Kareem Salama

Kareem Salama

Kareem Salama (in Arabic كريم سلامة), is an Egyptian American musician (born in Ponca City, Oklahoma in 1978). He is known as the first American Muslim country music singer. His music is a hybrid of country, pop and rock music. He has released 2 albums Generous Peace and This Life of Mine and a third is under preparation for release in 2011 on LightRain Records.

Career

Salama's parents immigrated to the United States in the late 1960s to attend graduate school. Kareem Salama, literally translates to Generous Peace, that he also used as title of his first album. He holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma and a graduate degree in Law from the University of Iowa.

Salama has performed in front of wide audiences as far as Rome and London. He also took part in a State Department European concert tour, performing in Paris. He has been featured in major media outlets like the New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, Readers' Digest, Fox News, Sky News and France 24. Salama was also invited to dinner at the White House where he met President Barack Obama who said to Salama "You can sing!". In October 2008, he also performed during the Global Peace and Unity (GPU) event.

After the success of the first two self-released albums Generous Peace and This Life of Mine, Salama is now working on his first mainstream worldwide release during 2011 through LightRain Records to which he is signed. Kareem continues to work with friend and producer Aristotle Mihalopoulos as well as producers Rich Whiting and Dan Workman (whose credits include artists such as Beyonce and Clay Walker).

"Generous Peace EP" is his debut single, with fully remastered version of the original recording from the album. The main track in English is seconded by a blingual English / Arabic rendition with additional refrain in Arabic.

Salama also embarked on a Middle East tour in summer 2010. visiting Egypt, Morocco, Syria, Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain. Upon his return, he has released two music videos, the promotional "Makes Me Crazy" and the official release "Be Free Now" featuring Kelley Peters.

Influences

Salama never planned on making a music album, but in his household the rule was “if the opportunity is available and your heart inclines towards something, then don’t be afraid to give it a try.” This philosophy led Salama to begin song-writing as a way to memorize classical western poems like John Donne’s “A Valediction Forbidding Mourning”.

With his parent’s encouragement and financial assistance, both American-trained engineers, Salama began recording his first album while in law school with Greek-American producer, Aristotle Mihalopoulos. Salama says of Mihalopoulos: "Initially, Aristotle and I met for the sole purpose of making music but his friendship has become more valuable to me than any material success I may find in the music world. The bond I made with Aristotle and his family confirmed that good comes from listening to the good inspiration in my heart; even it is not the good you may have set out to reach."

Salama was born and raised in a small town at the edge of Green Country in Oklahoma. When talking about his birthplace Salama says:

Oklahoma, like me, is a place where cultures meet and dance. Oklahoma is a hybrid of Southern, Western and Native American culture and thanks to my mother’s insatiable desire to learn and experience all of it she made sure that I was immersed in all of it.

As a child, I went to Indian tribal powwows, heard country music artists at the county fair and watched my favorite cowboys at the rodeo every year. My mother would take us to nearby western Arkansas just to watch an outdoor play in an amphitheater. My parents would take us to Branson, Missouri in the summertime where we’d watch live shows, listen to bluegrass music and make wax candles like it was done in the old times. They even took us to Opryland and the famous Grand Ole Opry in Tennessee.

He has memorized classical western poetry and classical Arabic poetry. He enjoys boxing and riding horses. But perhaps most interestingly this son of Egyptian immigrants is a singer/songwriter with a country and pop flare. When asked about his interest in things that seem opposite Salama says:

In the traditional world, philosophers knew that to understand one thing you needed to understand everything; in other words things are connected. At times things only seem incompatible because our information is incomplete or our perception is flawed. For example one might think that boxing has no relation to horse back riding. But just as a horse’s power must be tamed a fighter must learn to tame his ego and his anger.

While in school, Salama made time to work on his music with a friend and producer Aristotle Mihalopoulos. Salama says that his music is inspired by a variety of things including his own experiences, experiences of friends and family, and things that he reads. As a result of growing in Oklahoma Salama was around country music from the time he was very young and is attracted to the stories and the reverent nature of country music.

Salama highlights universal themes about love, home and family values. His songs are spiritual, without being overtly religious. One inspired by the writings of an eighth-century Islamic scholar, Imam Muhammed Al-Shafi’ee, endorses the idea of tolerance and avoiding violence in his debut single "Generous Peace": “Gentleman, I’m like incense, the more you burn me, the more I'm fragrant.”

The WitWits

The WitWits is a television youth project by Kareem Salama about four kids, Kelly Ann, Super K, Spencer, and Dougie and their adventures in the 1980s, particularly in facing their nemesis, Rodney. The project includes various television episodes, theatrical music videos as well as musical releases including promotional materials, singles with their debut "Radio Countdown" and a prospective album.

Discography

Albums

Salama has released two albums thus far:

2006: Generous Peace

Untitled

• Get Busy Living
• Baby I'm a Soldier
• A Land Called Paradise
• Valley
• Hold On
• Peace Remain
• Come Now
• Lady Mary
• Chivalry's Not Dead

2007: This Life of Mine

Untitled

• This Life of Mine
• Generous Peace
• More Than
• I Miss You (Hopefully)
• Rise Up Protectors
• My Tears Aren't Pure
• It Came to Be
• A Friend Like You
• Get Busy Living (Acoustic)
• My Way Home
• Aristotle and Averroes

Singles

2010: "Generous Peace" (EP)

"Kareem Salama"
Song

Tracklist:

1. Generous Peace
2. Generous Peace (Pop Remix)
3. Generous Peace (Acoustic Remix)
4. When I Fall (Bonus track)
5. Generous Peace Arabic
6. Generous Peace Arabic (Pop Remix)
7. Generous Peace Arabic (Acoustic Remix)

Videography

• "Generous Peace" [1] (music video directed by Lena Khan)
  • "Generous Peace" (Arabic) [2]
• "Makes Me Crazy" [3]
• "Be Free Now" (feat. Kelley Peters) [4]
• "1980 Something" (feat. The WitWits) [5]

Kareem Salama in popular culture

• On May 9, 2007, Kareem Salama was interviewed on Fox News about various Muslim American issues.
• A reportage and brief interview about him was broadcast on France 24.
• In March 2008, he was interviewed on Arab Radio and Television Network (ART) program "From America" by Jihan Mansour. He also performed live renditions of some of his songs with Aristotle Mihalopoulos
• On 13 July 2008, he was interviewed on Sky News by Adam Boulton.
• In December 2007, two thousand Muslim Americans were asked what they wished to say to the rest of the world. Some of their answers were used in the video presentation, using Kareem Salama's song. Lena Khan used Kareem Salama song "A Land Called Paradise" and put out an independent video based on the various quotations received from the survey of Muslim Americans.

External links

• Kareem Salama Official website
• Kareem Salama MySpace site
• Kareem Salama Official YouTube site
• Kareem Salama Facebook page
• Kareem Salama Twitter page