Nemah Hasan, known professionally as Nemahsis, is a Palestinian-Canadian singer-songwriter from Toronto, Ontario. She independently released her debut album Verbathim on September 13, 2024, which won the 2025 Juno Award Alternative Album of the Year and was shortlisted for the 2025 Polaris Music Prize.
Early life
Nemah Hasan was born in Ontario, Canada and raised on a farm in the town of Milton. She is the daughter of Palestinian immigrants and is Bedouin from her father's side. As a child, Hasan's parents kept her from wearing her hijab in fear she would be bullied, to which she began hiding it in her backpack and putting it on at her bus stop.
Career Hasan began her career on TikTok, posting beauty and fashion videos aimed at Muslim women alongside occasional videos of her singing Adele covers. After being exploited by a company that hired her for an advertising campaign and then failed to pay her, in June 2021 she released her first original single and video "What If I Took It Off for You?", about social attitudes toward Muslim women who wear the hijab. She followed up with the singles "Paper Thin" in October 2021 and "Dollar Signs" in January 2022, before releasing the EP Eleven Achers (stylized in all lowercase) in March 2022. The EP was listed as one of the best extended plays of 2022 by Exclaim!.
She followed up with the new non-EP singles "Criminal" in October 2022 and "I Wanna Be Your Right Hand" in February 2023.
In May 2024, Hasan released the single "Stick of Gum" for her debut album. The song's music video was shot entirely in her family's hometown of Jericho in the occupied West Bank. The single was selected by Spotify editors as one of the best songs of 2024. In the summer, she released the singles "You Wore It Better", "Fine Print", and "Coloured Concrete". "Coloured Concrete" was listed as one of the "25 Best Canadian Songs of 2024" by Billboard Canada.
On September 13, Hasan independently released her debut album Verbathim. Hasan stated the title "Verbathim is just the word verbatim except someone is grabbing my tongue" to symbolize the censorship she has faced. The album was listed by CBC Music as number three in the top 15 best Canadian albums of that year.
In March 2025, Hasan was awarded Artist of the Year by non-profit organization Women in Music Canada. She also won Breakthrough Artist of the Year and Alternative Album of the Year for Verbathim at the 2025 Juno Awards. The album was also shortlisted for the 2025 Polaris Music Prize. In September, Nemahsis was announced as a recipient of the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame's 2025 Breakthrough Songwriter Award.
On October 17, Nemahsis released an official cover of "Team", originally by Lorde, along with a music video in memory of Palestinian journalists Saleh al-Jafarawi and Anas Al-Sharif.
In April 2026, Nemahsis announced her next single was titled "Paper Soldiers".
Artistry Hasan's music has been compared to that of musicians Mitski, Fiona Apple, and FKA Twigs.
Hasan has been inspired by singer-songwriter Feist's "approach to pop music". Her influences also include Amy Winehouse, Billie Holiday, Charli XCX, Fiona Apple and Marina Diamandis.
Activism On October 12, 2023, soon after the October 7 attacks, the singer shared on social media that she had been dropped by her label, stating "My label just dropped me, a Palestinian artist, for being pro-Palestine". Her subsequent posts include a rendition of "Team", originally by New Zealand artist Lorde, with images from Gaza before and after the bombardments.
Discography
Albums Title Details Verbathim Released: September 13, 2024 Formats: LP, digital download, streaming
Extended Plays Title Details Eleven Achers Released: March 11, 2022 Formats: Digital download, streaming
Singles + List of singles as lead artist, showing year released and name of the album Title Year Album "What If I Took It Off for You?" 2021 "Paper Thin" Eleven Achers "Dollar Signs" 2022 "Criminal" rowspan="2" "I Wanna Be Your Right Hand" 2023 "Stick of Gum" 2024 Verbathim "You Wore It Better" "Fine Print" "Coloured Concrete" "Team"
Awards and nominations Award Year Nominee / Work Category Result SOCAN 2022 "Paper Thin" SOCAN Songwriting Prize Prism Prize 2023 Nemahsis Hi-Fidelity Award 2024 "I Wanna Be Your Right Hand" Audience Award Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame Breakthrough Songwriter Award2025 Nemahsis Non-French-language Juno Awards Songwriter of the Year Breakthrough Artist of the Year VerbathimAlternative Album of the Year Polaris Music Prize Best Canadian Album (Short-listed) Women in Music Honours Nemahsis Artist of the Year
Listicles +Name of publisher, year(s) listed, name of listicle, recipient, and placement result Publisher Year Listicle Recipient PlacementExclaim! 2022 Exclaim!'s 15 Best EPs of 2022 Eleven Achers Placed Billboard Canada 2024 25 Best Canadian Songs of 2024 "Coloured Concrete" Placed CBC Music The 15 best Canadian albums of 2024 Verbathim 3 Spotify Editor's Picks: Best Songs of 2024 "Stick of Gum" Placed Rolling Stone 2025 The Future 25 Nemahsis Placed
References
External links