To western ears Arabic music sounds at first, well, foreign. It uses beats, rhythms, and scales that our ears just aren't used to. We didn't grow up with it so the music sounds strange. In this post you're going to find some songs that you will likely enjoy, even if you've never listened to Arabic music before.
I've chosen mostly quick tempo songs as slower songs are often described as whiny by western listeners. To tell you the truth, a lot of slow songs sound whiny to me too, but I know that if I say that I don't like Um Kalthum or that Fayrouz's only has a few songs I enjoy, I'm going to make the Arab readers of this post a little peeved. I've never found a western person who will say that they like Um Kalthum though although Arabs are crazy about her. I really believe her music is just something you had to grow up with to like. I've decided to leave out songs from that era and go with more modern music.
These are 15 songs that I like and listen to (some so much that I don't listen to them anymore). I've waded through a lot of songs that I didn't like over my 6 years of learning Arabic and these are the best I've found. I have more, but people don't like long lists so I've limited it to a manageable top 15. I've tried to get most of the regions of the Arab world represented on the list. So, in no particular order: