creative vision? emel mathlouthi, welcome to hardtalk. thank you. now, you have had phenomenal success around the world since the arab spring, which propelled you to global fame. what is it now that still drives you to want to shake people? so many things. i guess, first of all, my passion for people and music and connecting. i feel that nowadays, more than ever, we need to connect with each other, and i feel that if we have this sense of union and empathy towards each other, i feel that the world could be a much better place. well, let s go back to 2010, 2011, and at that time your music was banned in tunisia. you were on avenue habib bourguiba in tunis, you were surrounded by crowds who were all chanting and then this happened. she sings in arabic. we are seeing you there, singing, with a candle lit in front of you, and to the crowds. when you watch it, how do you feel about that moment now? i ve always felt, um, kind of distant because ijust.me, i just remember the tension
thank you. now, you have had phenomenal success around the world since the arab spring, which propelled you to global fame. what is it now that still drives you to want to shake people? so many things. i guess, first of all, my passion for people and music and connecting. i feel that nowadays, more than ever, we need to connect with each other, and i feel that if we have this sense of union and empathy towards each other, i feel that the world could be a much better place. well, let s go back to 2010, 2011, and at that time your music was banned in tunisia. you were on avenue habib bourguiba in tunis, you were surrounded by crowds who were all chanting and then this happened. she sings in arabic. we are seeing you there, singing, with a candle lit in front of you, and to the crowds. when you watch it, how do you feel about that moment now? i ve always felt, um, kind of distant because ijust.me, i just remember the tension, and ijust remember that it wasn t all friendly around
so ijust went on a rooftop. i had, like, ten minutes before sunset and i just had, like, two takes. and the second one, luckily, was the good one. i was just operating everything, my computer, my phone, and then i posted it. ijust added a black and white filter and ijust posted it, and i was blown away with the reaction of people. and this is another moment that, you know, another moment where our music wins. because the world was going through such a crazy time. and, yes, people needed music and there was a lot of musicians doing awesome things. but i feel that, yeah, anything that can speak from the heart, you know? and this was called holm, a dream. if i could close my eyes and the dreams take me by the hand, i would rise and fly in a new sky.
which makes it really interesting, which is also very much what was happening at that moment. um. you were nervous? i was very nervous, yes. i m very shy, in fact. but more than that, you were saying people didn t want music. your music was banned at the time. were you nervous about what would happen to you? i wasn t nervous about what would happen to me. i don t think i ve ever been nervous about what would happen to me. but i feel that when you start singing, you bring something that s completely different and very, very fragile, and i think that s what i was nervous about how it would be received. and i.obviously, i was completely taken by surprise to know, like, a couple of days later that it became viral. and in a way, ifeel very proud of that moment because music wins, you know? and to see.