Sari Abboud, better known by his stage name Massari is a Lebanese Canadian R&B/pop singer. His music combines Middle Eastern melodies with western culture. He started his musical career in 2001–2002, and has released two albums, Massari in 2005 and Forever Massari in 2009. He has had a number of hit singles in Canada, Europe, the Middle East and internationally. He started his musical career in 2001-2002 adopting the stage name Massari, which in Levantine Arabic, Massari means "money". The chosen name is also reminiscent of his birth name Sari. His cultural and social upbringing shaped his musical style very early in his music career. He released his first song "Spitfire" (2002) which was aired on Ottawa radio stations. Since then, Massari has been steadily writing and developing his sound. After three years of preparation, he released a self-titled album Massari on CP Records. His debut album resulted in four singles, receiving Gold certification in Canada, and he continued to have international success in Europe, Asia, the Middle East. Two of his early singles "Be Easy" and "Real Love" besides being two of his major hits in Canada, cracking the Canadian Top 10, they also charted notably in the German Singles Chart. Based on his initial success, Massari signed a record deal with independent record label, CP Records, becoming the prominent successful performing artist for the record company alongside Belly (rapper). On November 14, 2007, Massari and his record label, CP Records, came to a mutual agreement to end their relationship. During 2009, he released two tracks from the forthcoming album, namely "Bad Girl" and "Body Body". The album itself Forever Massari was officially released on Universal Records Canada on 10 November 2009. It included songs by writers and producers like Rupert Gayle, Alex Greggs, Derek Brin, Rob Wells and Justin Forsley. In summer of 2011, Massari signed again with CP Records, after five years of his departure from the label. On June 20, 2012, Massari realized there was money to be made off of the Middle Eastern ethnic audience, and released a free single called "Full Circle" featuring Belly as introduction for his new project. Massari's first single for the third album called "Brand New Day" was released on July 1, 2012 (Canada Day). Massari shot the video in Miami with Canadian director RT!. On January 2013, "Brand New Day" went Gold in Canada. It also charted on the Austrian Ö3 Austria Top 40, German Media Control Charts and Swiss Hitparade. The second single from the album, "Shisha" features French Montana. It was released on May 21, 2013. Massari is fluent in English, Arabic, and French. He has been exposed to a wide variety of music styles. He says his biggest influence is George Wassouf Massari says, "I sing from my heart and George Wassouf taught me to do that." Many of Massari's songs draw influence from his Middle-Eastern origins. Most of his songs contain Middle-Eastern Arabic melodies. Massari says, "Because of my background, my music is heavily influenced with Middle-Eastern melodies. Over the past few years so many artists are trying to bring Arabic styles into their music, but mine is authentic." Massari sings and raps about women. "My music is made for the ladies because that's where I get my inspiration. You'll notice a lot of the music is upbeat and positive. Women give off so much energy; it's hard not to be inspired by them." Massari is known for his upbeat, culturally rich sounding music. Massari has a music style that is reminiscent of many other R&B, pop and hip hop artists. A large portion of Massari's work incorporates elements of both singing and rapping, depending on whether or not another artist is featured on the track. Overall, Massari is of the R&B, hip hop, and pop genres.
