Soapkills or Soap Kills (in

Arabic Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...

الصابون يقتل read as "As-Saboun Yaqtol") is an

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

electro-pop band based in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

. The group was formed in October 1997 when

Zeid Hamdan Zeid Hamdan is a Lebanese music producer. He was named one of 8 leading lights in Lebanese culture by CNN. He has worked with many leading artists including, Soap Kills, The New Government, Katibe5, Shiftz, Hiba Mansouri, Kanjha Kora, Kazamada ...

and

Yasmine Hamdan Yasmine Hamdan ( ar, ياسمين حمدان; born 1976) is a Lebanese singer and songwriter, now based in Paris. Biography Hamdan became known with Soapkills, the duo she founded with Zeid Hamdan (no relation) while she was still living in B ...

, both born in

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

in 1976 but not related, decided to explore and combine their interest in classical Arabic song and electronic music.

History

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

group in Lebanon, Soapkills drew inspiration from both classical Arab music and the new electro scene blossoming in the Middle East. French media have described them as "

Trip hop Trip hop (sometimes used synonymously with "downtempo") is a musical genre that originated in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom, especially Bristol. It has been described as a psychedelic music, psychedelic fusion of hip hop music, hip hop ...

à l'orientale" Live - Soap Kills

arte Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plus ...

, 3 June 2003 (in German) The band's name was initially that of a song written by Zeid Hamdan, and according to him referred to the reconstruction of Beirut after the

Lebanese Civil War The Lebanese Civil War ( ar, الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية, translit=Al-Ḥarb al-Ahliyyah al-Libnāniyyah) was a multifaceted armed conflict that took place from 1975 to 1990. It resulted in an estimated 120,000 fatalities a ...

: "We thought that at the time, in the context of Beirut being ... you know, reborn, and all the war being wiped clean, we thought, wow, it's shiny and it's awful and it's soap kills. We thought it would be a nice name for a band." The group's sound was initially dominated by a

Roland MC-303 The Roland MC-303 is the first of a series of musical instruments known as a Groovebox. It combines a simple sound module with a sequencer to record and store notation, along with controls aimed at encouraging the musician to improvise the music w ...

Groovebox A groovebox is a self-contained electronic or digital musical instrument for the production of live, loop-based electronic music with a high degree of user control facilitating improvisation. The term "Groovebox" was originally used by Roland Co ...

, which Zeid Hamdan had acquired to replace musicians after the dissolution of ''Lombrix'', a rock band that he had founded in the mid-1990s with Yasmine Hamdan and others. The band appeared on several compilations, recorded the albums ''Bater'' (2001, for which it was joined by

Rabih Mroué Rabih Mroué ( ar, ربيع مروة, born 1967) is a Lebanese stage and film actor, playwright, and visual artist. Rooted in theater, his work includes videos and installation art; the latter sometimes incorporates photography, text and sculptur ...

and

Walid Sadek Walid Sadek (born in Beirut, Lebanon, 1966) is a Lebanese artist and writer. He is a professor at the Department of Fine Arts and Art History of the American University of Beirut, and held its chairmanship from 2017 to date. Life and work Walid Sa ...

playing flute and trumpet) and ''Cheftak'' (2002), and performed in Paris, Berlin, Syria, Algeria, Congo, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Sydney. In 2005, Soapkills released their last album to date, entitled ''Enta Fen''. The album featured new materials as well as remixes of their previous songs. In 2007, the band was mentioned in ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' as part of "small but artistically significant rock scene" in Beirut.

Solo projects

and

both started working on solo projects. Zeid went on to form a band called The New Government, while Yasmine met with the producer Mirwais. Together, they formed the duo

Y.A.S. Y.A.S. is an electronic music duo, formed in 2007 in Paris, France, and consists of Mirwais Ahmadzaï (keyboard/guitar) and Yasmine Hamdan (vocals). The duo began recording their debut album, '' Arabology'', in 2007. Ahmadzaï wanted to create a ...

The project places Arabic lyrics at the center of electronic beats, and the album '' Arabology'' was released in France in March 2009. Yasmine went on to release her first solo album, entitled ''Ya Nass'', which came out internationally in 2013 on

Crammed Discs Crammed Discs is an independent record label whose output blends world music, rock, pop, and electronica. Based in Brussels, Belgium, Crammed was founded in 1980 by Marc Hollander of Aksak Maboul and has since released around 375 albums and 275 ...

. In 2008 there were talks about a Best Of album, consisting of Zeid & Yasmine's most popular tracks. The project was finally carried out with and released on

in 2015.

In popular culture

Soapkills were featured in the soundtracks of many feature films in Lebanon including '' A Perfect Day'' (2005) by

Khalil Joreige Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige are Lebanese filmmakers and artists. Their work includes feature and documentary films, video and photographic installations, sculpture, performance lectures and texts. Personal life Joana Hadjithomas (b ...

and

Joana Hadjithomas Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige are Lebanese filmmakers and artists. Their work includes feature and documentary films, video and photographic installations, sculpture, performance lectures and texts. Personal life Joana Hadjithomas (b ...

. One of their songs is the main theme of ''What Shoes'' (2006), a short by

Gregory Buchakjian Gregory Buchakjian (born 1971, in Beirut, Lebanon) is a Lebanese photographer, filmmaker and art historian. He studied at the Paris-Sorbonne University. He is the director of the School of Visual Arts at Académie Libanaise des Beaux-Arts ALBA an ...

. In 2002, Soapkills collaborated with artist

Lamia Joreige Lamia Joreige (born in Beirut, Lebanon) is a Lebanese visual artist and filmmaker. She received a BFA (Painting, Filmmaking) from Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island. Since the late 1990s, her works have been widely displaye ...

and choreographer

Makram Hamdan Makram ( ar, مكرم) is a coastal town on Kamaran Island in the Red Sea. It is situated in the Al Hudaydah Governorate of Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. ...

for the ''Bater Dance Project'' a multimedia installation and performance.

Discography

;Albums *''Bater'' (2001) *''Cheftak'' (2002) *''Enta Fen'' (2005) ;Compilation albums *''The Best of Soapkills'' (2015) ;Extended plays *''Lost'' (1998) *''Live at Circus'' (1999)

References

External links

Official blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soapkills Lebanese pop music groups Electronic music duos Musical groups established in 1998 Male–female musical duos