Finalists Revealed for the First Ever Billboard Arabia Music Awards

The first-ever Billboard Arabia Music Awards (BBAMAs) will take on Dec. 11 at the King Fahad Cultural Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. After a year of tracking trends on the Billboard Arabia charts, this landmark event will celebrate the most talented artists from the Arab world and North Africa – those who have made waves on the charts and dominated streaming platforms worldwide. Throughout the year, Billboard Arabia’s 10 charts have spotlighted listening trends across four key dialects and four musical genres, in addition to the flagship charts: Artist 100 and Hot 100.

Winners of the BBAMAs will be determined based on their performance on Billboard Arabia’s flagship charts, such as the Hot 100 and Artist 100, as well as its four dialect-specific charts — Khaleeji, Egyptian, Levantine and Maghrebi — and genre-specific charts, including Arabic Hip-Hop, Arabic Indie, Shelat and Mahraganat. These charts are built on the trusted methodology that has defined the Billboard brand.

Beyond celebrating the year’s leading artists and tracks, the BBAMAs will highlight the region’s rich talent pool with an exciting lineup of live performances and unexpected collaborations. The event will feature a mix of established and rising stars from across the Arab world and its diaspora.

With over 40 award categories already revealed, the BBAMAs promise to be a comprehensive tribute to the region’s vibrant music scene. Below is the full list of finalists for these awards. Stay tuned; more categories will be unveiled soon.

Song of the Year
“Fouq” by ‏Assala Nasri
“Guli Mata” by Saad Lamjarred, Shreya Ghoshal, and Rajat Nagpal
“Ya Leil W Yal Ein” by Al Shami
“Haygely Mawgow” by Tamer Ashour
“Sabran” by Al Shami

Artist of the Year
Amr Diab
Al Shami
Nancy Ajram
Sherine Abdel Wahab
Ahmed Saad

Top Male Artist
Al Shami
Dystinct
Ahmed Saad
Amr Diab
Tamer Ashour

Top Female Artist
Nancy Ajram
Elissa
Assala
Sherine Abdel Wahab
Elyanna

Top Band
Cairokee
Massar Egbari
Miami Band
Sharmoofers
Al Massrieen

Top New Artist
Dystinct
Elyanna
TUL8TE
Siilawy
Al Shami

Highest Gainer
Amr Diab
TUL8TE
Angham
Al Shami
Tamer Ashour

Top Arabic Collaboration of the Year
Ameen Khattab and Essam Sasa – “Ehna Say’ Monharifin”
Assala Nasri and Ahmed Saad – “Sabb Farhety”
Nassif Zeytoun and Rahma Riad – “Ma Fi Leil”
Saint Levant and MC Abdul – “Deira”
Tawsen and Ayoub Anbaoui – “Dawini’

Top Khaleeji Song
Adel Ebrahim – “Dl’nak”
Ayed – “Lammah”
Ayed – “Rdy”
Fouad Abdulwahed – “Kel Ahebek”
Fouad Abdulwahed – “Thaag El Ghamaam”

Artist of the Year – Khaleeji Dialect
Abdul Majeed Abdullah
Majid al-Muhandis
Ayed
Rashed al-Majed
Hussain Al Jassmi

Top Male Artist – Khaleeji Dialect
Ayed
Hussain Al Jassmi
Rashed al-Majed
Majid al-Muhandis
Abdul Majeed Abdullah

Top Female Artist – Khaleeji Dialect
Assala Nasri
Balqees
Aseel Hameem
Shamma Hamdan
Oumaima Taleb

Top Egyptian Song
Wael Jassar – “Koul Waad”
Tamer Ashour – “Haygely Mawgow”
Assala Nasri and Ahmed Saad – “Sabb Farhety”
‏Assala Nasri – “Fouq”
Elyanna – “Ganeni”

Artist of the Year – Egyptian Dialect
Ahmed Saad
Nancy Ajram
Amr Diab
Tamer Ashour
Sherine Abdel Wahab

Top Male Artist – Egyptian Dialect
Tamer Ashour
Ramy Sabry
Ahmed Saad
Mohamed Hamaki
Amr Diab

Top Female Artist – Egyptian Dialect
Assala Nasri
Elyanna
Nancy Ajram
Elissa
Sherine Abdel Wahab

Top Levantine Song
Ali Saber – “Dawaat Ommi”
Al Shami – “Sabran”
Nassif Zeytoun and Rahma Riad – “Ma Fi Leil”
Al Shami – ‘Wein”
Al Shami – ‘Ya Leil W Yal Ein”

Artist of the Year – Levantine Dialect
Al Shami
Elissa
Mahmod Alturky
Nassif Zeytoun
Nancy Ajram

Top Male Artist – Levantine Dialect
Al Shami
Siilawy
Nassif Zeytoun
Wael Kfoury
Mahmod Alturky

Top Female Artist – Levantine Dialect
Nancy Ajram
Myriam Fares
Elissa
Abeer Nehme
Rahma Riad

Top Magharebi Song
Soolking and DYSTINCT – ‘Y Dor’
Lartiste – “Zarzour”
Cheb Hichem Tgv – “Fatou Liyam”
Saad Lamjarred, Shreya Ghoshal, and Rajat Nagpal – “Guli Mata”
Lazaro – “Mahboul Ana’

Artist of the Year – Magharebi
Zouhair Bahaoui
Saad Lamjarred
Dystinct
Cheb Khaled
Samara

Top Male Artist – Magharebi Dialect
Zouhair Bahaoui
Saad Lamjarred
Dystinct
Cheb Khaled
Samara

Top Female Artist – Magharebi Dialect
Manal
Hind Ziadi
Kawtar
Marwa Loud
Chaama

Top Arabic Hip-Hop Song
Muhab – Yazmeely
Draganov – 3dabi
ElGrandeToto and Hamza – Dellali
Stormy – Popo
ElGrandeToto – Blue Love

Artist of the Year – Arabic Hip-Hop
Samara
ElGrandeToto
Marwan Pablo
Stormy
Wegz

Top Arabic Hip-Hop Male Artist
Samara
ElGrandeToto
Marwan Pablo
Stormy
Wegz

Top Arabic Hip-Hop Female Artist
Raja Meziane
Hala
Perrie
Jara
Khtek

Top Indie Song
TUL8TE – “Mateegy A’ady Aleiky”
Al Shami – “Sabran”
Hamza Namira – “Reyah El Hayah”
TUL8TE – “Habeeby Leh”
Elyanna – “Ganeni”

Artist of the Year – Arabic Indie
Siilawy
Muslim
TUL8TE
Elyanna
Cairokee

Top Arabic Indie Male Artist
Al Shami
TUL8TE
Siilawy
Mohammed Saeed
Muslim

Top Arabic Indie Female Artist
Zeyne
Emel Mathlouthi
Dana Salah
Ghaliaa
Elyanna

Top Mahraganat Song
Eslam Kabonga and Kalosha – “Elli Nefso Feya Beti Maytawehsh”
Eslam Kabonga – “Aywa Ya Habibty Wahashtiny”
Reda El Bahrawy and Muslim – “Lafena El Donya”
Hamada El Leithy and Amr Salama – “Tarek El Andal”
Reda El Bahrawy – “Aal Doghrey”

Artist of the Year – Mahraganat
Muslim
Essam Sasa
Hassan Shakosh
Ameen Khattab
Eslam Kabonga

Top Mahraganat Artist
Hassan Shakosh
Muslim
Essam Sasa
Eslam Kabonga
Ameen Khattab

Top Shelat Song
Mohammed Bin Grman – “Ma Gelt Lak”
Mohammed Bin Grman – “Alek Akhaf”
Abdullah Al Farwan – “Jamalek Gheer”
Nawaf Fraih – “Thalath Ayam”
Asad Albathari – “Makhboob Khelli”

Artist of the Year – Shelat
Nader Alsharari
Mohammed Bin Grman
Ghareeb Al Mokhles
Badr Alezzi
Abdullah Al Farwan

Top Shelat Song
“Alek Akhaf” by Mohammed Bin Grman
“Jamalek Gheer” by Abdullah Al Farwan
“Thalath Ayam” by Nawaf Fraih
“Al Makhoob Khelli” by Asad Albathari