Yasmin (and Zeid) Hamdan: From Soapkills To Y.A.S.

Written by ibn yemin, a friend

I can’t claim that any of this is exactly breaking news – Soapkills broke up sometime around 2008 – but this music is new to me, and for those interested in contemporary Arab indie pop and electronica, Yasmin Hamdan is a good name to know.

Hamdan is a native Beiruti who came to prominence as one half of the indie/electronica duo Soapkills. Together with Zeid Hamdan (no relation), Soapkills released 3 full-length records between 2001 and 2005: Bater, Cheftak, and Enta Fen. It’s pretty soft stuff, lots of low-key guitars, strings, and the occasional synth.



At times evocative of other downtempo lounge-style music like Gotan Project, Soapkills is uniformly pleasant to listen to, and never overbearing. Plus Yasmin has a beautiful voice.




Zeid Hamdan is pretty well-known in Lebanon for being the guy who was briefly arrested, then immediately let go, for his 2010 song “General Suleiman.”

Following the breakup of Soapkills, Yasmin teamed up with French-Afghan producer Mirwais Ahmadzai (who goes by Mirwais). Mirwais has been at it for a while, and he’s most famous for his work with Madonna in the early 2000s and his 1999 hit “Disco Science.”



Y.A.S. is a mostly straightforward electro affair, with Hamdan’s voice laid over synth stabs and a lot of keyboards. The group’s debut record Arabology (2009) works, and is listenable and engaging throughout. The tone of the album ranges from upbeat to downtempo, more in the vein of some of the original Soapkills material.



Hamdan is a real talent, to be sure, and I’ve enjoyed everything she has been associated with thus far. It’s unclear if Y.A.S. has another record coming, as it has been a couple of years since Arabology dropped, but I’m on the lookout.