Biography
There are multiple artists using this name:
1) Medina Danielle Oona Valbak (born Andrea Fuentealba Valbak; November 30, 1982 in Risskov, Aarhus, Denmark), is a R&B-, hip-hop-singer and songwriter. The half Danish half Chilean songstress began working with the infamous production team, 'Providers' in the summer of 2008 and released the dance floor smash, Kun For Mig (You & I) in September 2008.
The track spent a phenomenal seven weeks at number 1 in the Danish Dance chart before national radio began to take note in January 2009. To date, "Kun For Mig" (You & I) is the biggest record of the year in Denmark. The single has spent an astonishing 6 weeks at number 1, selling 75,000 singles and reached double platinum status.
She performed over 100 shows between January 2009 and 2012, including supporting Lady GaGa.
Medina recorded "Kun For Mig" (You & I) in English and after a heated A & R scramble, with remixes from deadmau5, Spencer & Hill, Dash Berlin, Svenstrup & Vendelboe, Kim Fai, Havin Zagross and Luciano Vargas.
Medina has released nine albums to date, the latest one in 2020.
2) Medina is a Swedish hip hop/rap duo, with Tunisian background and sporting Arabian rythms, consisting of Sami Daniel Rekik (aka Sam-E) and Ali Jammali (aka Alibrorsh or Alibi). They have currently released sixteen albums/mixtapes, with the first full-lenght released in 2003 and the latest - Tropicalisera - released in 2023.
In 2002, the duo met for the first time during a gig in Knivsta and have since worked together. Shortly after their first meeting, Rekik invited Jammali to his studio in Stockholm to record a song. One song became an entire mixtape and the group Medina had been formed. Medina means "city" in Arabic.
Both have worked with music since their teens and have been inspired by various artists such as Jay-Z, Ludacris, Magic System, Cheb Khaled and Swedish House Mafia. The duo agreed early on to create a unique sound and call their genre "Haffla Music", a mix of reggaeton, hip-hop, raï, house, pop and dancehall. "Haffla" means party in Arabic and is what Medina wants to convey.
In 2012, they released the album Hayat and ended up in lists on Spotify and Itunes. The single "Där palmerna bor" sold double platinum and has been played on several radio channels.
In the summer of 2018, the record company Warner Music wrote in a press release that Medina is shutting down. The duo had received death threats, and after that they said themselves that the collaboration broke down and that after the split they did not speak to each other for several years.
After Medina reunited four years later, they competed in Melodifestivalen 2022 with the song "In i dimman"
In 2007, the duo decided to start their own production company "State crown", which they have run together since then.
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