Habibi (band)

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Habibi

| image = Habibi-11 (29399888907).jpg

| caption =

| image_size =

| alias =

| origin = Brooklyn, New York, United States

| genre = Psychedelic rock/pop, garage rock, girl group

| years_active = 2011–present

| label = Burger, Born Bad, Kill Rock Stars

| associated_acts =

| current_members = Rahill Jamalifard
Lenaya Lynch
Lyla Vander
Ana Becker
Yukary

| past_members = Caroline Partamian
Erin Campbell
Leah Beth Fishman
Karen Isabel

}}

Habibi is an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York. They are a blend of psychedelic rock and sixties girl group harmonies. The word habibi means "my love,"{{cite web|url=https://welcome2jordan.com/habibi/|title=Habibi meaning and useful expressions in Arabic|author=Kitty|work=Name Arabic|date=24 August 2021 }} an Arabic word that vocalist Rahill Jamalifard grew up using despite speaking Persian with her parents.{{cite web |last=Stagg |first=Natasha |title=It's Habibi, BB |url=http://www.vmagazine.com/site/content/229/its-habibi-bb |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407073328/https://vmagazine.com/site/content/229/its-habibi-bb |archive-date=7 April 2014 |accessdate=8 March 2014 |publisher=V Magazine}}

Career

In 2011, former Detroiters Lenaya Lynch and Rahill Jamalifard decided to form a band blending their love of psychedelic garage rock and girl group harmonies.{{Cite news |last=Martin |first=Michel |date=March 28, 2020 |title=Habibi's Rahill Jamalifard On Iranian Pop Music And 'Anywhere But Here' |language=en |work=NPR.org |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/03/28/822696280/habibis-rahill-jamalifard-on-iranian-pop-music-and-anywhere-but-here |access-date=2022-03-01}}{{Cite web |last=Jordan |first=Jerilyn |title=Indie rock band Habibi on the future, sisterhood, and 'The Sopranos' |url=https://www.metrotimes.com/detroit/indie-rock-band-habibi-on-the-future-sisterhood-and-the-sopranos/Content?oid=28530326 |access-date=2022-03-01 |website=Detroit Metro Times |language=en}} They joined Erin Campbell and Karen Isabel, musicians from the Brooklyn rock and roll scene, who both went to LaGuardia School of the Arts. They grew in popularity and found themselves playing the SXSW festival in Austin and the CMJ festival.{{cite web|last=Greene|first=Caitlin|title=Discovery: Habibi|date=28 August 2012 |url=http://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/discovery-habibi/|publisher=Interview|accessdate=8 March 2014}} They signed to Born Bad Records and released the self-titled 7-inch, Habibi.{{cite web|title=Habibi|url=http://www.bornbadrecords.net/artists/habibi/|publisher=Born Bad Records|accessdate=8 March 2014}}

In 2012, Habibi's song "Sweetest Talk" was featured in actor/director James Franco's short film series Episodes of an Untitled Film.{{cite news|last=Stern|first=Marlow|title=James Franco On 'Sal,' Banksy, His Gay Fascination, and That Faulkner Cover|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/11/04/james-franco-on-sal-bansky-his-gay-fascination-and-that-faulkner-cover.html|newspaper=The Daily Beast|date=4 November 2013 |accessdate=9 March 2014}}{{cite web|last=Kesa|first=Ingrid|title=Australian Exclusive: James Franco x 7 For All Mankind Episode 4|url=http://oystermag.com/australian-exclusive-james-franco-x-7-for-all-mankind-episode-4|publisher=Oyster Mag|accessdate=9 March 2014}}{{cite web|last=Hadizadeh|first=Nasa|title=Interview: Hanging with Habibi|url=http://altcitizen.com/2013/09/23/habibi/|publisher=Altcitizen|access-date=9 March 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301003203/http://altcitizen.com/2013/09/23/habibi/|archive-date=1 March 2014}} Lynch left the band due to an emergency in 2012 and Habibi found a replacement with the guitarist Caroline Partamian, who toured with the band for a year and until the return of Lynch in 2013. In 2014, Burger Records released their debut full-length LP, Habibi.{{cite web|last=Plaugic|first=Lizzie|title=Habibi - "I Got The Moves"|url=http://www.cmj.com/news/listen-habibi-got-moves/|publisher=CMJ|accessdate=8 March 2014}}{{cite web|title=Habibi (2)|url=http://www.discogs.com/Habibi-Habibi/release/5083415|publisher=Discogs|accessdate=8 March 2014}}

Influences

The sound of Habibi is influenced both by the garage rock/girl group sounds from Detroit as well as the Middle Eastern melody structures that were shared by Lynch and Jamalifard, who is of Iranian descent. Jamalifard influences are also related to her ancestry mentioning “Iran, gypsies, nomads, the inspiration of poets like Hafez . . . my travels within the country.”{{cite web|last=Sales|first=Nancy Jo|title=Persia in New York|url=http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2014/03/persian-american-artists-filmmakers-musicians_slideshow_Habibi_10|publisher=Vanity Fair|accessdate=13 March 2014}} In 2012, Interview Magazine wrote "Influenced by grunge, punk, hip-hop, and Motown, Habibi's sound—and band members—meet somewhere in the middle."