Mona Najib Allows Her ‘Roots’ to Grow in Collab with Omar El-Deeb

Whether it’s wanderlust following a year of entrapment and indoor confinement, or a deeper absence of grounding and a need for knowledge of origins, Mona Najib, the Swedish-born, Los Angeles-based self-described “daughter of a nomad,” pays tribute to her North African heritage in ‘Roots’, a collaboration with Omar El-Deeb.

The L.A.-based duo, comprised of multitalented Egyptian musician, producer, film composer, and audio engineer Omar El-Deeb, and Mona Najib, who doubles as an actor and voice-over artist, stir traditional Maghrebi and North African instruments that overlap and intertwine with contemporary effects to form a cocktail of a song that appears as plentiful in its variety as their evident nomad-spirit.

With hints of the past reinvented and scattered throughout the song, ‘Roots’ is an expression of longing by the musicians, inviting their heritage to grow within their present selves.