He refuses to give up the memories of "youth of the valley" in Sharjah

In the video, Abdullah Khalili lives among a million cassette tapes

• Khalili: I have original copies of artists' productions and I refuse to sell them.

  Photography: Ashok Verma

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At a time when the distribution of songs has become available via electronic platforms and CDs, Abdullah Muhammad Khalili, founder of “Shabab Al Wadi Records” lives among the more than one million cassette tapes, in his project that he founded in Sharjah more than 37 years ago, as he refuses to abandon this loaded world. With many memories with artists who accompanied them at the beginning of their career, he was the distributor of tapes that spread their voices throughout the UAE.

Khalili worked on distributing music cassette tapes, and from there he moved to work in recording through the studio, which allowed him to deal with a group of names in the Emirates and the Gulf, but the development of artistic production and distribution methods through electronic platforms made him somehow move away from the field, and he is satisfied today. Copies of tapes upon request.

the beginning

About the beginning of the old project and the studio that carries many memories, Khalili said in his interview with “Emirates Today”: “I established the “Shabab Al Wadi Recordings” store since 1984, and the beginning was from Dubai from the Gold Souk, then I moved to Sharjah, and it was the beginning of work. In the field of selling tapes, then I moved to distribution, after which I worked with composers and producers, including Suhail Al-Abdoul, and began distributing to the various emirates of the country.

After working in the field of distribution, Khalili entered the field of production through the studio, in which he now presents a set of recordings for singers he worked with in that era. He used to take the singers to the studio and then produce songs for them, pointing to the existence of a group of tapes bearing the name of the shop, including tapes For the singer Aryam, and Mohamed Hassan, who produced a tape of his co-production with Rajab Abdullah, Ahmed Al Shaibani, Ahmed bin Sarhan Al Derei, and Khaled Sohail, in addition to the Emirati bands that perform authentic songs.

He explained that he produced many cassette tapes and distributed them in the UAE, and distributed to a group of well-known names in the art world, including Mehd Hamad, Rashid Al Majed, and Abdullah Balkhair, and to this day he is still in contact with some artists, including the composer Ali Kanoo, who is still passing by his shop to check on him.

Production is difficult

Khalili worked in the field of tape production for years, but the development in music made him stop producing permanently more than 10 years ago, that is, when he moved to the stage of CDs completely, considering that production became more difficult at that stage, especially since he was copying tapes. to the store and distribute it to them.

He remembers the stage of distribution of the tapes with much joy, as he confirms that the production and distribution were profitable, but of course that depended on the artist and the extent of his popularity in the Emirates. There are very popular names, such as Mehd Hamad, who ranks first, as he distributed 100,000 copies of his album « The Five Senses,” followed by Eida Al-Menhali, Harbi Al-Amiri, Rashid Al-Majed, Al-Wasmi, and Khaled Muhammad.

Khalili also cooperated with the "Rotana" company, as he was keen at that stage to have all the requirements of the market available to him, but this cooperation did not bring him much profit as private productions, but it was one of the requirements of the work, as he put it.

Khalili stated that the wholesale price of the tape used to range between seven and 10 dirhams, while today it is still offered by the owner of "Shabab al-Wadi" at low prices despite its scarcity, as its price ranges between 15 and 30 dirhams.

Arab artists

A large number of Arab artists distributed Khalili to them in the Emirates, including Nancy Ajram, Diana Haddad, Warda, and Zkra, along with Abdel Halim and Farid al-Atrash, as he was buying wholesale and distributing to shops, adding that he was buying the rights of concerts, copying and distributing them, and also bought a concert for the artist. Abu Bakr Salem, worth 50 thousand dirhams, to produce and sell thousands of copies.

Khalili still lives from the production of his shop crowded with tapes, which brings the visitor back to the good old days, pointing out that he keeps the machine that converts tapes into CDs, and sells them, and he also has customers who come looking for their memories in the shop, and they buy tapes that are related to many of the past days. Al-Jamila, confirming that he owns more than a million cassette tapes and original copies of artists’ productions, but he refuses to sell them, but only copies them, and sometimes works to secure recorders that can be placed inside the tapes, as there are those who demand these devices that some see as belonging to the past.

Khalili aspires to open a branch for cassette tapes in Dubai, noting that he already has a rented shop in the city, but he uses it as a store, and he would like to launch a shop through which he presents his tape stock and his passion in this world to people and the diverse audience in a city the size of Dubai.

original metal owners

Khalili had relations with a group of artists, he had worked on productions for them, and pointed out that most of these relations are almost absent, except for some artists, including Mehd Hamad, who helped him in the production, and also presents him with all his production to distribute, along with Khaled Mohamed, who He still communicates with him always and sends him his songs, in addition to Rashid Al-Majed, who communicates with him for some work from time to time.

Abdullah Khalili:

• “I aspire to open a branch of cassette tapes in Dubai, to present my passion to its audience.”

• “It was distributed to stars in the art world, including Mehd Hamad, Rashid Al-Majed and Abdullah Belkhair.”

• His studio allowed him to deal with singers from the Emirates and the Gulf.

• Customers still nostalgic for the good old days, and are looking for their memories in a cassette tape.

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