A Song from Kadim Al Sahir’s Album Disappears Days After Its Release… What Happened?

Al-Taj News – Two days after Iraqi artist Kadim Al Sahir released his album “Bila Onwan,” fans were surprised to find the song “Al-Helween” removed from the album’s tracklist and from music platforms, after it emerged that the song had previously been performed by Iraqi artist Hamid Mansour decades ago.

According to circulating information, the incident began when Kadim Al Sahir’s team discovered that the lyrics of “Al-Helween” had previously been used in a song titled “Wash Qalou Al-Helween” by Iraqi artist Hamid Mansour, which he performed in 1979. The song was written by poet Bashir Al-Aboudi, the same poet who collaborated with Al Sahir on his new album.

Al Sahir composed the melody for the new version, while Moheb Al-Rawi handled its arrangement, before the recording performed by Hamid Mansour more than four decades ago was rediscovered.

Press reports said that Al Sahir and his team had been unaware of the existence of the earlier recording when working on the new song. After learning of it, they decided to remove “Al-Helween” from the album and take it down from the platforms and official channels associated with the release, in a move aimed at avoiding any legal dispute or disagreement related to the rights to use the song’s lyrics.

According to a source close to “The Caesar,” quoted in press reports, poet Bashir Al-Aboudi had granted the song to Al Sahir a long time ago and received his full financial dues. The source also said there are documents and recordings confirming the agreement, in addition to an official waiver signed by the poet regarding the work.

Despite the song disappearing from official platforms, copies of it are still circulating through some accounts and platforms, alongside continued circulation of the old recording performed by Hamid Mansour.

The “Al-Helween” incident comes weeks after statements by Hamid Mansour in which he spoke about Kadim Al Sahir and criticized his musical career while appearing as a guest on the “Taboo” program on Iraq’s Dijlah TV.

During the interview, he discussed his opinion of a number of Iraqi singers, including Kadim Al Sahir, whom he described as the most famous in the Arab world, before stating during the interview that all Iraqi singers are better than him, considering Al Sahir a singer rather than a vocalist.

Mansour also attributed Al Sahir’s popularity in the Arab world, in his view, to the support he received from artistic and media institutions that contributed to strengthening his presence and fame.

“Bila Onwan”

Kadim Al Sahir’s new album “Bila Onwan,” released in August, includes 18 songs.

The album brings together poems and songs in which Al Sahir collaborated with a number of prominent Iraqi and Arab poets, composers and musicians, including Bashir Al-Aboudi, Karim Al-Iraqi, Lamia Abbas Amara, Saad Al-Musallam, Asaad Al-Ghariri, Yahya Al-Alaq and Aziz Al-Rassam.

In terms of musical arrangements, Moheb Al-Rawi, Michel Fadel, Othman Abboud and Hisham Niaz participated in producing the songs, while Al Sahir maintained his presence in a number of works that he wrote or composed himself.

Among the album’s songs are “Kullo Kithib,” “Helo Hayati,” “Mata,” “Illa Ajibak,” “Atat” and “Ahbab,” in addition to “Tadakhine,” with lyrics by Lamia Abbas Amara, music by Al Sahir and arrangement by Michel Fadel, and “Washm,” with lyrics by Asaad Al-Ghariri, music by Al Sahir and arrangement by Shaker Hassan.