Omar Souleyman

Omar Souleyman is a Syrian singer and farmer from the village of Tell Tamer near the city of Ra's al-'Ayn in the northeastern region of Syria. He started his career as a part-time wedding singer in his native al-Hasakah Governorate, and while himself a Sunni Arab, he emphasises the influence its culturally diverse milieu has had on his style: "My music is from the community I come from – the Kurdish, the Ashuri, the Arabic, they're all in this community. Even Turkish because it's so near, it's just across the border. And even Iraqi."