If you want to experience firsthand the true meaning of both working hard and playing hard, spend a day with House music mogul and Emirati entrepreneur Haneef Al Raisi – that is, if you can catch him in one spot for long enough

 

“I basically travel the world promoting my brand,” he says. “I took 15 flights across the USA between March and May alone, and I’m heading to Ibiza, Mykonos, Zurich, New York and Amsterdam to host a couple of my own events this month. I’ve pretty much been partying around the globe for eleven years!”

Business started for Al Raisi as a label manager for Universal Music in 1999. “Working with them was my first real musical influence,” says the Al Ain native. And what an influence it was; the job saw him travelling around the world and working with mega-selling artists including Eminem, Bryan Adams and Nelly Furtado as well as partying – and networking – all as part of the job description.

“In 2001 I accepted a job as a Head Buyer for Virgin Megastore Middle East,” he says. “I loved it” – but he still had time for more work. In the search for fresh talent, al Raisi stumbled upon the thumping bass lines of House music, and has never looked back.

Virgin was mostly selling music from the big commercial labels. So he proposed starting a Virgin company to import underground dance and electronic music; he signed exclusive deals with top independents from around the world such as Defected, Global Underground, Clubstar, and OM Records.

Things went to another level on his 23rd birthday in December 2003, when RAISANI was born – a House-only events brand that went on to run some of the best gigs in Dubai. And following RAISANI’s 2006 opening party for the largest indoor nightspot in the UAE, Enigma Club at Al Raha Hotel, al Raisi realised that there was a potential House music scene in the capital. Around 1,400 people turned up – “we organised that party in less than a week and it was an invite-only event”.

This made Al Raisi move to Abu Dhabi to focus on the market here while it was still untouched. He also introduced a second more minimal tech label, Deeper Sounds of Raisani: “the main label is more soulful, funky club House, but we needed another label to support up-and-coming talents who find it hard to release their music.”

Al Raisi is clearly committed to the idea of business, too. “I moved back to Al Ain from Dubai in 2006, cut back on expenses, and put all my money into my brand development.”

Al Raisi says, “The scene in Abu Dhabi still isn’t great. It’s not real House because not many people out here really know what proper House music is all about.

“I would love to work with other musicians and producers from here. I’d love to hear some locally-grown tracks, whether the producer is Emirati or not”

“While everyone was busy booking European DJs, I chose to book more American DJs because I wanted to focus on the soulful sounds of pure Chicago-based House – that’s where House music was born, after all.

“I reckon Abu Dhabi needs two to three more years to properly acclimatise to real House music. More bars and clubs will open up in this period, more hotels will realise how important it is to put on great events and book international DJs more frequently.”

Al Raisi has been able to accumulate over a hundred singles from various international House stars for his label. But another reason he started the label was to support local talent, and he hasn’t given up on that goal. “I would love to work with other musicians and producers from here. I’d love to hear some locally-grown tracks, whether the producer is Emirati or not.

“They just have to give me what I’m looking for, and that’s quality House music.” And what is quality House music? “House music is a spiritual thing, not everybody understands House Music” he smiles. “It’s something that can’t be put into words.”

The music business isn’t his only interest, though. Today he also has an import/export agency, retail stores in Al Ain, and a transportation business for raw materials and construction materials. Raisani also does talent sourcing, photography, even web design. And he’s launching the Raisani Foundation to support disadvantaged children across the globe with basic education. "This is what I will be doing when I retire, supporting the less fortunate,” says Al Raisi.

Retirement isn’t an option yet. “I'm working on plans as we speak to open up small, chic boutique hotels in hip cities, and Abu Dhabi will definitely see the first of them ... It’s a perfect location to target a high-end clientele who are looking for something different rather than the large international hotel brands.

“On the music side, I’m nearly finished working on my own album as well, but it’s taking me a while to put it together – it took me something like four years to do five tracks,” he laughs. But there are other exciting plans in the stable of Raisani such as launching a private jet company and also a sports car under the Raisani brand in the next decade or two.

Four tracks in five years. It couldn’t possibly be because he is busy taking over the world, could it?