Zeid Hamdan is a Lebanese music producer. He was referred to as one of 8 leading lights in Lebanese culture by CNN. He has worked with many leading artists including, Soap Kills, The New Government, Katibe5, Shiftz, Hiba Mansouri, Kanjha Kora, Kazamada, Maryam Saleh, Maii Waleed, Dany Baladi, Zeid and the Wings (his own project) and recently Marie Abou Khaled, Tanjaret Daghet, Muhammad Abdullah from EL MORRABA3 and Lynn Adib.
In July 2011, Hamdan was arrested, reportedly for political sedition. He was detained over a song deemed insulting to President Michel Suleiman, a former army chief. Slandering the president carries a maximum two-year sentence in Lebanon. Officials reportedly took exception to the lyrics: 'General go home'. He was released the day after, and was told to "go home".
When the 2019 financial crisis hit Lebanon, Zeid Hamdan was about to release âÂÂthe Beit Projectâ a collaboration with Tanjaret Daghet, Muhammad Abdullah from the Band â El Morabba3â and himself. The project was due to be launched on 19 October, but demonstrations started on October 17, marking the beginning of the uprising in Lebanon.
At that period Zeid Hamdan had started to collaborate with Lynn Adib. They would meet regularly and record demosàat Zeid's studio âÂÂLebanese Underground Studioâ in Geitawi, Beirut.
During this period the pandemic started worldwide and the lockdowns were an opportunity for Zeid to focus on the production work with Lynn Adib.
On April 30, 2020, they launched their first single âÂÂTaht el Wardâ then a second single in June 2021 called âÂÂYa man HAWAâÂÂ.
He worked on Elie Saab film directed by Mounia AKLàâÂÂThe sacred sourceâ released on Sept 10th working remotely with musicians Marc Codsi and Jeremie Reinier.
In September 2020 Zeid met singer songwriter Jeanne Humbert and they remotely recorded a remix of âÂÂAna Be3chak El BahrâÂÂ. This collaboration would lead them to create a band with singer Celine Khoury called âÂÂAbaya RoadâÂÂ.
On 25 September he was invited by The Arab World Institute to perform in Paris to support the victims of the Port of Beirut blast.
In October 2020 he produced a remix for Palestinian artist Bashar Murad âÂÂMaskharaâÂÂ.
In December 2020 during the Covid pandemic Bedouin Burger was able to tour in Switzerland.
After moving to France with his family on January 16, 2021, by coincidence he was hosted in a room just in front of a producer andÃÂ tour manager called Valentin Langlois. Soon after they met Zeid and signed his project Bedouin Burger with his agency Helico
In March 2021, Zeid started producing the soundtrack of the documentary âÂÂLes Visages Oubliés de PalmyreâÂÂ, a documentary produced foràARTE. The documentary was released in 2022.
Lynn Adib and Zeid Hamdan named their collaboration âÂÂBedouin Burger" and started performing charity gigs online to support victims of the pandemic.
In March 2021 Zeid signed a publishing and recording deal for Bedouin Burger with a US/UAE company called reservoir media /pop Arabia . In May 2021, Zeid set up a music label âÂÂBeyt Music SAS â which took its first project- curate and produce an event for theàArab World Institute in Paris. The event happened online on 21 June due to the ongoing Covid pandemic.
In June 2021, Zeid Hamdan wrote the additionalàscore of the movie âÂÂCosta Bravaâ by Mounia Akl which includes a hit track sung by Nadine Labaki called âÂÂBeirut Hobbi" which was awarded at Cinemed festival in Montpellier.
In June 2021 Zeid was invited to perform at an event called âÂÂMix Ta Raceâ hosted by Jeremie Fontaine. He met there with the musicians of the French band Arat Kilo. Later he was invited by 2 of Arat Kilo's members Fabien Girard and Samuel Hirsh to perform for a series of shows called âÂÂLive magâÂÂ.
In June 2021 Lynn Adib and Zeid Hamdan were invited to perform in Geneva with the contemporary ensemble from the âÂÂHaute école de musiqueâ and the Diwan ensemble. The show was called âÂÂShawatiâ and was produced by the company âÂÂEnsemble VideâÂÂ. It was the second edition of the show. A third edition was later booked at the Ella Fitzgerald stage in Summer 2022.
In November 2021 Zeid started performing with Abaya Road. The repertoire consisted of remixes of Arabic and Turkishàclassics such as âÂÂAna Be3chak El BahrâÂÂ, âÂÂAh Ya Zein, âÂÂSaat Saatâ and âÂÂAyrouni BikâÂÂ.
In December 2021 Zeid scored the music for the movie Dirty Difficult Dangerous by Wissam Charaf, the film was released in March 2022.
In December 2021 Bedouin Burger won the prize of the festival Musiques d'ici et d'ailleurs
In December 2021 Bedouin Burger was invited to perform at Global fest in New York which came along with an invitation to perform on NPR's live sessions Tiny desk. Due to the Covid pandemic the global fest was canceled, however the band recorded a Tiny desk session and it allowed the band to get booked in the US in summer and fallÃÂ 2022.
In December 2021, Bedouin Burger finished recording their 1st Album for Pop Arabia.
The band started releasing track after track every few month. The first track released was âÂÂDabkehâ in February 2022àthen âÂÂzamelâ in July 2022 then âÂÂNomadâ in November 2022.
In January 2022 Zeid was asked to remix the famous band âÂÂTinariwenâÂÂ. The song selected was âÂÂAlkhar Dessouf".
The remix was launched in May 2022 and was played on radio stations around the world.
In February 2022, Abaya Road was invited to perform at the âÂÂBeirut Electro paradeâ it was the first serie of collaborations between Zeid Hamdanàand Lebanese electric producer Hadi Zeidan.
In march 2022 Zeid went to Conakry, Guinea to produce for âÂÂBeyt Music", the first album of âÂÂMacky SawâÂÂ, a folk guitarist, composer and singer from Koundara, a villageàat the frontier of Senegal, Gambia and Mali.
Zeid had met Macky in 2009 when he was producing the artiste Kanjha Kora and had promised him he would come back with a record deal.
Valentin Langlois with Helico accepted to co-produce the album. Along with Benedicte Bos they went to Koundara, to sign and produce the artist. The album is expected to be released in June 2023.
In April 2022 Abaya Road was invited to perform at the Bipod festival in Lyon.
In July 2021 with the amplification of the financial crisis in Lebanon and the progressive deterioration of the infrastructures at every level, Zeid Hamdan decided to temporarily move with his family to Antalya on the Turkish coast. They then relocated to France on 16 January 2022.
Beit (New Arabic pop) EP 2019
Kermelak single (2018)
Esmak Esmi single (2018) Firan Tagarob ep (2017) Ezaal ep (2015) Moga (2012)
[Halawella] (2014)
[The Troposphere] (2013)
[RED SULFUR] (2014) [Kazamada] (Arabic electro pop) EP UNRELEASED [Dany Baladi] (Arabic electro pop) LP UNRELEASED
[La Guinee](2009) [The New Government](pop rock) The new Government EP (2004) The New Government LP (2005) [arty Animals] (2007) All in (2008)
[Ahla fik bil Moukhayamat] (2008) Shiftz (Arabic electro) Lebanese underground compilation (2006)
[Ahwak] (2006)