Mayssa Jallad is a multidisciplinary artist whose work navigates the complex interplay of music, architecture and urban history.Her arstistic practice blends her architectural background with her passion for music, creating narratives that resonate deeply with Lebanons‘ history.
Mayssa’s latest album “Marjaa: The Battle of the Hotels” exemplifies this fusion of her dual vocations. Written in collaboration with producer Fadi Tabbal, the songs recount the 1975 “Battle of the Hotels” where opposing factions fought over the hotel district seeking to dominate the city’s architectural heights. The outcome of the battle determined the East-West demarcation line that separated the town for over 15 years; A violent divide that still resonates to this day in Lebanese culture.
Mayssa’s music caters to post-war youth who have never been taught this difficult history. It is also a call to protest for the renewal, rather than the recycling, of the political class that holds the population hostage of its historical violence.