Egyptian-born, Brooklyn-raised and Berlin-residing producer Abu Ashley dropped onto our radar recently with his debut EP Asmaa, the first release on New York label [par•ka] Records. Championing a signature Middle Eastern sound of Habibi House, his 4-track debut melts Arabic soundscapes, tribal chants and weathered Middle Eastern strings to the chime of minimal spaced-out dancefloor rhythms that would keep a bedouin desert-dancing all night.
For a debut EP Abu seems to of hit the nail on the head, engineered under the watchful eye of Tanner Ross (Soul Clap/Wolf + Lamb). The past few months has seen Abu spin everywhere from infamous Output in Brooklyn down to the Shore Club in Miami, where he’s shared the decks alongside dance music greats like Matthew Dear, Tiga, Pearson Sound, Dusky, and Kim Ann Foxman.
Peep the visuals for his track Hussein Online below, which debuted over at THUMP a few weeks back. The video sets up a colourful vision of the Arabic world, from the rural countryside to the cosmopolitan club scene in Cairo, scored by Abu’s signature habibi house music.
You can stream the full EP over on Soundcloud and purchase it over at Beatport right now.