Rami Yacoub: Swedish-Palestinian Music Giant

Have you heard of Rami Yacoub before? Maybe you haven’t, but one thing that’s for sure, is that you have heard songs he produced or co-produced. Does  Britney’s “Hit Me Baby One More Time” ring any bells? Or Ariana Grande’s “One Last Time”? What about Backstreet Boys’ “Shape of Your Heart”?

Rami Yacoub is among the true giants of the world in the music industry . His parents are Palestinian, and he was born and raised in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, in 1975. He started his music career at the age of 13.

How cool is that? I can relate to this; me, Palestinian, born in the Netherlands, I started playing music at the age of 13. Look where Rami ended up, and where I did!

Rise to success

Although he started playing bass in a band, he was already writing songs for the group. At the age of 18, he turned his attention and efforts to music production.

Rami names Denniz PoP as his ‘musical Godfather’, and he was brought under his wings by the legendary Max Martin. The latter asked him to join Cheiron Studios, the music production powerhouse founded by Denniz and by Tom Talomaa.

Kill your darlings

Rami, about Denniz Pop: “He taught us to kill our darlings, which basically means if it’s good, yet not great, kill it and start over.” He said this in a very interesting interview that you can read here, if you are curious what he means exactly. It’s the philosophy of a formula of success, and both Rami and Martin have certainly proven that it works.

Ouch … I’m not ready to ‘kill my own darlings’, as my ambition does not reach so far as to justify the sacrifice of the products of my creativity. But when you are a top pro like Rami, this sounds like the best advice you could ever get from anyone.

One More Time

The very first production he worked on, with Max Martin, “Baby One More Time” was a monster hit all around the world. Britney Spears became world famous overnight, and the two geniuses who made that super-catchy song continued to operate behind the scenes.

Do you want a few more world famous names that Rami has produced hits for?  If we say NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, One Direction, Nicki Minaj, Tiesto, AVICII, and Madonna, the list still goes on.

Show goes on

Nowadays, he operates from his own company, Kinglet Studios, in Los Angeles. He is also involved in Dirac Research, a company that innovates audio and sound.

When I found out about Rami Yacoub, I was really impressed. I already knew about DJ Khaled being Palestinian, and thought that was pretty cool too. It’s actually quite something that two really big names in the music industry are Palestinians born in the diaspora.

From now on, I will try to continue to follow Rami’s career. I wish him nothing but success, and with the amazing talents he has, I am confident that we will continue to enjoy the fruits of his musical endeavours!