Natacha Atlas

Natacha Atlas (نتاشا أطلس,, ; born 20 March 1964) is an Egyptian-Belgian singer known for her fusion of Arabic and Western music, particularly hip-hop.

She once termed her music "cha'abi moderne" (modern folk music).

Her music has been influenced by many styles including Maghrebain, hip hop, drum and bass and reggae.

Atlas began her career as part of the world fusion group Transglobal Underground.

Natacha Atlas was born on 20 March 1964, in Schaerbeek, Brussels-Capital, Belgium.

Her British mother was raised Christian before adopting Buddhism in the 1970s.

Her father, of Egyptian descent, was deeply interested in Sufi mysticism and the Gurdjieff philosophy of the Fourth Way.

He also studied Chinese medicine and Taoism.

Atlas was raised listening to eclectic music from both Eastern and Western traditions.

After her parents separated, Atlas went to live in Northampton, England, with her mother.

Atlas grew up speaking French and English, and later learned Arabic and Spanish.

She sings in several languages, including modern colloquial Arabic, although she admits that she is not entirely at ease with it.

Atlas returned to Belgium at age 24 and began her career with two jobs: belly dancing and being the lead singer of a Belgian salsa band.

In April 1989, she made her recording début as guest vocalist on Balearic beat-band ¡Loca!'s "Encantador" (Nation Records).

Atlas has always spoken her mind about the way both she and Transglobal Underground were seen by the UK press back in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

"Someone from the New Musical Express rang us about a feature we're to do with them and said 'We don't want it to be about the multi-cultural angle'. In other words that fad is over. And I'm personally insulted... what other angle is there for us?! I get sick of it all."

In 1991, Atlas co-wrote/recorded the ¡Loca!

single "Timbal" and co-wrote/guested with Jah Wobble's Invaders of the Heart composing five tracks for their Rising Above Bedlam album.

Through recording with ¡Loca!, she met Nation-labelmates Transglobal Underground, a British ethnic electronica band with a Middle Eastern/South Asian focus.

At the time, Transglobal Underground had a top 40 hit, "Templehead", and Atlas became their lead singer and belly dancer.

Additionally in 1991, Atlas collaborated with Bauhaus/Love and Rockets/Tones on Tail guitarist and vocalist Daniel Ash on his debut solo album Coming Down.

She contributed extensive vocal work as well as keyboards and bass guitar.

Most of Atlas' earlier albums were produced by Tim Whelan and Hamilton Lee from Transglobal Underground.

In 1995, she began to focus on her solo career with the release of Diaspora.

She has since released seven solo albums and been a part of numerous collaborations.

These albums include Diaspora (1995), Halim (1997) (in honour of Egyptian singer Abdel Halim Hafez), Gedida (1998), and Ayeshteni (2001).

Her version of "Mon amie la rose" became a surprise success in France, reaching 16 on the French Singles Charts in 1999.

In 1999, Atlas collaborated with David Arnold on the song "One Brief Moment".

The single featured a cover version of the theme song from the James Bond film You Only Live Twice.

Two years earlier, Atlas collaborated with Arnold on the album Shaken and Stirred, recording the song "From Russia with Love" for the eponymous film (originally performed by Matt Monro).

Also in 1999, she collaborated with Jean-Michel Jarre for the track "C'est La Vie" on his album Métamorphoses.

The track was released as a single.

Her cover of I Put a Spell On You was used in the 2002 film Divine Intervention by Palestinian director Elia Suleiman.

In 2003, Atlas provided vocals for the Kolo folk dance song "'Ajde Jano" on Nigel Kennedy and Kroke's album, East Meets East.

In 2003, her voice can be heard in the film Hulk on the song "Captured".

In 2005, she contributed the song "Just Like A Dream" (from Something Dangerous) to the charity album Voyces United for UNHCR.

Her music has been used in a number of soundtracks.

Her song "Kidda" was featured on the Sex and the City 2 soundtrack and in the 2005 video game Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories on Radio del Mundo.

Additionally, her song "Bathaddak" is one of the songs included in the 2007 Xbox 360 video game Project Gotham Racing 4.

Her most recent album, Strange Days, was released in 2019.