Poupak, an up and coming Persian and Middle Eastern singer based in Dubai, has spent the last twelve years building a life—and more recently, a sound—between cultures.
“I’m a Persian and Middle Eastern singer,” she says. “I sing primarily in Persian, but I also have original Arabic songs.” The understatement belies the reach of her work. In just three years of officially releasing music, Poupak has attracted listeners from across the Middle East, Iran, Turkey, Russia, and beyond. Arabic-speaking fans message her regularly, commenting on songs sung in a language not originally her own—evidence of how fluid identity has become in today’s music landscape.
Her style resists easy classification. Drawing from Persian traditional music while weaving in Western pop, fusion, and contemporary influences, Poupak is exploring a space that few female artists in Persian music currently occupy. “There aren’t really women in this genre,” she notes. “It’s new—even for me.” Rather than seeing that as a limitation, she treats it as an open field.
Music, for Poupak, has always been an ongoing education. She began training in Iran, taking formal singing courses and experimenting across genres. After relocating to Dubai, her learning continued—through online courses, close listening, and constant exposure to different musical cultures. “I’m always learning,” she says. “Always.”
That openness has led to collaborations across borders. She has worked with Arab artists from the UAE, Egypt, and Syria, and one of her most successful Arabic tracks features a collaboration with a singer from Seychelles. Blending reggae rhythms with Arabic pop, the song quickly gained traction. Within a day of its release, she learned it was playing in clubs as far away as Miami—an unexpected but affirming milestone.
Much of her Persian-language work is produced by Mohtashami, a well-known producer in Iran who has shaped the sound of many of her songs. For her Arabic music, she often collaborates with Arab producers, tailoring each project to its cultural and sonic roots.
Now, Poupak is preparing to release a new EP—nine to ten tracks—scheduled for ‘the near future.’ The title is still undecided, but the momentum is clear. After several years of an intense creative schedule, she is setting her sights on live performances and international concerts, with plans that include the United States, Canada, Australia, Turkey, Cyprus, and the UAE—places connected by global audiences and diasporic communities.
Her musical influences lean toward classic vocalists known for emotional power and technical mastery: “Adele, Céline Dion and Whitney Houston,” she says. It’s a revealing list for an artist more interested in durability than trends.
And the name Poupak? It is both her given name and her artist name—”It was a gift from my grandfather, a renowned poet,” she says. Clarifying that her voice not just as sound, but as legacy.
