Tsadaq Bmein

Tsadaq Bmein (Arabic: تصدق بمين‎) is the seventh studio album by Lebanese singer Elissa released by Rotana^[1] on December 26, 2009. This is her fourth album released by Rotana Records. Thanks to this album, Elissa won her third World Music Award for best selling artist of the Middle East for the sales of this album.^[2]

Album background

This album includes thirteen songs mixed between Lebanese and Egyptian dialects. Elissa started working on the album in August, 2008, when she stated on Rotana news that she will travel to Egypt to meet popular songwriters and composers to start choosing and working on the songs. In this album Elissa collaborated as poets with Fares Iskandar, Nader Abdallah, Marwan Khoury, Mohammed Jomaa, Jad El Rahbani and Siham Shaashaa; as for composers; Walid Saad, Marwan Khoury, Salim Salameh, Mohammed Rahim, Jad El Rahbani and Tamer Ali. Regarding music arrangers, she teamed up with Tamim, Walid Shiraki, Claude Shalhoub, Michel Fadel, Jad El Rahbani and Naser El Assaad.

Elissa was photographed for the cover of the album by the international photographer Matthias Clamor on location at Pena National Palace in Sintra, Portugal. Clamor photographed Elissa for two of her previous albums.

Album information

In her new album Elissa includes 13 different songs which vary between Egyptian and Lebanese dialects. Elissa includes three songs that were written and composed by the Lebanese musician Marwan Khoury. She also includes other songs for famous poets and composers.

After reasonable success with Khod Balak Alaya last year, Walid Saad is back with five songs, including the title song, a catchy ballad reminiscent of both Jannat's Ana Donyetou and the solo violin from Elissa's own Ayami Beek. Ma Aash Wala Kan adds a fun air of nostalgia with the 1980s pop influence coupled with some strings, even though Nader Abdallah too seems to be reworking his lyrics from Ayami Beek here. Men Gheir Monasba delves into a darker theme, that of an abusive partner, but the quintessential ballad music and beats are slower and less interesting. Eisha Wel Salam is a more jazzy Latin number, and Elissa excels with the genre. Tamim's choice of simple trumpets, strings, and solos is perfect too. Masdouma is like much of the "Egyptian chillout" Tamim excels at with Tamer Ali, except it's composed by Walid Saad. The song is sweet and pleasant but nothing groundbreaking.

Marwan Khoury makes his biggest contribution to Elissa yet here, with three songs. Amri La Rabbi, arranged by Michel Fadel, is an adequate song with hopeful lyrics. Sallemli Alaih, arranged by Nasser El As'ad, brings in the kind of rich, oriental music that Kermalak and Betmoun had. Fi Shi Enkasar is a ballad characteristic of Claude Chalhoub's classically-influenced work and truly makes Elissa's vocals shine amongst the mellow harp and the moody strings. Mohamed Rehim, the man behind the 2002 hit Agmal Ehsas, returns with the beautifully heartfelt We Byestehi as well as the album's weakest song, Eftakart. A Bali Habibi is already wowing audiences with its hopelessly romantic lyrics, but the music itself is surprisingly dull for Salim Salameh and Chalhoub. Strangely, Tamer Ali, arguably Elissa's hitmaker over the past four years, has only one song, Ma Ta'rafsh Leih. The song is another relaxed piece, but his collaboration with Claude Chalhoub is interesting. Another surprise comes with the inclusion of Law Fiyeh, a 1970s Aida Chalhoub song, composed by Elias Rahbani and renewed by Jad Rahbani.

Among the songs from the album, Elissa included a song which called “Min Ghair Munasbah” (Without An Occasion). The song deserves to be focused on and needs to be put in the spotlight because of the unique topic it holds. In the new song “Min Ghair Munasbah” Elissa discusses a very important issue which no other artist has touched upon before, especially in the same straightforward manner. The main message of the new song is about women refusing to be physically abused by men. The song talks about how a woman should never give in to any type of violence by her husband or her lover. Elissa calls out to the abused women to stand with dignity and have pride in saying no to the abuse. According to the London daily Elaph, The new song “Min Ghair Munasbah” is written by Nader Abdullah and composed by Waleed Saed. The lyrics of the song talk about how a husband who had abused his wife tries to bring her back after she left him, because she can’t put up with the abuse. He tries to sweet talk her into believing that he had changed. In the song Elissa tries to show an image of a strong woman who won’t put up with the abuse and lies that her husband has given her. The lyrics also describe how a woman who gives in to her husband’s lies usually damages her pride and is subject to be hurt many hundreds of times. The uniqueness of the song is that it was written by a male poet and he was discreet with his descriptions.

Reception

A lot of media gave positive reviews about the album stating with constant reassurance that Tsadaq Bmein is one the best albums in Elissa's well-established career and that each song has a story inside. Many Egyptian newspapers reported that Elissa's voice has grown up and got better in this album and that her romantic and classic style is noticeably getting better and clearer in each album. Most critics praised Elissa for her growing talent as an artist and performer.

Promotion

To promote the album, Rotana successfully attempted a big advertising campaign for this album, the campaign is very noticeable in major cities like Beirut and Cairo whereas other Arab cities witness a major lack for such campaign as Elissa's music is very much aimed towards the Lebanese and Egyptian market.

Elissa also promoted the album all over the Middle East, such as appearing on many TV shows for interviews and mini-concerts.

Elissa was in Egypt on the New Year's Eve concerts and precisely at the Intercontinental Semiramis, Cairo, where she performed songs from Tsadaq Bmein.

Track listing

Singles

• Tsadaq Bmein: The first single released to the radios was Tsadaq Bmein which premiered on December 17, 2009. Rotana Radio was the first to play the song. Tsadaq Bmein debuted at #2 on Njoom FM Radio and also debuted at #1 on Rotana Delta Radio. The song peaker at #4 in Fiflan Best Songs of 2009. In a surprising move, Elissa re-released this song and made a video for it in the summer of 2011, more than one year of its initial release.

• Aa Bali Habibi: Rotana News confirmed that the 2nd single was going to be Aa Bali Habibi and that Elissa decided to shoot the song as a music video. The music video director was supposed to be Waleed Nassif who filmed two music video from Elissa's previous album, "Ayami Beek". But later, Elissa confirmed through a magazine interview that the director of the single was Mazen Fayad, a commercial videos director who filmed a music video for the Lebanese singer Rola Saad. The music video premiered on Rotana Channels on June, 17, 2010. The story of the clip revolves around a love affair that brings Elissa together with her love. The events are mainly Elissa's preparation for her wedding day, for which Elissa had chosen a fancy beige color wedding gown designed by well-known Lebanese fashion designer Elie Saab. Scenes are filmed while Elissa is in her room preparing for the wedding as well as at the church where the ceremony was held.

Awards

Thanks to this album, Elissa won the 2010 World Music Award for best selling artist of the Middle East for the sales of this album.^[3]She also won the Big Apple Music Award Best Female Singer. Moreover, Elissa won the Murex d'Or award for Best Lebanese Singer and was honored for winning the World Music Award for the third time in her career. She scored four Celebrity Student Awards for Best Lebanese Singer, Best Song, Best Album and Achievement Award for winning the World Music Awards for the 3rd time in her career and being the first Lebanese to win it.^[4] In November 2010, Elissa won the Big Apple Music Award for Most Popular Middle Eastern Artist.

References

1. ^ Tsadaq Bmein by Elissa
2. ^ Elissa wins the 2010 World Music Award
3. ^ Elissa wins the 2010 World Music Award
4. ^ [1]