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After linking up together at a songwriting camp in Barcelona earlier this year, Moroccan superstar DYSTINCT and Spanish rapper Rvfv knew they needed to create music together. Two weeks later, they got into a recording studio to do just that. While it only took them three hours to write and record the song, the result was the cross-cultural 2024 summer hit “SI NO ERES TÚ”, a thumping reggaeton track incorporating lyrics in both Spanish and Moroccan Darija, a dialect of Arabic.
DYSTINCT, who himself is known for working with artists who perform in other languages, expressed his desire to mix the “beautiful language” of Arabic with other genres at every opportunity possible. “I’m always looking for new genres to discover and mix with my Arab orientated music,” DYSTINCT shared. “So when Rvfv came and suggested making a reggaeton song, I directly knew I would like to add Darija lyrics to it.” The song is part of a recent uptick in collaborations between artists performing in Spanish and Arabic, combining elements of each artist’s cultural rhythms, traditions, and language to create music for global audiences and fans.
Since collaborating with Rvfv, DYSTINCT released “COMO TU” with Colombian megastar J Balvin from his latest album Bababa World. Moroccan juggernaut ElGrandeToto and Spanish-Moroccan rapper Morad frequently worked together on music in 2025 and 2024, releasing multiple tracks. Algerian rapper Jul and Spanish artist Bad Gyal came together for the song “Maille” for the former’s album Inarrêtable. On her latest album, Arabian Heartbreak, released in September 2024, Moroccan singer Manal collaborated with Venezuelan-American artist ELENA ROSE on the melodic Moroccan shaabi-esque “FREE”. Mexican up-and-comer Immasoul worked with Moroccan singer Leil for their song “Bubu”, a vibey, Afropop breakup song part of the latter’s January album “The Birth”. Palestinian singer Amal Murkus collaborated with Latin rap legend Residente for their anthemic song “Bajo los Escombros” about Palestine, combining Arab instruments with thumping hip-hop production. And Lebanese indie artist Dana Hourani released a remix of her summer smash “Ana” with Colombian rapper Deny K.
All of these collaborations were just in 2024.
That’s not to mention the collaborations between Algerian juggernaut Soolking and Ozuna, KAROL G and Moroccan artist Lartiste, and Palestinian singer Mohammad Assaf and Gente De Zona, among others, in recent years.
Some artists are even exploring these languages and genres on their own, looking to broaden their fanbase and tap into other global markets. Lebanese pop icon Ragheb Alama tried his hand with a reggaeton-lite song, “Beirut Wala Roma”, a stark departure for a singer known for creating traditional Arab pop music. The song even features an uncredited bridge in Spanish. He also created an official Arabic remix of the song “Good Stuff” by Shakira, herself Colombian-Lebanese, in 2014 as part of Alama’s album “Habib Dehkati”. Rita L’Oujdia, a UK-based Moroccan artist, has slowly gained notoriety for her frequent fusions of Moroccan, Latin, and Spanish production, such as in her song “Perreo Triste”.
The growing interest in tapping into global sounds and audiences, coupled with the worldwide phenomenon that is Latin and Spanish music as a whole—especially reggaeton and dembow—is paving the way for more cross-cultural collaborations between artists performing in Arabic and artists performing in Spanish. But these types of collaborations are hardly new, and the influence that Spanish music in particular has had on Arabic music and vice versa dates back generations to the 8th century, when Arab instruments—including the oud, an ancestor of the Spanish guitar—were introduced to southern Spain and even shaped flamenco music.
Migration also influenced this fusion of cultures and sounds, as large swaths of the Arab diaspora reside in Spain and in Latin American countries. North African migration to Spain and Portugal played an intricate role in the spread and fusion of Arab instruments and melodies. Morocco and Spain, in particular, have a long, intertwined history because of this migration and their close geographical proximity. Arab-Berber rulers controlled much of present-day Portugal, Spain, and Spain in an area known as Al Andalus.
For nearly 800 years, that presence in the Iberian Peninsula impacted language, food, traditions, and other aspects of what are currently common elements of Spanish and Portuguese culture. And Arab artists have long honoured this fusion in some classic releases. “Li Beirut”, a beautifully haunting ballad by Lebanese icon Fairuz released in 1984, interpolates its melody from the “Concierto de Aranjuez”, a 1939 classical guitar piece by Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo.
In the 90s, many artists created nostalgic hit songs by fusing the sounds of the Spanish guitar and the rhythms of the Arab darbuka drum. Egyptian icon Amr Diab has famously built his career off this, with songs like “Nour El Ain”, “El Alem Allah”, and “Tamally Maak” all incorporating elements of Spanish guitar. Other artists like Alama, Lebanese pop star Elissa, and Egyptian singer Mostafa Amar also collaborated with Spanish guitar bands in the late ’90s and early ‘00s.
This trend continues to thrive today, with artists like TUL8TE, TiiwTiiw, and Nordo incorporating this instrumentation heavily in their music. North African artists, generally speaking, remain the driving force behind this fusion and its widespread popularity. The colonial rule of Spain over Latin American countries, as well as the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, also fueled Arab migration primarily from present-day Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, and Jordan.
Yet these Arab immigrants were not necessarily welcome with open arms initially, largely due to racism toward Arabs and in favour of European immigration. In Mexico, for example, the government enacted a law discriminating against the immigration of Arabs, Armenians, and Turks to the country. Other Latin American governments established migration ministries to regulate immigration, targeting people coming from the Middle East and North Africa.
Despite facing discriminatory immigration policies, Arab immigrants transformed Latin America’s economy, dominating the textile industry and founding many of the region’s most successful family businesses. Before World War II, they owned factories producing 75% of Brazil’s silk, 90% of Chile’s textiles, and half of Argentina’s.
Today, the influence of this migration can be seen, heard, and felt across many aspects of culture in Latin American countries. For music, this kind of influence is readily seen through the success of artists like Shakira, Elyanna, and Peso Pluma, all products of Arab migration to this region. Shakira herself incorporated Arabic lyrics in her song “Ojos Así” and other elements of her Lebanese ancestry in official remixes to both “Ojos Asi” and “Whenever, Wherever”. To this day, particularly during live performances, Shakira showcases Arab dances and musicality through her belly dancing, her use of Arab instruments, and, notably, doing a zarghouta during the Super Bowl Halftime Show in 2020.
Artists and bands like Alabina, Labess, Tres Mundos, and Hanine y Son Cubano formed to blend Arab instruments and the Arabic language with Spanish guitar, reggaeton, and salsa, respectively.
At the peak of reggaeton’s popularity in the mid-00s, Don Omar flew to Egypt to work with Shaabi singer Hakim on their seminal hit “Tigi Tigi”, which even included a press conference in Cairo at the time to announce the collaboration and the release of the song. In 2012, Algerian raï icon Khaled released the song “Hiya Hiya” with Mr Worldwide himself, Pitbull, and production from Moroccan powerhouse RedOne. Palestinian rap pioneer Shadia Mansour collaborated with Chilean emcee Ana Tijoux on their 2014 release “Somos Sur”, a booming anthem centred on resistance. Remixes have also played a significant part in bringing together artists from the Middle East and North Africa and artists from Latin America and Spain.
The aforementioned Hakim released the album “Buried Treasures” in 2012, which featured reggaeton remixes of some of his most popular songs. RedOne and Moroccan pop star Hatim Ammor collaborated with Enrique Iglesias, Descemer Bueno, and El Micha for an Arabic version of the latter’s hit “Nos Fuimos Lejos” in 2018. And the ever-popular Marc Anthony and Gente De Zona collab “La Gozadera” also got an Arabic version in 2017 that featured Moroccan artists Abd El Fattah Grini and Jamila.
Of course, there was also the official FIFA 2022 World Cup anthem that featured Lebanese singer Myriam Fares, Maluma, and Nicki Minaj. The uptick in this fusion has only proven that these types of collaborations are here to stay.
With the renewed global attention on Arabic music, the desire to explore Latin and Spanish culture, melodies, and sounds, and a natural affinity between the Middle East and North Africa and Spain and Latin America, listeners can expect more music from artists performing in Arabic and artists performing in Spanish.
