With 25 years of expertise below his belt, Bayar chats about his new single, his strategy to style fusion and what’s subsequent.
Injecting his personal cultural roots into his music, Wahid Bayar has dropped a brand new single, “Summer time Love.”
The Afghan-Dutch artist has stripped away the ornate manufacturing that typically bogs down crossover data, as a substitute working on a less complicated frequency. Unpretentious heat meets competent craftsmanship within the new monitor, which blends home rhythms with breezy manufacturing that feels like sunshine after an extended winter.
Bayar’s East-meets-West strategy finds comfy center floor between conventional Afghan melodic sensibilities and Western pop constructions. His background in hip-hop fusion and theater sometimes surfaces in sudden rhythmic pockets, excavating deeper wells of creativity than a post-summer single usually calls for.
We caught up with Bayar to speak concerning the influences behind “Summer time Love” and what’s subsequent for the artist.
EDM.com: You lately received the Gold Medal on the 2025 World Worldwide Music Competitors – Open Class, Versatile Musician Division. How does this honor form your imaginative and prescient for future EDM and cross-cultural initiatives?
Wahid Bayar: This award validates my strategy to combining a number of music kinds, together with hip-hop, pop, classical and world music. It motivates me to push boundaries and collaborate on initiatives that combine digital music with dance and theatre for world audiences.
EDM.com: “Summer time Love” bursts with power. How has your background in dance and theatre influenced this EDM monitor, and the way do you translate emotion into digital music?
Wahid Bayar: Dance and theatre have taught me to show emotion into rhythm. In “Summer time Love,” I fuse EDM with hip-hop and world music. The melody expresses the emotion, whereas the rhythm helps it, creating an immersive expertise that resonates even with out a reside viewers.
EDM.com: Since 2000, you’ve appeared on worldwide levels as a dancer, choreographer, composer and producer, incomes worldwide recognition. How have these experiences formed the way in which you combine motion, music and storytelling in your EDM and cross-cultural initiatives?
Wahid Bayar: Motion, music and storytelling are on the core of my artistic DNA. Performing globally in theatre has taught me to mix rhythm, emotion and power to craft experiences that resonate with numerous audiences.
Usually, I create music impressed by choreography, or choreograph to present tracks—every medium feeding the opposite. This holistic strategy shapes my EDM and cross-cultural initiatives, permitting me to craft music that isn’t simply heard, however felt, bridging genres, cultures and audiences worldwide.
EDM.com: Trying again in your influential work introducing hip-hop and dance-fusion to Afghan and European audiences, what have been the important thing milestones in your journey, and which early works finest illustrate your impression?
Wahid Bayar: I used to be one of many first Afghan artists to convey hip-hop and dance-fusion to each Afghan and European audiences. A significant milestone was my first rap/hip-hop monitor, Birahmi (‘Cruelty’), launched in 2002, adopted by Bo Man Bego Ey Ghoda (‘Oh God, Inform Me’). After my 2005 efficiency at a refugee demonstration for youngsters from war-torn international locations, each tracks have been included within the CD and e-book Een Royale Gebaar, offered to Dutch Queen Beatrix and authorities ministers.
These works launched my worldwide profession, and since then, I’ve carried out worldwide, collaborated with globally acknowledged artists like Mozdeah, DjRoshan, DjMir2 and launched tracks reaching tens of hundreds of streams, persevering with my mission to attach cultures and encourage youth via music, dance and storytelling.
EDM.com: Your music is reaching audiences throughout the globe. How does this worldwide attain replicate your impression on the EDM and dance-fusion scene?
Wahid Bayar: Platforms like Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube enable my music to attach globally. Even with out a reside viewers, the response proves that cross-genre EDM resonates worldwide.
EDM.com: You’ve carried out in over 1,500 theatre exhibits worldwide, together with a 4,000-person present in Amsterdam in 2009. Trying again, which of those experiences had the best impression in your inventive progress and profession trajectory?
Wahid Bayar: Each efficiency or theatre/dance present is a novel expertise, as you encounter a brand new viewers every time. The 2009 solo live performance stays unforgettable as a result of I used to be the primary Afghan artist to mix dance and theatre components with my very own music on such a big stage for a big viewers, who have been visibly impressed. Moreover, worldwide theatre festivals, profit productions, and collaborations with different artists strengthened my perception that music and dance can transcend boundaries.
EDM.com: Trying forward, which initiatives excite you essentially the most, and the way will you proceed mixing EDM, music, theatre and dance globally?
Wahid Bayar: I deal with cross-cultural collaborations, increasing EDM experimentation, and creating immersive initiatives that combine music, theatre, and dance. My objective is to encourage audiences worldwide and pave the way in which for different artists exploring fusion genres.
Observe Wahid Bayar:
Instagram: instagram.com/wahidbayar
Spotify: tinyurl.com/5he6sn5v
