Mustafa Sandal - "Moonlight", "Araba" and "Isyankar"

Mustafa Sandal, commonly known as Musti, is a famous Turkish pop singer. Next to Turkish, he is fluent in English, Italian and French. He emerged in the early 1990s with the revival of Turkish pop music and is one of the most successful pop singers in Turkey with overall sales of 17 million copies.

Musti is famous in Europe for his songs "Moonlight", "Araba" and "Isyankar" in countries such as Germany, Belgium, Switzerland and Austria. He is also known in the United States, Russia, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan.

Mustafa Sandal was born on 11 January 1970 in Istanbul. When he started school, his classmates and teachers quickly realized his talents in music. When Musti heard a song, he was immediately able to pick out the different instruments and their melodies throughout the music. He finished high school at Collège du Léman in Geneva, Switzerland. He then attended New Hampshire College in the United States. After graduating, he believed that his own dreams were more important and went back to Istanbul. During this time, Musti became involved in writing music with many songwriters. In a short time, Mustafa Sandal began to write his own music and wrote songs for famous Turkish singers Zerrin Özer, Hakan Peker, Yonca Evcimik and Aysegül Aldinç.

.

Mustafa Sandal released his debut album Suç Bende in 1994. It sold 1.7 million copies and became the greatest selling album of the year with a landslide victory. During this time, Musti gave 140 concerts throughout Turkey as well as thirty concerts in Europe. Musti was interested in working with all areas of music; he wanted to be not only a singer, but also a songwriter and producer. In 1995, Musti helped write songs and produce Turkish pop singer Sibel Ala's album "Adam" ("Man"). The album was successful and sold 400,000 copies. In 1996, Musti moved to London to isolate himself from fans while preparing his next album. Later that year, he released his second album Gölgede Ayni and it sold 2.6 million copies. After the outstanding popularity of this album, he performed 140 concerts throughout Turkey. The third music video of the album for the song "Bir Anda" used tie-clip techniques which were a first for Turkish fans. Musti also produced Turkish pop singer Izel's album "Emanet" ("Possession") later that year. Musti's third album Detay was the first album released from his newly established record label YADA Productions. In 2000, after the success of Tarkan, Musti signed a contract with Sony Music France and released a compilation album titled Araba. Later that year, Musti released his fourth album Akisina Birak but had disappointing sales. However, the duet with Natalia for the song "Hatirla Beni," originally a Greek / Egyptian song called "ELEOS" sung by Angela Dimitriou and Amr Diab became very successful and a concert tour of Turkey followed.

In 2001, Prestij Müzik, the parent company of Musti's YADA Productions, was bankrupted and Musti signed into Erol Köse Productions. In 2002, Musti released his fifth studio album Kop which contained the 2002 hit "Pazara Kadar" ("Until Sunday"/"Until the Market") as well as releasing his first promotional single for the song Kopmam Lazim with Turkish phone service Telsim. In 2003, Musti released his first Maxi Single (EP/Hybrid Album) titled Maxi Sandal 2003 / Moonlight which included a Turkish / Greek duet of the Greek folk song "Anaveis Foties" as well as releasing his first European single Aya Benzer 2003. Musti also wanted to release songs in English in his next album Seven but due to conflicts with producer Erol Köse he released the album under a Universal label. In 2004, Musti released his second European single Araba 2004 along with a second version of Seven titled Seven New Version with little success.

Later in 2004, Musti released his second Maxi Single titled ?ste ("Want") which contained his 2004 hit Isyankar ("Rebellious"). The song was believed by some to be a remake of a song by Punjabi MC. Musti later performed the song with Punjabi MC in 2005. On 11 August 2005, Musti released his third single Isyankar in Europe and later won a Gold Record for high sales in Germany. The song reached the top 20 of several European countries peaking at number four in Switzerland. Later that year, Musti released a third version of the Seven album titled Seven Reloaded. After disappointing sales, Musti announced that he was taking a career break. During this time, Musti worked on three commercials for Muhabbet Kart ("Chat Card"), a new promotion provided by Türkcell. Musti also started giving concerts throughout Turkey. During one concert, he said "Bu yaz çok sessiz geçti. Yine i? bize du?tu" ("This summer has been too quiet. It is again my responsibility to make the hits"). Suddenly, Musti started singing his Yamal Tövbeler ("Patched Repentances") song. Unfortunately, Yamal? Tövbeler sold poorly and caused more tension between Musti and Erol Köse. Musti's contract was transferred to Seyhan Müzik. It was also announced on his official website that his 1996 hit "Araba" would be translated and put into Shakira's next album.

Musti originally announced that his new album would be released in December 2006. In 2007, the new Musti FM radio on his official website confirmed that his album had been delayed to 23 April 2007, 19 May, and later to its official release date of 13 June 2007. In May, Musti invited Emina Jahovic to Istanbul and showed her three tracks he had written for her in his new album. She was deeply affected by them. To promote his album, Musti starred in three commercials for Muhabbet Kart with his grandfather, famous percussionist Hüseyin ?leri Musti also explained in an interview that his grandfather raised him during his childhood and gave him motivation and interest towards music. In an interview with Turkish entertainment show Canli Canli, Musti admitted that he is again in a relationship with Miss Emina Jahovic. Later in June, Seyhan Müzik announced that the Devam Var album sold 200,000 copies in its first week and has reached number one in all music store listings in western areas of Turkey. Overall, in 2007 2.3 million copies of Devam? var CD was sold in Turkey and some European countries.

Mustafa Sandal married singer Emina Jahovic in January 2008. And they had their first son Yaman in August 2008.

Mustafa Sandal released his debut album Suç Bende (Colpa Mea) in 1994. It sold 1.7 million copies and became the greatest selling album of the year with a landslide victory. In 1995, Musti helped write songs and produce Turkish pop singer Sibel Alas's album "Adam" ("Man"). The album was a success and sold 400,000 copies. In 1996, Musti moved to London to isolate himself from fans while preparing his next album. Later that year, he released his second album Gölgede Ayni and it sold 2.6 million copies. After the outstanding popularity of this album, he performed 140 concerts throughout Turkey. The third music video of the album for the song "Bir Anda" used tie-clip techniques which were a first for Turkish fans. Musti also produced Turkish pop singer Izel's album "Emanet" ("Possesion") later that year. Musti's third album Detay was the first album released from his newly established record label YADA Productions. In 2000, after the success of Tarkan, Musti signed a contract with Sony Music France and released a compilation album titled Araba. Later that year, Musti released his fourth album Akisina Birak (Let it Go) but had dissapointing sales. However, the duet with Natalia for the song "Hatirla Beni," originally a Greek/Egyptian song called "ELEOS" sung by Angela Dimitriou and Amr Diab became very successful and a concert tour of Turkey followed."

In 2002, Musti released his fifth studio album Kop which contained the 2002 hit "Pazara Kadar" ("Until Sunday"/"Until the Market"). In 2003, Musti released his first Maxi Single (EP/Hybrid Album) titled Maxi Sandal 2003 / Moonlight which included a Turkish/Greek duet of the Greek folk song "Anaveis Foties" and his first European single Aya Benzer 2003. Musti also wanted to release English songs in his next album Seven but due to conflicts with producer Erol Köse he released the album under a Universal label. In 2004, Musti released his second European single Araba 2004 along with a second version of Seven titled Seven New Version with little success.

Later in 2004, Musti released his second Maxi Single titled Iste ("Want") which contained his 2004 hit Isyankar ("Rebellious"). The song was believed by some to be a remake of a song by Punjabi MC. Musti later performed the song with Punjabi MC in 2005. On August 11th, 2005, Musti released his third single Isyankar in Europe and later won a Gold Record for high sales in Germany. The song reached the top 20 of several European countries peaking at number four in Switzerland.[3] Later that year, Musti later released a third version of the Seven album titled Seven Reloaded. After dissapointing sales, Musti announced that he was taking a career break.