Chances are you most likely came across a video of a black cyberpunk-masked oud player covering Travis Scott and Playboi Carti banger ‘FE!N’ whilst lost in a reel rabbit hole on Instagram. Well, that’s Yad Oud, a Bahraini musician reinventing the traditional oud instrument through his reinterpretation of popular international tunes by the likes of Kanye West, SZA, The Eagles and Daft Punk, just to name a few.
Growing up, Yad Oud was heavily influenced by the musical style and the exceptional oud-playing techniques of accomplished Saudi singer-songwriter and composer Abadi Al-Johar, known as ‘Akhtbout al-Oud’ (the Octopus of the Oud). It’s his obsession with the Khaleeji artist’s emotional depth that shaped his playing and understanding of the Oud. “At first, I tried to imitate his oud playing on the guitar, but I quickly realized that the guitar couldn’t capture the nuances of his music, especially since it lacked microtones. That’s what pushed me to pick up the oud,” Yad Oud tells SceneNoise.
After covering Arabic songs for a few years, Yad Oud decided to start posting oud covers of his favourite English songs online in an effort to introduce the traditional Middle Eastern instrument to a wider audience in a way that feels fresh yet familiar. He slowly garnered over 84K followers on his Instagram account, and started posting covers of more popular tunes spanning various genres from rap and rock to pop. “My song selection process is very personal, I choose songs that resonate with me emotionally but also would translate well on the oud.”
Through a Middle Eastern lens, Yad Oud meticulously reimagines the chord progressions and arrangements of such tracks, adding hints of Arabic percussion in a way that doesn’t take away from the essence of the original production. “Some songs require adjusting the phrasing to better suit the oud’s expressive qualities, while others need slight changes in rhythm or ornamentation to make them feel more natural on the instrument,” he tells us. “My goal is to ensure that every cover feels organic - almost as if the song was originally meant to be played on the oud.’’ Although he is now catapulted to social media stardom in a way, he still remains adamant about revealing his true identity or appearing without a mask. “I’ve always been drawn to anonymity in artistic expression,” he says. “For me, the mask symbolises a sense of detachment from the conventional idea of a performer - it creates a sense of mystery and allows the audience to focus entirely on the music rather than on me as a person. I want listeners to connect with the feeling behind the melodies, not any specific image whatsoever.”
