La Tanhazim by Tarek El-Farouki

We go about our everyday listening to our go to playlist, our go to genre…till the algorithm puts something new in the middle of your listening journey.

…and sometimes, maybe rarely, we even get hit by a song that breaks traditional molds, or a song that’s inspired by a very specific mood and feel.

This is it. This is this song we’re talking about…it’s titled “La Tanhazim” which translates to “Don’t Be Defeated”.

Before delving deeper into the song, let’s get to know the talents behind the song.

“La Tanhazim” – [English: Don’t Be Defeated] – was written and performed by Tarek El-Farouki, an Egyptian artist that started his journey with music since he was a little kid.

Born in Egypt and studied architecture, when Tarek was in college he became friends with other musicians and they began to write satirical songs while working on their architectural projects.

By the end of his college years, Tarek became friends with two brothers, Ahmed Abdelkawy and Tarek Abdelkawy…they were also playing music and for quite the long time too.

The three of them jammed together till they felt like they wanted to take a step with this project and formed a band called “Feel”, that translates to “Elephant” in Arabic.

Tarek wrote the lyrics and performed, while Tarek Abdelkawy composed the music…and they began hitting different venues between 2011 and 2014.

…”Feel” ceased existing, but Tarek still had a lot of topics to discuss through his music…he did a comeback in 2021 by collaborating with professional music producers to continue his journey.

He did four songs, “Wenta Mesh Dary”, with an electronic approach and it talked about how we can get carried away and lose focus with modern life.

…”El Le’ba” with a more cozy acoustic feeling to it, it discussed the rat race that is the work and life that people hates…but are attached to it and can’t escape it.

…following the above, he did “Skoon”, exploring themes of being lost and trying to understand the world around us.

….which leads us to Tarek’s latest release “La Tanhazem” / “Don’t Be Defeated”.

The songs speaks about how we can try to hide our true self in the presence of others and how we life can put pressure on us to not be ourselves…and by the end it delivers us a truly gem of an advice that speaks to our true selves and encourages everyone to shine, reveal their light and be free of this darkness.

Firstly, the message is very relatable to everyone that is living at the moment and everybody who has ever lived, literally.

A very inclusive message that is highly needed at these times we’re living.

Secondly, as I was sharing with you in the very early paragraphs of this article…a rare occasion where you get hit by a song that has a very specific inspiration and breaks current molds…

Let me tell you how this song ticks the boxes of these two points.

One, it’s written lyrically and musically in the style of Japanese anime intro rock songs.

Secondly, it’s performed as a song in the style of an Arabic dubbed version of these songs…yes, in correct formal Arabic language.

Let me tell you something…all Japanese anime have their own intro/outro songs…we know that…

Ok, but what if I told you that a lot of the Japanese anime intro/outro songs get replaced with a completely different version when it’s dubbed into Arabic? even the music, yes.

A very famous example is the intro song of “Detective Conan”…which in English speaking countries is called “Case Closed”.

 

The intro song is completely different from the original Japanese version! (…pssst…the Arabic version is better…shhhh!)

So Tarek collaborated with Ehab Sami, a well known musician and music producer…who’s famous for being able to play almost any instrument “professionally”…yes, as if he have been playing it for a hundred years, yes.

Ehab is known for his metal roots of course, so I believe he might have really enjoyed producing “La Tanhazim” / “Don’t Be Defeated”.

The song has a very inspiring message and a very energetic musical structure to go with it…

It starts out with a very energetic intro…

Then proceeds to go into a more relaxed verse, with the piano having the spotlight…muted chugged guitar riffs creep in…taking us into the explosive and huge chorus…this is where the song’s message is shared with us…empowering us to be ourselves and just let ourselves shine.

The music production is top notch of course, guitars chugg in the verse and soar in the chorus…

…and yes, of course there is a guitar solo, gotta check that out, I won’t say anything about it.

Mixing and mastering is of the highest quality.

Tarek’s performance is the centerpiece of the whole show (yes, I am treating it as a theme song to an anime show).

It’s very difficult to sing in the correct official Arabic language and he does it extremely naturally and easily, making it sound easy! It’s not.

His performance and delivery are on point and his lyrics deliver the message clearly.

Tarek hits bullseye with this song.

Nothing stopped Tarek from getting his lyrics and music from happening, so I believe that we will be hearing more and more from Tarek…and with his ability to write many styles of songs, I am sure he has a lot of surprises up his sleeve.

We enjoyed the experience of checking Tarek’s body of work and are very excited to hear what comes next.

Highly recommended, go check his songs now and keep your eyes peeled for new releases.

Tarek, we wish you all the best in the world, we’re very proud of what you’re doing and can’t wait for more.

Cheers!

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