The music of the United Arab Emirates stems from the Eastern Arabia music traditions. Distinctive dance songs from the area's fishermen are also well-known. Liwa (or leiwah / leywah) is a type of music and dance performed mainly in communities which contain descendants of Bantu peoples from the African Great Lakes region.
Performers in the country include Mohammed Al Muhairi (better known as Mehad Hamad), Ahlam Ali Al Shamsi, and Hussain Al Jasmi.
The UAE houses a lively underground music scene, consisting mostly of expatriates. Concentrated in Dubai, the majority of local artists play rock and metal music. Some bands also play alternative styles of music such as ska, punk, house and experimental sounds.
Yassin Alsalman, better known by his stage name The Narcicyst, was born in Dubai in 1982.
Canadian singer Karl Wolf lived in Dubai between the ages of three and seventeen, and has returned to perform in the UAE.
Wissam Khodur, better known as the Syrian/Lebanese MC Eslam Jawaad, has been living in the UAE since 2011
Notable bands
Below is an alphabetical list of UAE-based artists who have released original material commercially:
Abri - Albums: Sunchild (2008), Blank Notes (2009)
Absolace - Albums: Resolve(d) (2010), Fractals (2012)
Alison Andrews - Album: Love's a Cure (2011)
Khaleefa - Mixtape: WHAT NOW (2016)
Anuryzm - Album: Worm's Eye View (2011)
Ash Hamman - Album: Ash Hamman (2013)
Beat Antenna - EP: Half Now, Half Later (2009)
Billy Bob's Blood Drenched Brew - Album: The Split (2012)
The Boxtones - Album: In the Pockets of Clowns (2014)
Coat of Arms - Albums: This is Manslaughter (2011), Sun and Satellites (2013), DVD: Nobody Knows (2011)
Dahab - Albums: Spirit of Sinai (2009), Qabeela'h (2011)
Danny Shirran - Album: Long Time Comin' (2013)
Desert Heat - Album: When the Desert Speaks (2008)
E.Y.E. - Albums: Empty Yard Experiment (2011), Kallisti (2014)
Fatiniza - Albums: Confusion (2010), Nothing is Impossible (2012)
Gandhi's Cookbook - EP: In the Cesspool of Culture (2008)
Gayathri - Album: The Unknown (2013)
Illmiyah - Album: Stereotyped (2012)
Jennifer Gove - EP: This is my Dirt (2009)
Jonas Desai - EP: Get me Out (2008), album: A Weight Off my Mind (2008)
Juliana Down - Albums: Cause and Affect (2006), Empires (2011)
Kamal Musallam - Albums: On a Jordan River's Side (2003), Out of my City (2008), Lulu (2009), Songs for Seung-eun (2011)
Malika - Albums: Tarabu (2005), Sand Star (2011)
Moonshine - EP: Moonshine (2010)
Naree - Albums: I'm no Fool (2004), Proud (2005), In This Life or the Next (2007), Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde (2009), Naree - The Soundtrack (Vol. 1) (2010)
Nervecell - EP: Human Chaos (2004), Albums: Preaching Venom (2008), Psychogenocide (2011)
Nightmare Overdose - EP: We're All Strangers (2014)
Nikotin - EP: Short of Panodrama (2009), Album: Panodrama (2014)
Obselion - EP: The Calm Fire (2012)
Point of View - Album: Revolutionize the Revolutionary (2012)
Riff Raff - Album: By the Seat of Our Pants (2012)
Sandwash - Album: Master Blaster Hole (2010)
Sho? - EP: I Don't Wanna Go (2010)
The Flaming Trees - EP: Soldier (2009)
Tim Hassall - Album: Oh Restless Heart (2010)
Khaleefa - Mixtape: DEATH ROW (2016)
TSVET REPTILIA - Demo: Revel in Oblivion (2013), EP: Nomen Mihi Legio Est, Quia Multi Sumus (2015), Album: Venomous Transparent (2017)
Vin Sinners - Album: An Element of Surprise (2011)
