His cadenced, silken notes and remarkable singing prowess has mesmerised anyone who has heard him sing. This young man from Kozhikode, Nadir Abdul Salam, who is settled with his parents in Qatar, is setting forth in securing more milestones in music. His flair for Arabic language is backed by a swooping and soaring voice that reaches the highest and lowest octaves with ease. The eloquent singing had fetched the 16- year-old many accolades and appreciations, but definitely his recent achievement is a note worth mentioning. Upon hearing about Nadir’s singing, popular British Singer Sami Yusuf’s music production company Andante Records signed a contract with this prodigy last month.
Today, Nadir has more reasons to cheer, for Andante Records will be shortly releasing the debut album of the 16-year-old singing sensation. Nadir’s soulful singing is characterized by his rendition of Arabic songs with impeccable dialects such as Khaliji, Lebanese, Egyptian and Algerian. The album to be released would feature 19 songs fusing Eastern and Western styles.
It has blended songs in Arabic, English, Hindi and even Malayalam.
“The recording is expected to be completed shortly in Dubai,” says Nadir, who is recently in the state with his family on a holiday. “This is the sixth album from Andante Records and I am glad I got an opportunity to sing under such a reputed band,” he says. It was during Sami Yusuf’s 2012 concert in Doha that Nadir was spotted by Andante Records. “At that time we came across a newspaper ad where the company sought talents who could sing Arabic compositions. Nadir too participated in the audition and finally five of them, including Nadir, and other singers from Lebanon, Egypt and Qatar were selected to sing for the show. After the programme, we came to know that Sami Yusuf really liked Nadir’s singing. We thought the episode just winded up there with all these praises and pats. But within a month we received a mail from Andante Records, in which they enquired about our interest in signing a contract with the company. And that’s how last month in Dubai Sami Yusuf’s representatives spoke to us and we agreed,” says his father Salam.
Today, the company hires Nadir’s musical programmes for 10,000 dollars. With his octave notes, Nadir first found himself in the public limelight at the tender age of three.
“He learnt his first Arabic song when he was four years old when Nadir participated in a kids’ music show organized by Qatar Television. He was awarded the best singer award in this show. From then there was no looking back. Until the age of 13 he received no formal training in music. It was just his talent that kept him going,” says Salam.
A turning point in his career happened when Nadir got the opportunity to sing the Qatar national song at the opening ceremony of the Doha Asian Games 2006. “I was the only boy from a different nation in that group, the rest of them were all Arabs,” recollects Nadir. Following the high profile programme, Nadir secured the opportunity to perform in more than 800 stages with different musical troupes in different languages in GCC countries. And how much of homework you do to make Arabic so fluent?
“I am very particular in learning the words and pronunciations of foreign languages, especially Arabic. It is important for the singer to understand the emotions in the lyrics. Only then it can be conveyed beautifully,” says Nadir. The Plus One student, studying in MES Indian School, Doha, has more dreams as he says, “Music won’t be a hindrance to my studies at all. I am interested in clubbing both academics and value-based singing,” he says.