A collaboration with Spotify, a deal with a major label, 3 billion views on TikTok and he’s only released two songs. Meet Issam Alnajjar.
The Jordanian teenager shot to fame overnight after releasing Hadal Ahbek in March this year.
To date, Issam has over 200k followers on Instagram and 730k subscribers on his YouTube channel. His channel only has a smattering of home-recorded covers and just two original songs: Hadal Ahbek and One Of A Kind.
One Of A Kind is a laid-back blues love song and was released in 2020, but it was with his seminal release Hadal Ahbek that his music took off.
Hadal Ahbek (I will always love you) is an instantly likeable acoustic pop song, with an irresistible catchy “Ra-pa-pa-pa-ra-pa-ra-pa” in the chorus.
First gaining traction on Tik Tok, the song exploded worldwide as a viral hit, and has 3 billion views to date. It is also the first Arabic song to reach #1 on Spotify’s Global Viral playlist and Shazam’s Top 200 Global Chart.
He was quickly signed to Spotify’s RADAR program, a scheme launched in March 2020 to promote emerging talent. This scheme led to him collaborating with US DJ duo Loud Luxury and Iraqi-Canadian singer-songwriter Ali Gatie for an international version of the song Hadal Ahbek, renamedTurning Me Up.
The viral star also caught the attention of music industry executives and he is one of the first artists signed to the freshly launched Universal Arabic Music, co-founded by the Wassim “Sal” Slaiby, manager for the Weeknd.
With an enthusiastic fan base and no sign of stopping soon, Issam Alnajjar is only just getting started.
