Hadhrami music is one of the five main Yemeni musical genres or "colours" (Arabic: الوان, romanized: alawn). It is native to the Hadhramaut region of Yemen and it is regarded as one of the most prominent forms of Arabic music. Its unique maqamat are widely employed by composers and musicians throughout the Arabian Peninsula. It compasses vocal performances in the Hadhrami Arabic dialect and features melodic phrases and a characteristic humming-style known as the Dan.

The tradition of Hadhrami song began to take shape in the mid-19th century. Early pioneers emerged among the Ba 'Alawi communities in Tarim, Seiyun, and Al-Hawtah, where local musicians first professionalised the art of singing and music. Notable figures during this period include Sayyid Omar bin Abdullah Al-Habashi and Ahmed bin Aidarous Al-Habashi, both of whom played pivotal roles in shaping the region's musical heritage.

In Tarim, Sayyed Abdul Qadir bin Hassan Al-Kaf—popularly known as Saeed—became one of the earliest and most esteemed artists of Hadhramaut. Renowned for his voice, intricate melodies, and mastery of traditional instruments such as the oud and the rebab.

The origins of Hadhrami music are said to be deeply rooted in ancient traditions, with its origins tracing back thousands of years to the Aad tribe of southern Arabia, with early myths recounting the legend of Jaradatay Aad—a duo of legendary female singers reputed to be among the first to perform in the Hadhramaut region.

Hadhrami musical styles are markedly distinct from those of northern Yemen. According to the ethnomusicologist Jean Lambert, the Hadhrami Dan was virtually unknown in Sana'a until the late 1980s, despite the presence of a significant number of political refugees from Hadhramaut in Sana’a. Lambert argues that this phenomenon reflects a longstanding lack of political and cultural integration between Hadhramaut and the rest of Yemen, even though the region is part of the broader Yemeni cultural sphere.

Historically, Hadhramaut maintained extensive contacts with regions such as India, Indonesia, and the Arab states of the Persian Gulf. These interactions contributed to a distinctive musical identity that developed largely independently of northern Yemeni traditions. It was only after Yemen's unification that many Hadhramis began to more fully recognise a unified Yemeni identity and its attendant political responsibilities.

An illustrative example of Hadhramaut's cross-cultural exchange is the emergence of the "Indian style," in Yemeni music. In the 1920s and 1930s, Indian musical influences became prominent as numerous musical and theatre groups, as well as films, were introduced—especially in Aden, which had long been under the administration of the British Viceroy of India. By the 1940s and 1950s, Yemeni musicians had adapted these influences to create an "Arabized" Indian style, in which tunes from Indian films were reinterpreted with texts set in classical Arabic rather than colloquial language. The acclaimed artist Muhammad Juma Khan, known for his mastery of the Hadhrami style, became one of the foremost practitioners of this hybrid form with works such as "Jinn al-Zalam," based on a classic poem by the 13th-century Arab poet Baha al-Din Zuhair.

Similarly, the work of Ahmad Ubayd al-Qa’tabi—for instance, in his rendition of "Ya A’zaz al-Nas ‘andi" (another poem by Baha al-Din Zuhair)—further exemplifies the synthesis of Indian and indigenous Yemeni elements. Lambert also noted that this innovative musical approach influenced other artists, such as Khalil Muhammad Khalil, who described his style as "neither from the Gulf nor from Egypt."