Thekra


Thekra bint Mohammed Al Dali, better known as Thekra, was a Tunisian singer.

Career

Thekra started performing at school. In 1980, she performed on the TV show Fan Wa Mawahib, after which she joined the show's choir. In 1983, her first recording was made, of a song composed by Abdul Hameed Khareef. In the same year, she performed at the Carthage Festival.
Later she joined the vocal group section of the Tunisian Radio and TV Establishment's national band. There, she met Abdul Rahman Al Ayyadi, who composed many of her later songs. Thekra became known for her powerful voice and her ability to perform many kinds of Arabic music genres, including qasa'ed, muwashshah and tarab songs.

Tunisia

During the 10 years before moving to Egypt, she released 30 songs in Tunisia. 28 of them were composed by Abdulrahman Al Ayyadi. Some of her successful singles in Tunisia included:
  • "Liman Ya Hawa Satakoon Hayati Wa Kaifa Sa'Arifo Ma Howa Aati?"
  • "Habeebi Tammin Fo'adi"
  • "Ela Hadhn Ommi Yahin Fo'adi"
  • "Wadda'at Roohi Ma'ah Min Youm Ma Wadda'ani".
In 1990, she had an argument with Abdulrahman Al Ayyadi, who was her fiancé at the time, because he did not want any other person to compose for her. She left and joined a new group, Zakharif Arabiya.

Libya

She stayed for a while in Libya and released many songs written and composed by Libyan poets and composers including Mohammed Hassan, Ali Al Kailani, Abdullah Al Mansoor and Salman Al-Tarhooni. Her last album released in Libya was "Nafsi Azeeza", written by the poet Al-Tarhooni, which won best performance and lyrics at the Sharm el-Sheikh Festival in Egypt.

Egypt

After her career in Libya, she returned to Tunisia for a time, but then moved to Egypt. In Egypt, she met the musician Hani Mihanna who produced two of her albums. Wehyati Andak in 1995 was successful in the Arab world: until then she was known in the West side of the Arab world, but after that album she became widely known all over the Arab world. Mihnna also produced her second album, As'har Ma'ah Sertak, in 1997.
A few months later in 1997 she released Al Asami with a different producer and in 2000 Yana. Her last album in Egypt was Youm Aleek, released in 2003, only three days before her murder.
Her most successful singles performed in Egyptian Arabic were:
  • "Wehyati Andak"
  • "Mish Kol Hob"
  • "Youm Aleek"
  • "Bahlam Beloa'ak"
  • "Al Asami"
  • "Yana"
  • "Ya Azeez Aini"
  • "Law Ya Habeebi"
  • "Ya Khofi"
  • "Kol Elli Lamooni".

    GCC and Persian Gulf region

Thekra performed many songs and album in different Arab dialects including Gulf Arabic, also known as "Khaleeji".
She released many Khaleeji albums with Saudi record company Funoon Al Jazeera and they are:
  • Thekra
  • Thekra 2
  • Thekra 3
  • Wish Maseeri – recorded entirely in the Emirati dialect
  • Wa Tabqa Thekra – posthumous release
  • Aghani A'ajabatni – posthumous release, duet album with Thamer Al Turki.
She also performed duets with several Khaleeji singers, including with Abu Bakr Salim in the song "Mishghil Al Tafkeer", and a duet with Mohammed Abdu in 2003. She was going to perform a duet with Abdullah Al Rowaished but was killed before it could be recorded.
Her most successful singles in Gulf Arabic were:
  • "Elain El Youm"
  • "Wainik Enta"
  • "Ma Feeni Shai"
  • "Ahibbik Moot"
  • "Ghayib"
  • "Al Jarh"
  • "Qalaha"
  • "Hatha Ana"
  • "Al Mesafir".

    Death

On 28 November 2003, Thekra was murdered in a violent attack at her home in Cairo, Egypt, carried out by her husband, the businessman Ayman Al-Suwaidi. In what was later confirmed to be a murder-suicide, Al-Suwaidi used a firearm to kill Thekra and her personal secretary and business manager before turning the weapon on himself. Autopsy reports revealed that Thekra had been shot 26 times and had survived for around 15 minutes after the attack. Her secretary was shot 22 times and her manager 18 times. Forensic findings confirmed that Al-Suwaidi had used one weapon to kill the three victims and a different one to take his own life.
Her body was transported from Egypt to Tunisia on board the private plane of Al Waleed bin Talal, accompanied by many Arab celebrities who flew with her to attend her funeral. Singers who have performed Thekra's songs at their concerts include Assala, Sherine, Ghada Rajab, Elissa and Samira Said.
Latifa did not perform any of Thekra's songs. Instead, she recorded a Tunisian folk song called "Fi Al Ghorba" and dedicated it to her. Latifa also dedicated her 2003 Murex d'Or award for Best Female Singer to Thekra and requested that a tribute be played in her honour.

Singles

  • "Al Hilm Al Arabi" – with others
  • "Ommahu" – trio with Ali Al Hajjar & Moniem
  • "Nihlam Eih?" – duet feat. Angham
  • "Hilmina Al Wardi" – duet feat. Mohammed Abdo
  • "Ya Hajiri"
  • "Al Asmaraniya"
  • "Baghdad La Tata'allami" – with others

    Videography

  • "Ya Khofi"
  • "Wehyati Andak"
  • "Al Asami"
  • "Al Hilm Al Arabi" – with other Arab singers
  • "Kol Elli Lamooni"
  • "Allah Ghalib"
  • "Qalaha"
  • "Elain El Youm"
  • "Al Jarh"
  • "Atfaal"
  • "Wala Arif" – feat. Ehab Tawfiq
  • "Nihlam Eih?" – feat. Angham
  • "Youm Aleek"
  • "Bahlam Belo'ak" ; she shot parts of it before her death but the video was never completed so the idea was changed, it was montaged to make her appear as a ghost.
  • "Law Ya Habeebi" ; she shot parts of the clip mentioned above "Bahlam Belo'ak" before her death but the video was never completed so the idea was changed, it was montaged to make her appear as a ghost.