Naim Popal (
Pashto
Pashto (,; , ) is an Eastern Iranian language in the Indo-European language family. It is known in historical Persian literature as Afghani ().
Spoken as a native language mostly by ethnic Pashtuns, it is one of the two official languages ...
/
Dari
Dari (, , ), also known as Dari Persian (, ), is the variety of the Persian language spoken in Afghanistan. Dari is the term officially recognised and promoted since 1964 by the Afghan government for the Persian language,Lazard, G.Darī ...
: ) (born 18 June 1954) is an Afghan singer, songwriter, and composer.
In 2006, Popal returned to perform for a New Year concert in Afghanistan after 30 years in exile.
Biography
Naim Popal was born on 18 June 1954, into a
Popalzai
Popalzai or Popalzay ( ps, پوپلزی), also known as Popal, are Durrani (formerly called Abdali or Bor Tareen) Pashtuns of Afghanistan. The Popalzai are part of the Zirak confederation of Pashtun tribes. The origin of the Abdali forefathers ...
family, in the Demazang district in
Kabul
Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...
, Afghanistan. His father, Sayed Ahmad, worked at the Ministry of Energy while his mother, Rabia, took care of home duties. He is the middle child amongst five brothers and four sisters. His passion for music began at the age of nine, where he began singing and playing harmonium for his friends and classmates. His sister in law support him at the time a lot to make his music career. He attended the high schools of Habibiya and Shahey Du Shamshera. At Shahey Du Shamshera, he started a band called "Lalaha" (The Tulips). The name originated from a 1963 French film starring
Alain Delon
Alain Fabien Maurice Marcel Delon (; born 8 November 1935) is a French actor and filmmaker. He was one of Europe's most prominent actors and screen sex symbols in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. In 1985, he won the César Award for Best Actor for h ...
, whom Naim had greatly admired in his youth. The band consisted of Samey Khaluqi on drums, Nazer Baluch on bass guitar, Waqil Rawoufi on lead guitar, while Naim served as the vocalist and keyboardist. The band gained fame among the youth in Kabul and held many concerts in Kabul, Mazari Sharif, and Jalal-Abad. Eventually, Naim wanted to embark as a solo artist and approached Radio Kabul for a potential career.
At the age of 18, Naim arrived at
Radio Kabul
Radio Afghanistan, also known as Radio Kabul or Voice of Sharia, is the Public broadcasting, public radio station of Afghanistan, owned by Radio Television Afghanistan. The frequencies are 1107 kHz (AM) and 105.2 MHz (FM) for the Kabul area. The ...
for auditions. The studio executives were impressed with his marketable good looks and his soft, mesmerizing vocal range. They immediately asked him to bring in musicians and record a few singles. During the summer of 1972, Naim released his first single, "Laila Nowroz Ast". The song became an instant classic and launched the young Naim as a household name. At the same time, he worked as a sound technician at Afghan Film alongside Ahmad Zahir, who was also a talented singer and would have a major influence on Naim's artistic spirit. Naim also worked at Radio Kabul as a producer for one of their popular game shows, ''Musabequay Zeeni''. While recording at Radio Kabul, Naim released many singles that were featured on compilations released by the Ariana Music and Afghan Music record labels. Memorable songs from this time period are "Marday Tanha" and "Simin Bari Gul", which highlight Naim's singing abilities. As his music career thrived, Naim began headlining various festivals and performing at concerts throughout Afghanistan.
By 1975, Naim had reached superstardom in his native country and strove to expand his career to the next level. He consequently decided to leave Kabul for the thriving Iranian music scene. When Naim arrived in
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...
, he met up with close friend and fellow musician Khalil Ragheb. Together, they began playing music at small concerts and festivals in Tehran and
Mashad
Mashhad ( fa, مشهد, Mašhad ), also spelled Mashad, is the second-most-populous city in Iran, located in the relatively remote north-east of the country about from Tehran. It serves as the capital of Razavi Khorasan Province and has a po ...
. Naim became a superstar in Iran and was cherished alongside the many elite singers of that time such as
Googoosh
Faegheh Atashin ( fa, فائقه آتشین; born 5 May 1950), known professionally as Googoosh ( fa, گوگوش, ), is an Iranian singer and
former actress. One of the most popular and prolific entertainers in Iran, her career has spanned over ...
,
Dariush
Dariush ( fa, داریوش; also spelled ''Darioush'', ''Daryoush'' or ''Daryoosh'') is a common Persian male given name in Iran. Dariush is composed of ''dāraya-'' old+ ''vash-'' ood meaning "holding firm the good".
It was the throne name of D ...
,
Ebi
Ebrahim Hamedi ( fa, اِبراهیم حامدی, also Romanized as "Ebrāhim Hāmedi"; born 1949), better known by his stage name Ebi (Persian: ), is an Iranian pop singer who first started his career in Tehran, gaining fame as part of a ban ...
and many others. He recorded two tapes during this era with Khalil Ragheb; they took turns singing and composing tracks on both tapes. The duo also filmed several videos (which can be found on YouTube) for Rangarang Television, the mainstream Iranian music program, such as "Faghan Faghan", "Gunga Shawe Yaar", "Alisher-e-Khoda", and "Delakam". Memorable studio songs from this time period are "Shabgard", which speaks of a broken heart, and "Alisher-e-Khoda", which speaks of his love of spirituality. In "Shabgard" he showcases his true vocal ability by hitting notes that would be considered difficult by most singers and setting the standard by delivering those notes with ease.
When the Iranian Revolution occurred, Naim moved to the United States, where he continued his career in the city of Los Angeles. During that time, he began working with composers/arrangers such as
Hassan Shamaizadeh
Hassan Shamaizadeh ( fa, حسن شماعیزاده, also Romanized as Hasan-é Šamâ'izâde; born January 15, 1943 in Isfahan) is an Iranian pop singer, songwriter and saxophonist. Over the past three decades, he composed songs for artists ...
, Ustad Shawali Taranasaz, Manouchehr Cheshmazar, Andranik and Naweed Nahwi. The result of these collaborations you can hear on the tape ''Aashenha'', which is widely considered to be one of the greatest Afghan/Persian albums of all time. The lush arrangements and superb vocals showcased an artist that would melt the heart of millions. After ''Aashenha'' was released, Naim travelled all across the US, singing for thousands of Afghan and Persian families who had migrated to the US due to political turmoil in their home countries. He was the only Afghan singer who was entertaining families during the 1980s, the vast majority of other singers were still in Afghanistan, singing under the Communist Regime.
Throughout the '80s, he released several tapes for the Afghan community, including ''Shahkhaye Bishkasta'' in 1984, produced by Homayoon Jan, owner of Zazoo's restaurant in
Oakland, CA
Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay ...
. Other tapes released were ''Ashq-E-Asemon'', ''Mataab'' and ''Sitayeshgar''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Popal, Naim
1954 births
Living people
Afghan emigrants to the United States
20th-century Afghan male singers