»3TWI« (عتوي), the title of Fatima Al Qadiri’s new EP, is Kuwaiti Arabic femme slang for »dirty old man«, literally meaning »male alley cat«.

Across four regional club tracks, Al Qadiri explores the gaze of this sleazy yet pitiful background character alongside her longtime friends and vocal collaborators Bobo Secret, Lama3an and Gumar. Conceptually, the EP continues Al Qadiri’s long-term preoccupation with dance music, gender identity and performance in West Asia.

Musically, the release is a homage to and love letter for West Asian folk dance music. »3TWI« celebrates the region’s ethnic diversity and the shared love of musical traditions across borders through a coy queer lens.

Lyrically, the record moves between suggestive spoken word (featuring Lama3an and Bobo Secret) and yearning anthems (featuring Gumar), all queer in intention and meaning, and largely improvised. The final track, »ta3alay«, samples the a cappella theme song of the Japanese cartoon Tokimeki Tonight, translated for Arab audiences as Ranzy Almudhisha. Originally sung by Lebanese singer Ihsan Sadek, it is re-sung by Gumar to create a double vocal. All the songs are in Kuwaiti Arabic except »ta3alay«, sung in Classical Arabic, and »zan kardeh yaw nah«, which is in 3eemi (عيمي), a regional dialect of Farsi reflecting the Iranian heritage of Gumar and Al Qadiri.

»7ilween« loosely translates as »pretty young things«. The lyrics play out a shady encounter between the 3twi and potential clients who fit the description.

»Zan kardeh ya nah« means »did you get married or not?« in 3eemi. The answer is inferred as no, making it a de facto West Asian queer anthem.

»Zilim« means »macho man« and is an ode to the region’s butch femmes. The hook translates as »She, she’s the macho man, her!«

»Ta3alay« is a love song meaning »Come here«. Its lyrics profess: »Oh tone in the mind, and in the realm of imagination, oh beautiful picture, do not stay imaginary, come here.«