VIDEO. With the artist Soleil Levant, originally from Gaza

Since childhood, Soleil Levant, whose real name is Marwan Abdelhamid, has been immersed in a musical environment. Saxophone, piano, dance and singing, his family environment was conducive to these arts. “At home there was always music”, explains the singer. At 16, he made his first song, in three different languages. An unusual feature that allows it to stand out. Only a year and a half ago, the young man then considered the possibility of making music, his job. Today, an accomplished artist, he has a string of successes at the age of 22 like Very Few Friendspeaking at 3.4 million views on Youtube.

A childhood between Jerusalem, Gaza and Jordan

Born in Jerusalem, he grew up in Gaza for seven years. For him, living in Gaza was a real privilege because “many people grow up in war and bombs”. He then moved to Jordan and left, at the age of 17, to Santa Barbara, California. His different places of residence inspire him. He learns its language and then transcribes it into his art.

In one of his last songs, Very Few Friends, Soleil Levant highlights its diverse origins by singing Arabic, French and English. Originally posted on Tik Tok, the music snippet quickly went viral. He takes advantage of this wave to quickly release his song. “I think deep down I was sure it was going to work, but to see, for example, 1000 people in the crowd singing my words, it’s moving. To be able to make a living from music, I think a lot of people don’t have that privilege.”.