DJ Habibeats on Amplifying Arab Culture Through Global Club Music

Palestinian-American DJ and producer DJ Habibeats is redefining what global club music can sound like. Based in Los Angeles but born in San Francisco, he’s become one of the most hotly-tipped names in electronic music thanks to his boundary-pushing fusion of Arabic and Middle Eastern sounds with the rhythms of Amapiano, Brazilian Funk, Jersey Club, and Afro House. As the creative mind behind Habibi’s House – a fast-growing global event series celebrating diaspora identity and cultural exchange – he’s created a movement that bridges worlds while reimagining what representation looks and feels like on the dance floor.

This November, he’ll appear at IMS Dubai 2025 as part of the panel “The Habibification of House Music: Navigating the Line Between Appreciation & Appropriation,” presented by Dazed MENA.

Ahead of his forthcoming panel at IMS Dubai 2025, we caught up with DJ Habibeats to discuss how his Palestinian roots have shaped his sound, the rise of his global Habibi’s House movement, and the evolving conversation around Arab identity in electronic music. Check it out below!

Can you tell us about your early journey with music? Were you connected to Arabic sounds from the very beginning of your DJing career, or did that influence come later?

Music was always an interest of mine. My uncle taught me how to DJ when I was about 13. Growing up, I saw him DJ every wedding, family event, etc. and always mix Arabic music with non-Arab sounds and influences like house music. My parents were both immigrants and I grew up around a big tight knit Palestinian community so Arabic music was always a part of my life.

I’ve been DJing now for about 18 years. For the first 14 years or so, the only time I played Arabic music was at weddings. Otherwise in clubs and bars I was playing mostly hip-hop / open format up until about 2022 when I started Habibi’s House.

How does your Arabic heritage shape the way you curate and perform? 

It shapes so much of what I do now. I grew up listening to all the nostalgic hits we all know and love from Amr Diab to Nancy Ajram to Fares Karam, etc. As I got older I began learning more about the musical differences between countries, regions, dialects, etc and I continue to try and incorporate a wide variety of Arabic music in my sets so that people feel represented whether they are Lebanese, Egyptian, Iraqi, Palestinian, etc. 

Thats doesn’t only go for Arabic music. I try and incorporate lots of other music I love and find beautiful whether it’s Iranian music, South Asian music, Kurdish music, Armenian music, Balkan music, or anything else

What inspired you to launch Habibi’s House and what are the goals of that brand/event? 

I think a lot of things inspired me to launch Habibi’s House. Too many to name. But by and large I think the overarching impetus was that as a DJ and music producer, I wanted to see my culture represented on dance floors in the way I was seeing other cultures represented on dance floors whether it was African, Latin, etc. In order to do that, I began remixing Arabic songs that I loved and making them more clubby. Introducing different rhythms, heavy hitting bass, etc. 

Once I began making these remixes, I needed a place to play this music, and on a typical Friday or Saturday night booking at a typical bar in Los Angeles, the crowd most likely wasn’t going to respond well to that. So Habibi’s House was a way of creating a space where I could play this music and fuse my worlds of club music and Arabic music together.

Do you notice a difference when playing to diaspora communities compared to non-diaspora audiences? If so, what stands out most? 

Yes definitely a difference. Even diaspora crowds in different countries feel different. Diaspora crowds in Los Angeles feel very different than Diaspora crowds in Sweden or Singapore. And then of course the non-diaspora crowds feel very different as well.

I think it’s a couple things. For one, diaspora crowds are historically more starved of our culture. Constantly grappling with assimilation, etc. Just the mere act of playing Arabic music in a bar nightclub in Los Angeles was essentially unheard of before this recent wave of Arabic music and culture coming to the forefront. 

In Arab countries, they are not starved of their culture. It’s all around them, so just playing some Arabic music is less groundbreaking. You have to give them something they haven’t heard before. Maybe it’s a remix or a mashup or some new original cutting edge stuff that’s new for them. Of course everybody loves the classic hits no matter where you go, but in general I find that non-diaspora communities find it less impressive or interesting to hear a bunch of Araby classic hits. They may still absolutely love it, but the way you read the room and play as a DJ has to adjust to keep it interesting and keep people engaged. 

With all that being said, every crowd in every city in every country is different. So as a DJ, it’s always about reading the room and adjusting accordingly. 

In your view, what does the Arabic electronic scene need most right now to continue growing? 

I think it needs more original songs and artists willing to push the sound in new and interesting directions!! Arab music is so rich with rhythms and percussion and energy and I think we need to find ways to harness that energy and create a new wave of Arab dance music that feels rooted in the culture but fresh at the same time. This is something I am humbly attempting to do!

How do you personally hope to keep elevating Arabic music on global stages? 

My plan is to continue to perform around the world. Continue to provide a space for our music to thrive and for people to feel represented and our culture celebrated. I am constantly on the lookout for new artists that are emerging with exciting and refreshing sounds and I try and incorporate them into my sets. Beyond that I plan to keep producing music and contributing to the scene as much as I can!

How do you feel about the future of Arab music breaking through in the West? What excites you, and what challenges remain? 

I think the future is bright. Already in the past few years we’ve seen such an uptick in amazing new artists, new vibes, incredible production, and fresh musical energy from the Arab world. 

I get excited each time I find a new artist that makes my face scrunch because of how cool their music is. And that just keeps happening!

I think in terms of challenges, obviously for non-Arabs there is a language and cultural education barrier but I don’t think that’s a massive barrier. I think it just takes time, and good music. Look at Bad Bunny and how many fans he has that don’t speak any Spanish and don’t come from a Latin culture

The phrase “habibification of house” has been circulating a lot lately, and it's a summit session you're part of at Beatport Presents IMS Dubai. What are your thoughts on the “habibification of house"... its positives, its risks, and the nuances that people may be missing? 

I’m excited to talk more in depth about the topic at the panel. I think the article was very well written. 

As with anything wave or trend, you’ll have all sots of different ways people engage with it in different parts of society and different circles. 

Speaking from a DJ’s perspective, time and time again over the years we always see the sorts of people or events that hop onto trends because it’s the “cool” thing at the moment, and not necessarily because they truly identify or understand or want to be involved with that particular community beyond the surface level.

Even worse, we see people who try and hop on the wave who clearly haven’t attempted to educate themselves on any part of the culture. Slapping a oud loop over a basic house beat doesn’t resonate with the actual people from the region and feels like a lazy attempt to Arabize or decorate a track with some “exotic flavor”

Basically this is one of those things where you just know it when you see it. Either somebody feels authentically tapped in with the culture and community, or they don’t. And it’s really telling when people are only interested in Arabic culture when it’s convenient or cool or cute, and they suddenly aren’t interested in representing the culture when it’s inconvenient. You can’t just cherry pick some convenient elements from the culture and disregard everything else.

What does it mean to you to see IMS taking place in Dubai, and how important is it for the Middle East to host global conversations and events like this around music and culture?

I think it’s awesome! Growing up, I never imagined Arab culture would be intertwined with dance music on the world stage like this so it’s a beautiful thing to see and I’m excited to be a part of the conversations. 
 

Grab your badges to Beatport Presents IMS Dubai 2025 here.

Learn more and check out the list of speakers here.