DUBAI: Just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Zein Izzat Sajdi was preparing to move from Amman to London to work for a PR firm in the UK capital. However, when lockdowns meant that her move was postponed, Sajdi started posting song covers on her Instagram account. They quickly became extremely popular, and gained enough confidence to begin releasing her own material, in both English and Arabic.
Today, that move into the London PR world still hasn’t happened. Instead, Sajdi is known simply as Zeyne, and her music career is flourishing, with tens of millions of streams across various platforms. In September, she will begin a European tour in support of her debut album “Awda” (Return), which dropped in October 2025. She has collaborated with artists including Palestinian singer-songwriter and rapper Saint Levant and Bayou and has received critical acclaim for her eclectic sound, which incorporates Eastern and Western influences including R&B, hip-hop, jazz, classic Arabic music, and more, all while remaining distinctively her own.
Here, Zeyne discusses her album, the importance of her Jordanian and Palestinian roots, and the experience of breaking through to a global audience.
People often say your success is not just about hits, but that your identity is the backbone of your work. What does your identity mean to you?
