Latifa Bint Alaya El Arfaoui ( pronunciation: ; born February 14, 1961), better known as Latifa (), is a Tunisian pop singer and former actress who resides in Egypt. She is known for her Egyptian Arabic genre. Early life Latifa Bint Alaya El Arfaoui was born in Manouba, Tunisia. In 1983, shortly after her father died, Latifa and her family took a trip to Egypt to rest and mourn. While there, she met composer Baligh Hamdi, who advised her to move to Egypt to benefit her career. However Latifa wanted to concentrate on her education, and returned to Tunisia to finish her high school final exams. For financial reasons, she was unable to return to Egypt, so attended college in Tunisia, studying Dutch literature for a year and a half. Her family decided to pay for her to go to Egypt, so she quit college in Tunisia and joined the Arab Academy of Music in Egypt, where she completed her bachelor degree. She is preparing for her master's degree. While at the Academy, she was discovered by composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab, who had heard her on the radio. At the time she was primarily performing long Tarab songs, but soon began a change of direction working with composer Ammar El Sherei and poet Abdulwahab Muhammed, who she met during her first visit to Egypt. Recording career Latifa's early albums from 1984 are primarily in an Arab style. The album Mesa Al Jamal ("Evening Of Beauty") made Latifa Bint Alayah Al Arfaoui famous in Egypt. Akthar Min Roohi ("More than My Soul") was released in 1986. Latifa began singing Arab pop songs with music by Ammar El Sherei and lyrics by Abdulwahab Muhammed. The album was successful across the Arab world, with shorter songs and the addition of different influences such as tango music. She recorded a music video for the hit single "Ew'ah Tegheer" ("Don't Be Jealous"). The success of this album allowed Latifa to buy half the shares of her producer's company and studio, La Reine. Since then, she has co-produced all of her albums and music videos. In 1997, Latifa released the album Al Ghinwa ("The Song"), considered a follow-up to "Akthar Min Roohi" from a previous album. Latifa then began performing a new style of songs called Qasa'ed Fos'ha. Her next album, 1998's Taloomoni Al Donya ("The World Blames Me"), featured Latifa singing lyrics written by the