Tunisian singer Saber Al Riba’ee, who was recently presented with the Best Arab Artist Award, has criticized the situation of singers in his home country Tunisia and stressed that if a Tunisian singer wants to be known he/she must immigrate to Lebanon or Egypt. The singer noted that Tunisia does not provide the opportunity for singers to become recognized around the Arab world, a matter that he stresses is very saddening.
According to the UAE based daily, Al Bayan, Saber added that every Tunisian artist seeks success and recognition around the Arab world, and in order to achieve that it is a must to move to Lebanon or Egypt, because sorry to say Tunisia does not have the resources to make artists and even production companies are close to non-existent.
Recently, Riba’e announced that he had left his previous music production company Alam El Phan and moved on to Rotana. Saber held extensive negotiations with Rotana and the two sides finally reached an agreement and signed a contract, which gives Rotana sole rights to his new albums.
Riba’e waged a war against all flagrant video clips, describing the phenomenon as too much nudity on Arab satellite channels. The singer noted that airing these kinds of shameful video clips is disgraceful and a cheap imitation for western culture. Saber said, “this is considered as promotion for pornography which is against our values and culture. I demand all Arab media to do something to prevent such video clips.”
The singer stressed that using such cheap measures to attract viewers and gain popularity is disgraceful to all Arabs. Saber also advised all Arab female celebrities to be more cautious when choosing their future husbands to avoid the same destiny of late Tunisian singer Thikra.
