JEDDAH: Adham Bayoumi, who goes by the artist name Bayou, is carving out a distinctive space in the music scene. Bayoumi is Egyptian, but was born in Jeddah. While he was still young his family relocated to the UAE, and although he still has family ties in Saudi Arabia — his father currently works in Riyadh — he has few memories of the Kingdom.
“I don’t have much recollection of my time there,” he tells Arab News. “My connection to Saudi has been purely through music.” He is currently signed to a Saudi label, MDLBEAST Records, and plans to perform in the Kingdom this year. He’s excited to explore his Saudi connections further.
His association with MDLBEAST began a little over a year ago. “They reached out to me, and it felt like a perfect match,” he says, adding that the partnership has influenced his sound. Bayoumi’s music journey has been an eclectic one, ranging from the UAE to the US, where he attended university, and involving numerous collaborations. “My main producer, Motif Alumni, was in New York but has recently moved to Massachusetts, which impacted our creative workflow,” he says. As his music has evolved, Bayoumi has incorporated more Egyptian and Arabic influences.
Bayoumi grew up in Dubai, where he absorbed a wide variety of musical influences. “I listened to everything — especially pop hits on Virgin Radio,” he recalls. His mother’s taste in music included artists like Muhammad Munir and Andrea Bocelli. This diversity shaped his own artistic sensibility. Creativity runs in Bayoumi’s family; his mother is an interior designer and his sister a visual artist, but his own artistic path was self-initiated, sparked in elementary school by a teacher’s guitar playing. “I wanted to do that too,” he says, recalling one of his first songs, about the changing of the seasons, written while he was still at school.
His first major release as Bayou — 2019’s “Moonlight” — quickly gained traction, garnering more than 100,000 streams and solidifying his confidence as an artist. “I realized, ‘Hey! People actually like my music!” he says. That seems a fair assessment; “Moonlight” now has more than 3 million listens on Spotify, and his performance at the influential Coachella music festival as a guest of Palestinian rapper Saint Levant this summer was well-received by both audience and critics.
He describes his music as “a unique blend of influences,” an international R&B sound that resonates personally.
“Even when the songs aren’t directly about my life, they often feel like the soundtrack to my experiences,” he says. His upcoming EP, “Never at Home,” is a deep exploration of his Egyptian identity that should resonate with anyone trying to find their place in the world — a concise snapshot of Bayoumi’s quest for identity and belonging through music (which leads him to conclude “Home is where my mom is”).
Spending four months in Egypt in 2024 allowed him to immerse himself in the culture and complete his EP. “I wanted to really dive into what it means to be Egyptian, especially as someone who didn’t grow up there,” he says.
His latest singles, “Neshar Belel” and “Mesh Haseebek” have both proven popular with young Arab audiences, blending the rich tapestry of Egyptian musical heritage with contemporary sounds. By infusing traditional rhythms and melodies into modern R&B, Bayoumi honors his cultural identity while creating music with the potential to appeal to a global audience.
Language has played a crucial role in his artistic journey. Initially, he wrote primarily in English, but his experiences in Egypt prompted a shift.
“I realized I was very far from my culture and wanted to reconnect with it,” he explains. Writing in Arabic became essential, allowing him to navigate his identity as an Arab more authentically. “I felt like I needed to speak to my culture in the language it deserves,” he says. “It’s about understanding my own character and expressing it through my songs.” The exploration of love in Arabic has been particularly rewarding, he says, allowing him to connect with his heritage on a deeper level. But he also stresses that this doesn’t mean he’s stopped writing English-language songs.
And Bayoumi’s interests extend beyond music. He has a keen eye for fashion, often choosing outfits that help him express his identity. He’s also passionate about reading, especially philosophy and self-help literature. “I want to understand how to be a good person and navigate life effectively,” he says. Football also remains a significant passion, along with biking. Oh, and watching cartoons. “That brings me back to that state of freedom, my childhood, which is crucial for any artist,” he explains.
Bayoumi’s goals are ambitious. “It’s incredible to see how people from all backgrounds are drawn to my Arabic music,” he says. “I want to be a pop star worldwide, singing in both English and Arabic. I want to be the bridge between the East and the West.”