Photo of nikotine by bernard okulaja
BIO
NIKOTINE (Arabic: نيكوتين بيروت) is a Lebanese-Canadian singer-songwriter and cabaret artist based between Toronto and Montréal.
Born in Beirut, Nikotine's influences span the Arab world (Fairuz, Assala, Majida El Roumi) as well as Western voices (Freddie Mercury, Prince, Nina Hagen, Klaus Nomi).
Nikotine is currently recording her debut studio album -- spanning Arabic and English, with sessions between Paris, Beirut, and Canada. The album contains a fusion of Arabesque flamenco, glam rock, Rumi poetry and disco pop. It arrives in 2027.
Nikotine is also the co-creator, writer, host, and live singer of CABARET: The Dancing Djinn: musical theatre cabaret reminiscent of classic Parisian 1920s cabarets. An de-colonial Aladdin, the show mixes original live music (Arabic and English), theatre, and Baladi dance across a dazzling two-person spectacle about finding your way home (and falling in love with a djinn!). The show has been described by The Link as "a reclamation of erased queer Arab histories" and has sold out multiple venues across Canada since its 2025 debut
THE MUKHANANTHUN
The Mukhannathun (Arabic: المخنثون) were trans-feminine or gender-nonconforming performers who occupied celebrated, respected roles in medieval Andalusian and broader Arab court culture. Singers, poets, entertainers, and advisors to caliphs, they represent a vibrant queer tradition within Arab history that has been systematically erased.
Nikotine's encounter with traces of this history during a visit to the Alhambra palace in Granada, Spain - through the scholarship of historians Dr. Ali Olomi and Dr. Borjan Grozdanoski - was a turning point in the development of her artistic identity as well as the concept behind The Dancing Djinn.
