Paving his way in the music production scene over the past six months, Syrian DJ and producer Sidawrld has released multiple mashups between Arabic and International tracks that have garnered noticeable online attention. If you’ve heard any of them, you most likely played and replayed his ‘2pac - Hellrazor’ remix featuring Fayrouz’s classic ‘Hebou Baadon’, which has reached 2.4 million views on YouTube.

Mashups are nothing new, of course, but they don’t tend to include Arabic songs in the mix. YouTube is inundated with Jay-Z mixed with Kanye, or Eminem mixed with Linkin Park, or Snoop Dogg with Kirby’s Dreamworld (it’s a thing) - but due to lack of penetration in the anglosphere, the potential of Arabic tracks have mostly remained untapped. With Sidawrld, worlds finally collide in ways we would have never dreamed of, with Dr. Dre mixing beats with Umm Kulthum. Every track gets us thinking, “No way this is gonna fit,” and every time Sidawrld proves us wrong. As a kid, Sidawrld would listen to music almost constantly, especially Hip-Hop, and dream of someday becoming a producer and creating music. “I took to Arabic-International mashups because I felt that remixing a singular Arabic or a singular international song on its own might be a bit too boring,” Sidawrld tells SceneNoise. “I saw a gap in the music industry for these kinds of mashups and wanted to take the step to try and encourage listeners to open up and accept this type of music.”

When asked about what drives his decisions for which songs to pair up, Sidawrld tells us that while it’s sometimes the lyrics, he is most often influenced by the music and the overall vibe of the song. He also tells us that it’s nearly impossible for him to remix a song he isn’t fond of. Ouch.

His musical ingenuity shines through in his mashup of 2pac’s ‘Dear Mama’ and Assala’s ‘Ya Aalem’ , where the two songs’ lyrics complement each other in the most bittersweet way.

Sidawrld’s talent doesn’t stop here, as he divulged that original non-remixes are in the works, “But this needs some time and lots of support!” Sidawrld says.

You can check out the rest of his creations featuring the likes of The Weeknd, Bu Kolthoum, Migos, Elissa and much more on his YouTube channel.