3YOONI (CH - Zurich)

Yassin Mahdi was born in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq. Because of the war, his parents fled Iraq with his younger sister and him, eventually arriving in Graubünden, Switzerland. Here he experienced the reality of being "othered". It's no surprise, then, that his music project 3YOONI critically explores concepts such as identity, language, racism and orientalism - themes that he has explored over the years through his studies, work and daily life.

Electronic beats and synthesizers blend with traditional Arabic rhythms, the oud and dreamy Iraqi Arabic vocals. He manages to fuse elements of different musical genres into a new style that reflects the way he sees the world. The 3 in 3YOONI (pronounced ayooni) refers to the Arabic letter ع "ayn", which like an inverted 3. In the Arab diaspora numbers are increasingly being integrated into the latin script to represent the arabic sounds. 3YOONI translates to "my eyes". On May 16 2025, exactly one year after the release of his debut single, 3YOONI will release his first album containing 10 songs digitally and on vinyl. It will be called “Baghdad”