Wafia

Wafia Al-Rikabi records under the name Wafia and crafts brooding EDM marked by soulful vocals. Born in the Netherlands and now based in Brisbane, Australia, the musician draws on her Arab heritage for inspiration in certain tracks, following an upbringing that spanned multiple continents before she turned to songwriting as an outlet from pre-med coursework at university. Millions of streams greeted the track “Let Me Love You” after its upload in summer 2014. Her first EP, XXIX—titled after the Roman numeral for copper’s atomic number—appeared on Future Classic in 2015, the same imprint then hosting electronic acts including Flume and Chet Faker (Nick Murphy). The next year brought the joint release (m)edian, a collaboration with labelmate Ta-ku. Future Classic issued the single “83 Days” in May 2017, which was paired with a live acoustic rendition featuring singer/songwriter Ben Abraham on piano and backing vocals. The solo cut “Bodies” surfaced that September and later appeared on the 2018 EP VIII. Also in 2018, Wafia lent her voice to Louis the Child’s “Better Not,” a track that received both an acoustic take and a set of remixes, after which she released the solo single “I’m Good.” The 2019 reunion with Louis the Child yielded the Whethan-featuring cut “Hurts,” while later that year she teamed with Ekali on the uplifting number “Be Fine.”