Singer-songwriter Abdul Rahman Hajaj, better known as simply Hajaj, grew up in the port of Jeddah, at a time when the Saudi Arabian regime severely restricted musical and other artistic expressions. Fortunately, he came from a family who cherished the arts, and a home filled with music, from Feiruz and Talal Maddah to Paco de Lucia and Pharrell. All these influences are present in his warm, rich sound and slightly melancholic, but at the same time catchy songs. After spells in cities such as Los Angeles and Barcelona, he eventually ended up in London, where he met producer Aidan Glover. Glover, along with a number of top musicians from the London jazz scene, worked on Hajaj’s breakthrough EP Last Call For Coco (2021), which is a twenty-minute epic about love, loss, and mental struggles. Hajaj released his latest EP In The Meantime this year, and now divides his time between Jeddah and London.
