Mayssa Karaa

Karaa began studying Arabic music under composer and instrumentalist Simon Shaheen while in her final year at Berklee, and soon became a guest vocalist in a few of his concerts in the United States and Canada.[13]

She was featured in a PBS special about the life of the great tenor “Enrico Caruso” filmed in Naples, Italy, titled “Enrico Caruso: His Life, His Music, His City” featuring Italian Tenor Pasquale Esposito[14][15] with whom she toured in the United States singing Italian Opera. The documentary also featured world-renowned singer Placido Domingo.[16]

She graduated Berklee in 2012, and that year joined the Berklee World Strings Orchestra to sing a Persian piece “The Passion of Rumi” by Hafez Nazeri, before touring with the group to a number of American cities.[17][18][19]

Mayssa Karaa at the premier of American Hustle in Beirut

Karaa sang the Arabic version of "White Rabbit" on the American Hustle Soundtrack, which was released on Sony Classical in 2013,[20] a psychedelic song originally by The Great Society (recorded 1966) and made famous by American band Jefferson Airplane, who released it in 1967. Karaa was in Beirut at the time[21] without access to a studio, she recorded her audition on her iPhone.[22] A week after her audition Karaa flew to Los Angeles to record the track produced by Mark Batson.[23][24]

The song is used in the scene where Victor Tellegio (played by Robert DeNiro) reveals he can speak Arabic, and it is the only song recorded specifically for the film.[25] Heather Phares of Allmusic called Karaa's interpretation "otherworldly," stating that the track "is so striking that it's one of the finest songs on an album packed with big names."[26] The Los Angeles Times stated that her version “outdoes the original."[27]

American Hustle went on to win a Golden Globe and was nominated for several Oscar Awards. Mayssa performed the song at the film's premiere in several cities, including the Dubai International Film Festival, where it premiered in Dubai.[28] In February 2014, Lebanon’s Cultural Minister Gaby Layoun gave Lebanon's National Cultural Award to Karaa at the American Hustle premiere held in Beirut. Layoun stated, “She has created a significant artistic bridge between our culture and audiences around the world. She has made an impact both in Hollywood and as a role model for young women here and abroad. In a world filled with sad days, this is one that brings us great joy and pride for Lebanon.”[29]

International families might identify her with “The Arabic Alphabet Song” from Iftah Ya Simsim the first international co-production of the American children's television series Sesame Street created in the Arab world which generated 27 million YouTube views. She’s worked on 2 other songs with them “Children are the world” and “The four seasons.”[30][31][32]

Melding Arabic influences into Western music is MAYSSA’s forte: notable recordings in her catalog include a version of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” accompanied by the band’s Scott Page.[33]

MAYSSA traveled to Detroit, Michigan to honor Rock & Roll Hall of Fame legend Bob Seger. Fronting a band organized by the distinguished producer Don Was, she performed a haunting version of Seger’s “Turn the Page” in both English and Arabic during the 22nd Annual “Concert Of Colors”in 2014 at the Orchestra Hall in Detroit, Michigan.[34][35][36]

In 2018, one of her original song, "Broken Lines" was included as a "up and coming" track on the NOW 66 compilation album distributed in the United States by Universal music USA.[37][38] The Knockturnal magazine said "the song finds cosmopolitan space somewhere between Florence Welch and Dua Lipa."[39] 

She's also had a Tamil song, "Hayati", featured in one of the biggest Tamil films in India Chekka Chivantha Vaanam's soundtrack produced by Oscar-winner AR Rahman which became a major hit in India.[40][5][4]

She launched her first single "Call Me a Stranger"[41][42] and music video of her full-length English solo debut, SIMPLE CURE to be released in June 2019.[43]