When Hadi Birajakli, a Syrian multidisciplinary artist now based in Cairo, began writing his latest song Safer (2025), one word came to him first: safer, Arabic for “to travel.” But for Birajakli, who left Syria for Cairo in 2012 amid the war, the word holds far more than its literal meaning. Rather, for Birjakli, the word carries the weight of movement, of longing, and of questioning. It holds years of navigating life as a stranger in a strange land, and of searching for a sense of belonging in Cairo, far from the Syria he once called home. It also holds the countless conversations he has had with himself, trying to make sense of a shifting identity. As the song unfolds, that single word — safer — feels as though it stretches across the entire track, spilling into its sound and melodies. Though it is only sung once, right at the beginning, it lingers. The way it is sung, with rawness and full of emotion, makes it stick with you long after it is gone, rippling through the rest of the lyrics like an echo. In Birajakli’s hands, safer becomes…
