Mayssa Karaa

She has recently launched the first single "Call me a stranger" and music video of her full-length English solo debut, SIMPLE CURE to be released in June 2019.

International families might identify her with “The Arabic Alphabet Song” from Iftah Ya Simsim the first international co-production of the American children's television series Sesame Street created in the Arab world which generated 27 million YouTube views. She’s worked on 2 other songs with them “Children are the world” and “The four seasons.”

Melding Arabic influences into Western music is MAYSSA’s forte: notable recordings in her catalog include a version of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb” accompanied by the band’s Scott Page.

MAYSSA traveled to Detroit, Michigan to honor Rock & Roll Hall of Fame legend Bob Seger. Fronting a band organized by the distinguished producer Don Was, she performed a haunting version of Seger’s “Turn the Page” in both English and Arabic during the 22nd Annual “Concert Of Colors”in 2014 at the Orchestra Hall in Detroit, Michigan.

She's also recently had a Tamil song “Hayati” featured in one of the biggest Tamil movie in India Chekka Chivantha Vaanam’s soundtrack produced by Oscar-winner AR Rahman which has become a major hit, hitting #1 on Apple music India.

She has recently launched the first single "Call me a stranger" and music video of her full-length English solo debut, SIMPLE CURE to be released in June 2019.

In 2018, one of her originals, “Broken Lines” was published on the “NOW 66” best compilation album [LINK] among other top 2018 hits (by artists like Dua Lipa, Camila Cabello, Justin Timberlake, Maroon 5 and others) distributed by Universal music USA. The Knockturnal magazine said "the song finds cosmopolitan space somewhere between Florence Welch and Dua Lipa." 

Mayssa Karaa, also known professionally as Mayssa (born in Beirut, Lebanon), is a Lebanese American singer-songwriter currently based in Los Angeles, California. She was the featured vocalist on the Arabic version of "White Rabbit" on the American Hustle Soundtrack. which was nominated to the Grammy Awards as "Best Compilation Soundtrack" for Visual Media in 2015.

American Hustle went on to win a Golden Globe and was nominated for several Oscar Awards. Mayssa performed the song at the film's premiere in several cities, including the Dubai International Film Festival, where it premiered in Dubai. In February 2014, Lebanon’s Cultural Minister Gaby Layoun gave Lebanon's National Cultural Award to Karaa at the American Hustle premiere held in Beirut. Layoun stated, “She has created a significant artistic bridge between our culture and audiences around the world. She has made an impact both in Hollywood and as a role model for young women here and abroad. In a world filled with sad days, this is one that brings us great joy and pride for Lebanon.”

Karaa sang the Arabic version of "White Rabbit" on the American Hustle Soundtrack, which was released on Sony Classical in 2013, a psychedelic song originally by The Great Society (recorded 1966) and made famous by American band Jefferson Airplane, who released it in 1967. Karaa was in Beirut at the time without access to a studio, she recorded her audition on her iPhone. A week after her audition Karaa flew to Los Angeles to record the track produced by Mark Batson.

She graduated Berklee in 2012, and that year joined the Berklee World Strings Orchestra to sing a Persian piece “The Passion of Rumi” by Hafez Nazeri, before touring with the group to a number of American cities.

In 2006, Lebanon was again engaged in conflict, and Karaa and her family moved to Boston, Massachusetts. In Boston, Mayssa followed in her father's footsteps and studied civil engineering.  But, on the eve of graduating, her father encouraged her to pursue her vocal talent.  In 2008, she enrolled in the Berklee College of Music where she  delved into different genres of music including pop, rock, middle Eastern, Eastern European music and classical opera. As a result, Mayssa performs in multiple languages including English, Arabic, Persian, Italian, French, Serbian, Bulgarian and Greek.

Mayssa Karaa was born in Beirut, Lebanon during a time of civil unrest in 1989, she is the daughter of Andre Karaa, a civil engineer and Najwa Karaa, who works with numerous charitable organizations to help people in need.  Mayssa has a younger sister named Rayya.