Omar Souleyman is a dabke musician from northeastern Syria, where, before exile, he was a prolific and popular wedding performer. In 2007, his music was repackaged and resold to the world via the American record label Sublime Frequencies. Since then, Souleyman has played Glastonbury, collaborated with Björk and ended up on stage at a Nobel Peace Prize concert. Much has been written about the black-swan quality of his career trajectory, how his music—so commonplace in the Levant—became “cult” for an This story is from Kinfolk Issue Twenty-Six Buy Now Related Stories Music Issue 50 Caroline Polachek The slow burn superstar. Music Issue 50 Odd Jobs Molly Lewis, professional whistler. Music Issue 50 Behind the Scenes Film composer Emile Mosseri on the art of setting music to film. Music Issue 49 Tove Lo The pop star reflects on the big feelings behind her biggest hits. Music Issue 49 Róisín Murphy Five questions for an art-pop icon. Music Issue 46 Hun Choi DJ Hunee outlines his dance floor philosophy.
