Hamdan Al Abri

Hamdan Al Abri has been the voice of Dubai's live soul scene for the better part of two decades — first fronting ABRI, one of the UAE's pioneering original-music acts, then as a solo artist whose voice drew comparisons far beyond the Gulf's cover-band circuit.

In a city whose music economy long favored imported entertainment, Al Abri's persistence — original songs, local stages, year after year — made him a proof of concept for a homegrown Dubai scene, and an elder statesman to the wave of Emirati and resident artists now following.