After growing up in Cairo, Egypt, Jana Diab moved forward to the next episode of her life journey. This singer-songwriter is now based in London, crafting songs to inspire her fans and process her experiences and emotions. Her music doesn’t just fall into one style category, it encompasses multiple genres, but if it needs to be categorized it can be described as experimental pop or alt-pop. Jana Diab is getting her name out there after originally being featured in Vogue Arabia’s Sept. 2022 issue. She’s advancing her musical career even further, with her songs being highlighted on Spotify’s “New Pop Hits,” “Next Gen Singer-Songwriters,” and “Chill Pop” playlists. This 23-year-old recently released Season One, her debut EP that explores her feelings and relationships with those around her. The original EP from Sept. 20 contained four songs, but her Season One (Extended) version released on Nov. 8 includes eight songs (so double the experience for fans listening). I am thrilled to have had the chance to learn more from Diab about her creative processes, specific song meanings, inspirations, and future plans. Listening to Season One and then having Jana Diab discuss her EP and artistry further allows me to recognize why this artist is continuing to grow.
The Influence of Her Background
Jana Diab’s roots have heavily influenced her path to making Season One and her music in general. When I ask about how Cairo inspired her work, Diab discusses how the people and community in Egypt connect with her. “Cairo itself doesn’t directly shape my music, but the people, community, and kindness here do,” she tells me. Diab goes on further to say that she keeps that sense of community and selflessness with her as she connects with her fans through kindness and inclusion.
“There’s such warmth and generosity in the people I’ve met in Egypt — they give even when they have little, and I find that so beautiful.”
Jana Diab
Specific people also influence Diab’s work, including her family. Jana Diab is the daughter of Amr Diab and Zeina Ashour, whose own experiences with music and creativity shape her perspectives. Overall, they taught Diab the importance of being authentic in creating her own art that stands out on its own. With her father’s experiences as a popular Egyptian singer and her mother’s work running a production company, Jana Diab is able to craft her own songs and music videos while still gaining inspiration from her family and connecting her music back to Cairo.
Becoming Inspired and Creating Her EP
While making Season One, Diab drew inspiration from many artists that she admired. For example, artists such as Anderson .Paak, Novo Amor, Gregory Alan Isakov, and Missy Elliott all affect her music in some way. Additionally, Jana Diab credits a lot of her musical inspirations to her producer Couros Sheibani, who introduced her to more artists. Some specific aspects stood out to her, such as the talking-rapping styles of some artists that she incorporates into her “rhythmic storytelling.” With her music spanning multiple genres, Diab’s songs or parts of her music are often influenced by specific pieces of these artists’ songs versus their whole discographies.
“I don’t usually dive into full albums but will get obsessed with a single song and repeat it endlessly, picking up inspiration from a unique sound or vibe.”
Jana Diab
One of the key components of creating and releasing an album or an EP is the track organization. Four of the songs of Season One were written in the first week of Sheibani and Diab working together, while the rest were created within the year. Jana Diab says that most of her songs were written at Sheibani’s home studio where they have the most flow to craft the songs. However, they wrote the last song, “9 Lives,” at a different studio. This song ended up being the fifth track on the extended version of the EP so the songs had been arranged in a way that made the most sense to Diab. “So Stupid,” the second track of the EP, was a song co-written by Jana Diab and her boyfriend Orlando Giannini. Giannini wrote the melody for the chorus, and Diab immediately fell in love with this piece of the song. She worked with Sheibani who crafted a guitar loop sound that matched perfectly, and the lyrics came about later.
On the topic of having an extended EP, Diab speaks about why it felt right to have more tracks released this way with their specific meanings. “They’re definitely new stories, but the core issue behind them remains the same: a struggle with self-love,” Jana Diab tells me. “It might sound deep, but even with my more upbeat tracks, there’s this underlying insecurity I felt about myself,” she says. Diab could touch on familiar topics of self-doubt and low self-esteem, something that many people struggle with, in the additional songs. The journey to creating Season One was a long one with many turns but in the end, Jana Diab was able to make a work of art full of unique sounds and lyrics.
The Meanings Behind The Themes and Lyrics
Diab’s EP has many lyrics and whole songs that resonate with her fans and anyone else who stumbles across her music. There were some major themes that Jana Diab wanted listeners to feel and connect with. “ I hope that when people listen to this EP, they feel understood and maybe understand me a bit better too,” Diab tells me. Season One even helped Diab accept herself more, feel comfortable enjoying her music, and voice her opinions. Diab often felt like writing songs was therapeutic and helped her process any past mistakes.
“Creating this EP helped me start a journey toward accepting myself, and I hope it inspires others to feel that same freedom with themselves.”
Jana Diab
With these major ideas in mind, it’s time to dive into a few of Jana Diab’s songs that she discussed specifically. “Escape Plan” is the opening song of Season One and has lyrics alluding to how healing can take time. With Diab healing through her creative processes of making music, it took her time to create this EP. This song also focused a lot on escaping and breaking free. For Jana Diab, she tends to escape to many places or things. “I find peace in the UK countryside…cooking is another escape for me,” she tells me. “Of course, writing music and listening to Gregory Alan Isakov on long walks or by a fireplace are two of my favorite escapes,” Diab says. Some songs, like “So Stupid,” had instrumental parts written through collaborations with Diab’s boyfriend and producer alongside the actual lyric writing. Jana Diab even connected the sounds of songs with their meaningful lyrics and ideas. For example, “I’ll Just Say It” represents the feelings of having ADHD, so combining those lyrics with chaotic electronic sounds helped shape the song. The lyrics of Season One brought Diab’s emotions and messages to her fans to life.
Looking To The Future
With Season One released, Jana Diab best describes that part of her life as “The imperfect life of an impulsive 21/22-year-old.” She’s growing with new experiences and opportunities, especially now that she is signed with Interscope Records. She is excited to continue her musical journey further. Diab specifically mentioned wanting to build a welcoming and understanding community for anyone to listen to and relate to her music. As she looks to perform live, her dream venue to play is Red Rocks in Morrison, Colorado to connect with an audience surrounding her and help them experience her songs. While her music doesn’t define her, she can bring purpose to her life and express herself more.
Overall, I am so grateful that I got the chance to hear more from Jana Diab and learn about her progress in her musical journey. I can’t wait to see where she goes next! From her fluidity in musical style to her dedication to connecting with fans, I am sure that even more fans will be drawn to her and watch her grow as an artist and person. Make sure to give Season One (Extended), Jana Diab’s debut EP, a listen and check back for future releases and announcements from her!