He wishes to become a famous singer - witness.. An Iraqi gas seller promotes his goods by singing and dreams of fame

The people of the Karrada neighborhood in Baghdad wake up every morning to the sound of gas cylinder salesman Muntadhar Abbas chanting the words of the well-known Iraqi artist Yas Khedr’s song “My heart is coming back.” He dreams that his passion for singing will open the doors of fame for him.

This 22-year-old young man is the last gas distributor in Baghdad to sing, traveling on a cart attached to a motorcycle, which the Iraqis call "Souta", to let his customers know that he has arrived, and they greet him with a smile that motivates him to continue touring and singing.

Muntazer inherited this profession from his father, who taught him everything, and has been roaming the streets and corridors of this commercial district in central Baghdad since 2007.

"I am the last seller to sing, and when people recognize my voice, they open their doors and call me, others call me and also ask me to sing to combine work with pleasure," Muntazer says in his orange shirt and hat that protects him from the sun.

beautiful way

Ahmed Ali, a 30-year-old grocery store owner, loves to sing Muntazer, and says, "The way he sings is beautiful and enjoyable, especially these days. We will miss that in the future. There were many like him, but now they no longer exist."

The young man, with a thick beard and a wide smile, laments, because gas sellers are using "recorded music, but it is frankly boring," saying, "At least I can wait for his voice to be beautiful, which motivates me to buy from him."

Sometimes the music of the delivery workers is a laughing stock.

In a video clip, Mokhtar Taleb, an Internet blogger, mocks this equation, wondering why gas sellers put sad songs when they go around to sell their goods, and says, "It's just a gas bottle!"

In turn, Kamal, 55, who lives in the New Baghdad area in the east of the city, remembers the days when Baghdad was teeming with gas roaming sellers singing.

"I told them at the time that their voices are beautiful, and encouraged many of them to participate in radio races, (but) among them were those who did not dare to do so, because their clothes were shabby," he says.

Dream

Many Iraqi artists began their artistic career through a competition organized by the Iraqi Radio and Television Corporation. The competition committee consists of musicians, art critics and poets. Its task is to select the winners, and it is accepted by whoever has the opportunity to record his songs.

But after the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the committee ceased to exist, despite repeated calls over the past years to reactivate it.

Gas sellers also stopped singing, warning customers of their arrival with recorded music that they broadcast over loudspeakers, or knocking on gas cylinders to attract attention.

Among them is Abu Taiba, who is 50 years old. "My clients know me from the rhythm and my way of the roads," he says.

Muntazer does not judge the way other deliverymen work. "Everyone has their point of view, and I prefer the traditional method. Most of my customers prefer my singing," he says.

However, Muntazer does not want to pass this profession on to his children, as this is "a very difficult and low-paid job," he says.

This young man - who does not stop singing during his work and with his friends and during his family sessions - hopes that one day he will become like the famous Iraqi singer Hatem Al Iraqi.