Artist Spotlight: Nai Barghouti
The Palestinian singer expands on her technical singing mastery and her refusal to separate her music from her identity.
Palestinian artist Nai Barghouti has become a defining voice of a generation, breathing new life into timeless classics with her masterful singing. A fixture in concert halls across the globe, Barghouti serves as a cultural anchor for the Palestinian and broader Arab diaspora, uniting communities through the songs that define their heritage.
Following her performance at Utrecht’s Le Guess Who? 2025, we sat down with Barghouti to discuss her collaboration with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta and her signature technique: 'Naistrumentation' (or DandaNai in Arabic), a playful yet complex style where she mirrors intricate instrumental passages with her voice. We also delved into her perspective on the artist’s role in society and her refusal to view art as a vacuum.
Nai explains that she stands firmly against the argument of "art for art’s sake." To her, an artist cannot choose to connect with the world only when it serves their popularity, then retreat into silence when the world faces hardship. "A human is a human first before being anything else," she insists. To her, music is an extension of her identity, and she refuses to be separated from the realities of the world or the struggle of her people.
Watch the full interview here:
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