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Singer Maya Waked talks nostalgia, identity, and performing for Dubai’s diverse audiences
Ahead of her performance in Dubai, the Lebanese musician reflects on her borderless sound and the city's evolving creative energy
- PUBLISHED: Wed 9 Jul 2025, 5:14 PM
Maya Waked took the stage with little more than a mic, a heart full of memory, and songs soaked in nostalgia. Her voice carries the essence of operettas once heard during Beirut family gatherings in the '80s, the echo of Arabic lyrics layered gently over French folk, and the improvisational heartbeat of jazz.
The singer is now preparing for her upcoming performance at Zabeel Theatre in Dubai this November. But more than a concert, Maya sees it as an opportunity to connect with a city that, in many ways, reflects the layered, multicultural nature of her music.
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“Every performance in Dubai is different,” she says in a chat with City Times at a coffee shop. She's warm, courteous, and clear-eyed about her work and the world around it. “We all come from somewhere else — but we’re pouring that into the spirit of this place. That’s what makes Dubai so special.”
It’s a sentiment that recurs often in our conversation — the idea of places shaping people, and people reshaping their sense of home through art.
Raised in a household where Fairouz and Rahbani operettas were a constant presence, Maya’s relationship with music began early. “In Lebanon, music was the way we lived. It was how we expressed emotions,” she says. “It was constant, especially during the war.”
But it wasn’t until she left Lebanon that she found her solo voice. Moving to Canada marked a turning point. “Expatriation changes something in you,” she says. “It sparked the need to express myself, not just through other people’s songs, but my own.”
Her first solo album, Helm Majnoun, released in 2010, reimagined classics from her childhood — an attempt, she explains, to preserve memory while translating it for new ears.
Music that doesn’t fit a box
Ask Maya to describe her music and she’ll avoid any simple labels. “Offbeat,” she says. “Not mainstream. Not defined. That freedom is important to me.”
Her songs often blend languages — Arabic, French, English — and borrow from a variety of traditions. Whether it's French folk, Russian melodies, or jazz improvisation, Maya reshapes each influence with a Lebanese soul.
“You don’t need to understand the words to feel the music,” she says. “That’s what I try to create: bridges, not borders.”
It’s an approach that resonates particularly well in Dubai, where her audiences are as diverse as the city itself. “You feel the mix of languages, of stories, of emotional needs,” she says. “Each show here feels new.”
Throughout her career, Maya has made a conscious effort to speak to, and for, Arab expats. Whether performing in Canada, Italy, or the UAE, she finds audiences who long for connection.
She says, “People miss the music they grew up with. They want to hear something that reminds them of home but feels relevant to where they are now.”
For her upcoming Zabeel Theatre show, she promises to take the audience on a journey; a performance that’s intimate and varied, a mix of reinterpretations and original work meant to evoke both joy and reflection.
“I want the audience to feel like they’ve travelled with me,” she says. “And that they carry that energy the next day.”
Writing, then and now
In addition to music, Maya is also a published novelist. Her three books, written in both Arabic and French, explore themes of family, displacement, and identity. “They’re different formats,” she says, “but both tell stories.”
She notes that music gives listeners more room for interpretation. “A novel has characters. A song becomes what the listener needs it to be.”
Her next songs, currently in development, explore new ground — lighter, more playful takes on gender dynamics and modern relationships.
“They’re humorous, sarcastic even. But still thoughtful. I’m curious to see how people respond.”
Maya doesn’t have a five-year plan in the strict sense, but she knows she wants to keep telling stories. Through new music, live shows in Europe and the Gulf, and perhaps by eventually tapping into a younger audience.
She’s also open to letting her songs find life online — whether on Instagram or possibly TikTok, the unavoidable cultural amplifiers of the moment.
“I’m not active on TikTok,” she says, “but I understand its power. It’s changed the way music is heard and shared. Before, we had cassettes, CDs, the radio. Now? A reel can carry your song across the world.”
While she’s more active on Instagram and YouTube, she acknowledges that the rules of music have changed, and that being an artist now means also being a digital storyteller, willing to let your song live in places you might not expect.
For now, she’s focused on her Dubai show and on continuing to shape a sound that, like the city she’s performing in, doesn’t quite fit any single box.
"More production, more songs, and performances" she says, "with a lot of new themes and new stories to tell."
