Following an open call for applications launched in January, we selected 6 Lebanon-based artists to take part in a music production residency in Cairo from the 12th to the 20th of April 2025. The residency was curated and led by Tunisian producer/DJ Deena Abdelwahed and was in partnership with WRST Collective. The residency program included exercises on building your artistic identity, finding your sound, experimenting on Ableton Live, and working on new music productions.
We collaborated with Cairo Jazz Club and invited local Egyptian sound engineer Nazli Reda to give the participants a workshop on live performance set up and walk them through the D Day checklist and soundcheck technicalities. The talented El Waili has also invited us to his studio for a workshop focused on sound composition and layering.
The residency was wrapped up with a private networking session at UG Social with key artists and professionals in Egypt.
Get to know the 6 artists below: (alphabetical order)
Joanna Eid
Joanna Eid is a Lebanese interdisciplinary artist working across musicology, filmmaking, and the performing arts. She began her artistic journey learning guitar and singing, expanding her studies into music theory and composition.
Throughout her career, Joanna has participated in various live performances, blending music, acting and dancing. The exploration of the interconnected worlds of sound and physical expression led to her first dance piece “Hezz”, set to a track she produced herself. Her work continues to uncover how these two mediums can complement, influence, or challenge one another to create new artistic forms.
Currently, Joanna is delving deeper into the fusion of beats, sounds, and textures — moving beyond traditional music structures — to craft immersive soundscapes for her performances.
Her ongoing exploration reflects a personal and artistic evolution, blurring the lines between sound and movement in pursuit of new creative expressions.
Kays
Kays, a South Lebanese music producer, who bridges tradition and innovation through a bold fusion of oriental sounds and electronic textures. Since 2019, his work has evolved from early hip hop and techno experiments into a distinctive sound shaped by the rhythms of traditional Lebanese Zaffeh.
Driven by a vision to modernize folkloric soundscapes, Kayscrafts immersive experiences where ancestral melodies meet contemporary beats. His music invites listeners into a world that’s both rooted and futuristic—honoring heritage while pushing the boundaries of sound.
Lena Cherkaoui
Lena Cherkaoui is an established DJ and emerging music producer based in Beirut who’s currently exploring her sound and finding her voice as an artist. Her music explores the intersection of Arabic rhythms and trap influences, drawing inspiration from styles like trap sha3bi, though she’s not sticking to any one genre. Lena’s style thrives on fusing contrasting elements, often combining textures from various genres into a single track that stands out as uniquely her own.
In addition to her DJ sets, Lena is currently working on her debut EP and building collaborations with hip-hop artists in Lebanon and the region. Her goal is to keep exploring and pushing her sound, while staying true to the energy that first drew her to music.
Maud Zeinoun
Maud is a Beirut-based singer, composer, and music producer. With a background in cinema, she began by blending field recordings, ambient textures, and film monologues into immersive, narrative-driven pieces. Over time, her sound evolved into a genre-defying fusion of electronica and post-punk, marked by raw vocals and unsettling atmospheres that explore emotional themes and challenge taboos around mental health.
Nooreddin
Nooreddin is a Lebanese songwriter and producer, crafting shaabi tunes for the ones who feel shaabi. He keeps it raw, simple, and straight to the feels–bendy vocals, and stripped-down lyrics.His music is for the sad chads drowning in broken promises and overdue bills, powered by heavy synths and bass thick enough to bust your trunk… and drown out the sound of you crying alone in your car.
Yousef Zaher
Yousef Zaher is a Lebanese experimental composer, performer and a saxophone player. Away from the traditional role of the saxophone as a mere melodic instrument, he celebrates the diverse textures and sounds it can produce. This approach influences his compositions, where he blends these textures with electronic sounds, creating an experimental sonic landscape.
His music is deeply inspired by the overstimulating chaos of life in Lebanon. It’s his way of processing this anarchy—sometimes by challenging it, other times by embracing it. He often finds himself translating emotions like love and grief, triggered by the chaos, into sound.
In his view, music is most meaningful and true when improvised live. Especially, when those improvisations get layered upon each other, the feeling at the instance gets amplified and easily communicated to the audience. That’s exactly what he aims to share in his performances.
These artists will be programmed in the upcoming edition of our yearly international festival this December so keep an eye out on our social media pages for more details!
This residency is part of the MASAR program and was funded by the Institut Francais.