My mixtape: Hekayyatna's 10 SWANA tracks that go straight to the heart

That was the – in hindsight – decidedly ambitious challenge we threw the way of the London-based community organisation Hekayyatna ahead of their terrace takeover here at the Southbank Centre on Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 August.

Co-founded by Egyptian audio producer and storyteller Zeina Dowidar and Czech-Iraqi audio and video producer Al Shaibani, Hekayyatna was established to bring people together to explore the questions that matter through conversation, creativity and shared discovery. Something they do across London and beyond through a combination of live events, productions and participatory experiences across London and beyond.

The culture of SWANA (Southwest Asia and North Africa) is integral to Hekayattna, and so they gallantly sought to condense this into a ten song playlist. After polling their Young Curators Cohort they finally settled on the following fantastic tracks. Give them a listen, and read Hekayyatna’s reason for their inclusion below.

الكمونة – Iman Al Sharif

Beyond celebrating love, this track captures the beautiful ache of longing for the love that’s still on its way.

حلوه يا بلدي – Dalida

Dalida is an icon. Our playlists are incomplete without her.

‘Ana Bashaa Al Bahr’ – Najat Al Saghira

A song that feels like a daydream, taking you on a journey of hopeless, helpless love.

‘Natarqa’ – Ziad Zaza

Arabic music that you don’t expect. We continue striving for more, but where does that actually take us? Ziad Zaza takes us on a raw and gritty journey to answer that question.

‘Heseeny’ – TUL8TE

The sound taking over Egypt, and taking the region by storm. TUL8TE’s nostalgic pop is the soundtrack of our summer… actually, every summer since it came out.

‘Rock El Casbah’ – Rachid Taha

This track adds spice to a well-known classic.

‘Nisyan’ – Ahmed Fakroun

1970s funk wasn’t just popular in the west. Here’s a Libyan disco masterpiece with a baseline you won’t get out of your head.

‘Malak Ya Saly’ – Sharhabil Ahmed

Because jazz has no borders, and this one’s an especially timeless groove!

‘Mahboubi’ – Abdelwahab Hanachi

This song is a classic Tunisian song using folk symbolism to praise the lover, protect them from jealousy and await their reunion. It makes our hearts melt.

‘Atab (Hadi Zeidan Remake)’ – Shab Abed, Hadi Zeidan

This track has such beautiful melody and it’s another love song that we love to close out the playlist with because it leaves such a warm, fuzzy feeling after listening.