Soapkills is an indie electro-pop band based in Lebanon. The group was formed in October 1997 when Zeid Hamdan and Yasmin Hamdan, both born in Beirut in 1976 but not related, decided to explore and combine their interest in classical Arabic song and electronic music.

Currently a cult group in Lebanon, Soapkills gets inspiration both from classical Arabic song and music and from the new electro scene currently blossoming in the Middle East. The group performs sensual music that draws much of its inspiration from Arabic song. The band appears on several compilations, has recorded the albums Bater and Cheftak, and has also performed in Paris, Berlin, Syria, Algeria, Congo, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and Sydney.

In 2005, Soapkills released their last album to date entitled Entah Fen. The album features new material as well as remixes of their previous songs. Yasmine Hamdan and Zeid Hamdan both started working on solo projects. Zeid went on to form a band called The New Government, while Yasmine, during a Madonna party in Paris, met with the producer Mirwais. Together, they formed the duo Y.A.S. The project places Arabic lyrics at the center of electronic beats, and the album Arabology was released in France in march of 2009.

There are talks for a Best Of Cd, consisting of the Zeid/Yasmine's most popular tracks, but various offers from producers have been rejected. There is no certainty about Soapkills' future, whether the band will reform or if they are completely dissolved is yet to be announced, but Yasmine has stated that Soapkills had been banned from radio and tv airplay and she hopes that Y.A.S won't have the same fate in France.

The band was mentioned in Time in reference to Lebanon's music scene.^[1]

1. ^ Butters, Andrew Lee (2007-09-20). "Postcard: Beirut". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1663834,00.html. Retrieved 2008-05-30. 

[edit] External links

• Official website
• Soap Kills at MySpace
• Soapkills blog