music), Break Through Pop (Amazon) and multiple playlist covers (Spotify, Anghami, YouTube), as well as TikTok with an ‘Artist of The Week’ add and four playlists. Next single will be released early May, followed by an EP in June. Another EP cycle is planned for later in the year.
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Venue address: Liverpool Philharmonic Hall Music Room, Sugnall Street, Liverpool L1 9BP
Image courtesy of the artist
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