Arabesque

Arabesk is a genre termed by Turkish musicologists for a regressive type of sound to come out of Turkey in the 1960's. Orhan Gencebay is generally considered

Arabesk is a genre termed by Turkish musicologists for a regressive type of sound to come out of Turkey in the 1960's. Orhan Gencebay is generally considered the founder of the genre, though he disagrees with the usage of the term.

The genre involves a versatile collection of music inspired by Turkish folk music and Middle Eastern music. Arabesk is a working class musical style, so-called because of its predominantly Arab-influenced melodies. Traditionally a male dominated genre, its image has changed largely due to an injection of female singers. Plus, most critics attribute to these female singers the "dance" influx of sound into the genre, which is sometimes known as arabesk/fantasy.