Sobhhï

Sobhhï is a musical artist, photographer, director, and scientist based between Dubai and New York City. He has been ranked the number one streamed hip-hop and R&B artist in the UAE, and one of the top artists in the Middle East. With a background in computational mathematics, Sobhhï maintains dual careers in science and research as well as the visual and performing arts.

Once a non-performing artist, Sobhhï made his first public appearances at a series of listening parties hosted in late 2021 for his EP "PURPLE I". Sobhhï's identity is so far largely unknown, although he has revealed the name Sobhhï is his grandfather's name and is part of his own name, translating "morning" from Arabic.

Career Sobhhï began his musical career with a collection of dark R&B records, going on to describe the evolution of his musical sound: "There was something I felt was absent in other music, [...] collecting these parts and amalgamating them is what eventually resulted in 'my sound'". Sobhhï started creating and releasing his color-themed EP series, which includes RED, BLACK, and the forthcoming PURPLE and WHITE. He describes the need for categorizing by color, rather than genre: "The whole color concept comes from the fact that I feel genres are too coarse and limiting to categorize music. You might listen to alternative rock followed by some techno followed by a rap song when you’re feeling motivated or in the gym. Clearly the genres don’t necessarily line up with how we feel, which to me, is the most important aspect of music." He describes the first three RED EPs as equating to a (now complete) chapter in his personal life, where he understands the music to have evolved alongside changes in his own perspectives. and ranked as one of Earmilk's highest rated albums that same year. Sobhhï plans the BLACK series to be a counterpart to RED, with a raw Trap-soul sound, which was premiered with Okayplayer. In 2022, he went on to release collaborative project LUXURY CASUAL II, a sequel to 2019's LUXURY CASUAL EP.

Photography and Video Direction Sobhhï is also active in visual arts, working across photography, video direction, and cinematography. He has directed and filmed several of his own music videos

Listening Parties Between August and December 2021, Sobhhï organized a series of listening parties in anticipation of his EP, PURPLE I. He has cited the parties as a formative moment in his career: "Seeing the unanticipated success of the listening parties [...] We had 450 RSVPs in New York City, 980 in Toronto, over a thousand in Dubai and roughly 2,000 in Jeddah […] All venues reached max capacity shortly after doors opened. Being in the room with so many people who are singing the lyrics, showing us love, and supporting us, validates our purpose."

The listening parties were exclusive events that were organized and hosted by Sobhhï. Sponsorships included the cognac brand Rémy Martin for the Dubai event and the Middle Eastern streaming service Anghami for the final event in Jeddah. The listening parties marked Sobhhï's first public appearances and direct interactions with fans.

Discography

EPs Red I (November 2017) Red II (March 2018) Black I (February 2019) Luxury Casual (December 2019) Red III (March 2020) Pleasures (November 2020) Luxury Casual II (July 2022) On Road (June 2024)