Bashar Murad (Arabic: بشار مراد; born 7 February 1993) is a Palestinian singer-songwriter and video artist based in East Jerusalem. His music addresses societal norms, the Israeli occupation, and gender equality in the Middle East. He is most commonly known for his collaboration with Icelandic techno-punk band Hatari on the song "Klefi / Samed (صامد)", which was shortly released after Hatari raised banners featuring the Palestinian flag at the final of Eurovision Song Contest 2019 in Tel Aviv, Israel.[1][2][3][4]Murad released his debut EP "Maskhara" in June 2021.
Murad was born in East Jerusalem in 1993. His mother's name is Fadia Daibes and his father is Said Murad, the founder of the Palestinian musical group, Sabreen, the first alternative Palestinian musical group.[5] The band was founded in 1980 and Murad was born during the height of their career.[1] This is one reason why for him, music was always part of his identity and a means to escape from reality.[1] Music helped him to overcome the pressure from growing up in an occupied territory and growing up homosexual in a conservative society.[1][6]
Upon graduating from the Jerusalem American School, he pursued his Bachelor's degree at Bridgewater College, VA.[7][6] In the US, he realized that not a lot of his co-students knew much about Palestine, yet they wanted to know more about it. This made him realise that he did not want to escape politics and started covering these issues in his music.[4] Since his return to East Jerusalem in 2014 and after he published several singles in Arabic and English on his YouTube Channel, he built an online audience.[4]
Murad started his career by uploading cover versions of popular songs on his YouTube channel which he created in 2009. Later, he added a Middle Eastern touch to the songs by using typical instruments in his covers before he started creating his own songs.[8]
The majority of his songs are produced by himself in the local record studios of Sabreen Association for Artistic Development.[7] Occasionally, Murad gets grants or other support by organizations and programs such as the Culture Resource Production Awards Program that enabled him to realise the song "Shillet Hamal (Bunch of Bums)".[9] The song is about the feeling of being different and not fitting in.[5] The music video features several people that chose alternative paths of life and thus, can understand this feeling.
For his single "Ana Zalameh (I'm a Man)", Murad worked together with the United Nations. The UN Women's “Men and Women for Gender Equality Regional Programme” produced the song which is about the developments of gender roles in Palestine and told from the perspective of a 10 years old boy.[7]