Pop Music

Nasrin Kadri, who began life on rough Arab streets near the docks in Haifa and has now, at 33 years old, ascended to the pinnacle of pop in the Jewish state. The biggest concert venues, the judging dais of “The Voice,” A-list duets—all belong to Nasrin… 

Yaron Ilan, an influential Mizrahi radio host, sees a generational change. People around his age, 50, still call the music Mizrahi or Mediterranean. “They still think of the Mediterranean sound as something different from Israeli music,” and that has changed among younger listeners, he said. To them, what Nasrin is singing is Israeli music—and she’s doing it not in small clubs but in the Menorah Arena, the biggest indoor venue in the city. 

Matti Friedman, Israel’s Rihanna is Arab and Jewish,” NYTimes, February 2020.