Selin Sümbültepe

Selin Sümbültepe is a singer from Hatay, in south-eastern Turkey near the Syrian border. Her music is a folk-pop that blends Middle Eastern melodies with a Western pop aesthetic, sung in Turkish and Arabic (which is not her mother tongue). She trained as a flutist, and has released albums and EPs in Turkey, with her first European dates in 2025.

Eastern melodies, pop grooves

The sources mention Fairuz, Yasmine Hamdan, Naïssam Jalal, Barış Manço, Nick Drake and Erykah Badu among her influences. Her Hemhal EP (2024, five tracks) was produced by Zeid Hamdan and recorded over five days in Turkey. Press describes a mix of Middle Eastern elements with reggae, rock and dub colours. Later releases include singles in 2025 and 2026 and an Arabic-language EP, Khayal (2026), also produced by Zeid Hamdan. Her page mentions Middle Eastern percussion, oriental grooves, an oud and a guitar solo on individual tracks.

For sync and licensing

This catalogue pairs a warm, melodic voice with accessible pop structure and distinctive Middle Eastern colour. It would suit images that need an Eastern Mediterranean or Levantine setting, but also more intimate scenes: travel, contemporary drama, documentary, film about memory or migration, or lifestyle content. Songs exist in Turkish and in Arabic, which is a practical advantage for projects looking for non-English vocals. The more rhythmic tracks, with dub or reggae colour, work as upbeat cues; the slower, vocal-led pieces as emotional ones.

History and themes

Selin grew up in Hatay, and Hemhal (“to unite”) draws on the region’s traditions. It was written in the wake of the 2023 earthquake, with heritage, healing and resilience as central themes. “Meryem Meryemti” is a funeral lament well known in Hatay, reinterpreted for the EP. Other songs deal with isolation and connection (“Derbest”, “Tekbar Tekrar”) and with migrant children and the situation in southern Turkey and northern Syria (“Rabih”). She approached Zeid Hamdan, one of her idols, who agreed to work with her after hearing her voice.