Nov

9

Danish DJs teach Palestinian youth to work the decks

By Jackson Allers, November 8, 2009 for NOW LEBANON

 

 

 

 Palestinian youth on the decks (© Andreas Johnsen)

“Turntables are in fact musical instruments,” Danish turntablist Martin Jakobsen explains at his Gemmayze flat the night before the start of a series of DJ workshops for Palestinian youth called: “Turntables in the Camps.”

“This is our first time in Lebanon, and Den Sorte Skole - the three-man DJ crew that I’m repping - we want to introduce the idea that there is this global DJ culture that Palestinian youth can take part in; a culture that doesn’t exclude them in the ways that they are excluded from Lebanese society, and that through turntablism, we can teach them to use sounds from their own lives to create music.”

Jakobsen told NOW Lebanon he was not sure what to expect out of the process, but he said, “I am realistic - I know that it’s not going to save anyone - but these workshops are a way of saying to them - ‘Hey, everyone can be a DJ – and, ‘You don’t need all this fancy shit’ - especially if we’re investing the equipment for them to come and experiment on from time to time.”

Jakobsen’s compatriot, Simon Dokkedal, the crew’s scratch specialist, waxes a little more street on the matter. “We training the next generation of sound pirates!” adding, “Hopefully we’ll plant the seeds here, and from this we can create a new generation of hip-hop DJ’s here in the camps.”

Den Sorte Skole, aka The Black School, or L’Ecole Noir, are not quite a household name in Denmark, but telling by the number of Danes, Swedes and Norwegians present at their showcase club gig on Thursday night in Beirut, their cult following is legion.

The DJ trio - who work their magic on six turntables - were named Denmark’s best hip-hop DJs in 2006 and best overall DJs in 2009. Jakobsen says this has given the group the ability to cherry pick the festivals and concerts they’ve played at in the last 3 years, including playing for fifty-plus thousand people at the prestigious Roskilde fest in Denmark in 2009.

This success also gave Jakobsen enough clout to approach the Danish Centre for Cultural Development in Beirut for the “Turntables in Camps” seed money.

The project itself was the brainchild of Jakobsen, who has lived the past year in Lebanon with his wife. While traveling to meet his two cohorts at DJ gigs throughout Europe and finishing a master’s degree in political science, he figured that he had to start bringing this DJ experiment into marginalized communities in Lebanon.

In this case, he wanted to venture into perhaps the most neglected youth sectors in Lebanon – ultimately making contact with five Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon: Bourj al Barajneh, Mar Elias, and Sabra & Chatilla in Beirut, and Nahr al Bared near Tripoli, the Palestinian refugee camp leveled by the Lebanese army in the summer of 2007.


Palestinian youth on the decks (Andreas Johnsen)

As Jakobsen explained, the objectives of the “Turntables in Camps” project were pretty straightforward: breakdown barriers wherever they exist by providing “a space for creativity and musical dialog”.

Certainly, Den Sorte Skole are building on the traditions of the hip-hop DJs that spawned the term “turntablist” before them. DJs like Cut Chemist, D-Styles, Z-Trip, Madlib, and Beat Junkies members like DJ Babu and J-Rocc, to name a core list who have literally become the modern vinyl archivists of the black soul music traditions from the Americas to Africa. And it is this musical tradition that contributed to the group’s namesake.

During the first day of a two-day workshop held at the Sunflower theatre in southeast Beirut on Thursday, about 30 Palestinian youth from Sabra and Chatilla, Mar Elias and Bourj al Barajneh soaked up the sounds of the breakbeat drumming coming from Den Sorte Skole’s stacks of records.

“We want you to look and listen to what we do. It’s hard, what we’re doing, but you have to understand that anybody can be a DJ,” Jakobsen told the rapt audience before separating the youth into boys and girls groups – a move that was not a cultural issue according to Jakobsen. Nonetheless, the female DJ duo, Ladybox, an increasingly popular club DJ crew also from Denmark, was tasked with teaching DJ skills to the girls. “The boys just dominate in such situations,” Jakobsen said.

Ironically, it was the girls who dominated the first stage of the workshops this week - clamoring for the DJ equipment, bobbing their heads in unison and dancing to the sounds of hip-hop classics like Tribe Called Quest’s “Bonita Applebum,” Kurtis Blow’s “These are the Breaks” and House of Pain’s “Jump Around” – songs they had never heard before.

Rita Biza, aka DJ Rita Blue, said she was surprised by the girls’ openness. “They seemed quite shy at first, but we introduced them to the equipment and showed them what was possible, they were fighting to get on the decks and having such a good time. That’s exactly what we wanted. So they’re really hungry to learn.”

According to Rita’s partner Lei Miriam Foo, aka Sista Lei, “If I didn’t know where these kids were coming from, then I would never have known how hard their lives were. With this DJ equipment in their hands, it was like the world opened up to them and they were laughing and having a great time.”

Aya, 14, and Mina, 20, two workshop participants from Mar Elias told NOW Lebanon that the workshops were “cool”, but they definitely weren’t expecting a new army of female DJ’s to emerge.

“If you tell your father you want to be a DJ. What’s he going to say? What is that – a DJ?” Aya said.

The two seemed to agree that being a DJ was somewhat more acceptable because DJ’s “are behind” the decks, as opposed to scantily clad Arab pop singers out in front of the stage. They even questioned Lebanon’s only seasoned female MC, Malikah - seen regularly on Rotana Musika TV’s underground music show, “Shababiyat.”

Mina explained, “A lot of Arab culture is resistant to the idea of a girl or a boy being a DJ simply because they don’t see it as a ‘normal’ job. But if a girl started to earn good money as a DJ, they might reconsider. They certainly might just be silent on the issue if someone were making a living at it.”

Indeed, a law passed in 1995 prevents Palestinians from working in over 70 jobs in Lebanon. Palestinians cannot be doctors, lawyers or public-sector workers, but there are no Lebanese laws barring Palestinians from working as DJs.

Den Sorte Skole’s third crew-member, Martin Hojland, said that while he didn’t expect miracles from the workshops, he did hope that the participants would see turntablism as bigger than a musical genre. “There is definitely an art to deejaying and using turntables as instruments. In this way, we hope they take their own sounds as the foundations for some homegrown interpretations of turntablism.”

Adds Jakobsoen, “Hopefully, as we bring in a DJ instructor to continue the project (in the months to come), these kids will do the turntablism thing in a Bourj al Barajneh kind of way or a Chatilla kind of way. I don’t give a damn what they call it, as long as they make it their own. That’s what turntablism is all about anyway.”

Quoting from the underground hip-hop crew Dead Prez out of New York, Jakobsen extols – this project, “It’s bigger than hip-hop”.

This article first appeared in NOW Lebanon

Sep

23

We are in the throes of Arab hip-hop’s most significant contributions to the larger world hip-hop massive (Diaspora). Arab hip-hop crews the world over are feelin’ it. Like sharks attracted to blood, Lebanese, Moroccan, Palestinian, and (fill-in-the-blank) Arab MC’s are schoolin’ up to take a bite out of the Arabic hip-hop phenomenon. Lebanese-Syrian MC Eslam Jawaad is one of the leaders of this new school.

By JACKSON ALLERS

Lebanon Eslam Jawaad Mamoth Tusk
The Album Cover: Eslam Jawaad with a couple of Siberian mammoth tusks pointing him in the right direction…an errant mafia deal with a pair of mammoth tusks helped turn all his attention to the hip-hop music hustle. © Eslmaphobic

BEIRUT/LONDON -  Eslam Jawaad (real name Wissam Khodur), the 32-year old ex-Lebanese mafia affiliate and father of three isn’t some fresh-faced, knuckleheaded-hobby-rapper talking about what it means to “stay true to the hip-hop game” while barely scrapping by eating $2 dollar slices of pizza (or manaeesh as it were) and begging for metro fare - all the while espousing the tenets of the “revolution.”

“If you want to do this rap thing out of pure the love for the (hip-hop recording) game. Then do it and I’ll support you all the way,” he tells me in a phone call from his home in London - where he’s been based since late 2003.

“I’m not doing it out of the pure love for the game anymore. I’m no longer a young buck. And I’ve been in the game for so long that this is all I know how to do. If I have to raise my family and still be a revolutionary, I need money. Simple as.” The man has a family to feed.

Nearly 4-years in the making, Eslam’s debut album ‘Mammoth Tusk’ hit stores in this summer in the UK (no stats on album sales at print time).

Pairing down some 80-recorded tracks to 15, ‘Mammoth Tusk’ reads like a who’s who of rap royalty, in part because of his affiliation to Wu-Tang Clan [legendary NY-based hip-hop group] family member - the Dutch-Moroccan rapper/producer and manager Cilvaringz, who Eslam hooked up with in 2003 after Cilvaringz heard his demo in the UK.

Along with Cilvaringz, the Wu Tang Clan’s RZA [the Wu Tang Clan’s mastermind] lends production help on the track ‘So Real’ featuring Palestinian R&B singer/MC Shadia Mansour (also out of the UK).

Original Native Tongues (a collective of late 1980s and early 1990s hip-hop artists) member, De La Soul (left) join Eslam on a classic hip hop track ‘Rewind DJ,’ and in a skit on the track ‘It wasn’t me…’, US-based white-boy rapper Eminem’s radio DJs Lord Sear and Rude Jude of Sirius/Shade45 satellite radio jokingly accused Eslam of blowing up the World Trade’s on 9-11 during a live interview.

But the title song (and album namesake), ‘The Mammoth Tusk’ produced by Dr. Dre’s right hand man Focus, is the track that provides the most fodder for gossip.

“The track tells the tale of a failed business deal between the Syrian and Lebanese mobs over a Siberian mammoth tusk.”

“I was expecting to make a lot of money from the deal ($1.6 million), and when that money didn’t come through, it made me realize that the (mob) life wasn’t for me…I wasn’t willing to go all the way with the shit.”

Lucky for Arab hip-hop heads that the old-guard Lebanese mobsters weren’t prepared to let some young upstart cash in on such payola.

MENASSAT caught up with Eslam in May, only a month after recording sessions with Damon Albarn, frontman for Blur and the virtual group Gorillaz. [Albarn also lends his production skills to ‘Mammoth Tusk’ on the track ‘Alarm Chord’ which has that eerie Gorillaz hallmark sound all over it.]

Eslam Jawaad (left) during a show with the Damon Albarn (Blur, Gorillaz) fronted group “The Good, the Bad & the Queen” - which features musical legends - Tony Allen (pictured lower left), Fela Kuti’s musical director and the leader and drummer of the Africa 70′; Paul Simonon, bassist from The Clash (pictured, right), and Simon Tong from the Verve on guitar.

—-

MENASSAT: Let’s talk about ‘Mammoth Tusk.’ You’re getting much press for this story that led to the naming of this album.

ESLAM JAWAAD: “Well. Where do I begin? It’s a story from when I was working with the Lebanese mob. As you can tell, it involves the sale of a Siberian mammoth tusk that the Russian mob sold to a businessman in Dubai.”

“He was looking to sell it to a Syrian group that approached me to see if I could hustle it off to the Lebanese mob.”

“I eventually got cut out of the deal which took me a few months to set up. My mistake was that I tried to make the deal go down in Lebanon when I should’ve let it go down in Syria.”

“The bottom line is that these guys were gangsters and they were not about to let some kid walk away with like $1.6 million.”

MENASSAT: An article in The Independent (”Preaching to the Unconverted” March, 27) suggests it was this botched deal that convinced you to move to the UK to do your music full-time. Is that accurate? Where was the music when you were working with the mob?

EJ: “My music was there all along. It predated any involvement with the mob. I think my involvement in the mob came from my involvement with music. It’s not the other way around, but the Independent article seems to suggest the opposite - that the mob thing didn’t work out so I turned to music instead.”

“I think the type of music that I was listening to encouraged my fascination with mob culture. It was the mid-90s and it was like everybody was listening and romanticizing mob culture.”

“Culture of the Godfather and Scarface. Everybody loved them, you know what I mean? Youth culture and music then, it developed around mob affiliating or wanting to be mob affiliated.”

“I just really ‘was’ mob affiliated.”


Eslam Jawaad’s video from his single ‘Pivot Widdot’ featuring the Lebanese-based female MC Malikah

MENASSAT: You’re representing the Arab hip-hop Diaspora. Why the UK and not Lebanon?

EJ: “Very simply, when I was in the Beirut at the time, the industry was showing no love to what we were doing.”

“Despite my hustling for 3 years out of university trying to do the rap thing in Lebanon, I realized it wasn’t going to happen. I had a couple of contacts in the UK and decided to try my hand at it.”

“I was lucky enough to have met UK acts (Asian Dub Foundation, Visionary Underground and UK Apache) who liked what I was doing, and supported me early on in my move.”

“And it continued when I met guys like Cilvaringz, and Damon (Albarn).”

MENASSAT: So there were barriers in Lebanon?

EJ: “With Lebanon specifically, I think it’s a lot more exclusive that other Arab countries.”

“If you lived abroad somehow you’re considered cooler than the folks trying to do it locally.  Sadly a lot of the homegrown kids propped up the idea.”

MENASSAT: But what do you think when young rappers play the hater role - talking trash about those making a living at hip-hop as opposed to those who are “doing it for the love of the game?”

EJ: “I say get off your fucking high-horse already. I don’t care how YOU do it!”

“If you can make money by yelling ‘Fuck the government!’ or ‘Sell drugs’ - then I say do it! What matters is what you’re doing in your life. I don’t care what you’re doing as long as you have good quality.”

“I for one have never sold out the message, I just present it in a commercial way. But the message is inherent in my album. Still, it ain’t the hardcore presentation I used to have.”

“Now I package my singles with more of the club vibe in mind. There’s no rules! Anyway! Who the hell says you’re a ‘real hip-hop artist’ if you do this or that?”

“I can guarantee any artist that is listened to, respected, loved, etc - no matter how hard core or revolutionary - they all make money. That’s how you get heard!”

“Take (New York City/New Jersey-based rapper) Immortal Technique for example. He’s helping with hospitals in Iraq and Afghanistan, and is feeding something like 20,000 kids in Africa.”

“Good on him! That’s what you gotta do, make money so you can do that!”

“Take Ziad Rahbani (son to legendary Lebanese diva Fairouz). He’s all about the message - all about the Arab cause. But how intelligent is his presentation? He’s not goin’ out wildin’ and saying ‘Fuck the government!’ But he IS saying that, if you’re listening. AND he’s making money.”

MENASSAT: Will there be that breakout pan-Arab hip-hop album that will be listened to throughout the Arab world?

EJ: “Currently there’s two movements, which go hand and hand really. There’s the ARAP movement (started in 2004) that I think was the first pan-Arab, multi-national hip-hop movement representing Arab hip-hop specifically because it consisted of Moroccans, Syrians, Lebanese and Palestinians. (Salah Edin, Palestine, Cilvaringz, Eslam Jawaad, and Mohalim)

Now there’s the Arab League with a lot of people crossing over between the two groups. They are also pan-Arab, and have recently put out a track. [MC.Amin (Egypt), Arabian Knightz (Egypt), Wighit Nazar, The PharoZ, Malikah (Lebanon), Shadia Mansour (Palestine/UK), www.fredwreck.com/ “>Fredwreck (Palestine/USA), Solo Ltd.]

(NOTE: Eslam is affiliated with both groups, but primarily reps it for 3rap)

“But Salah Edin (pictured © Laith Majali), the Dutch-Moroccan MC has just released his third album (produced by Cilvaringz and released on Wu Tang Clan International label and distributed by Universal Music).”

“I think it’s the first proper Arab hip-hop album. From beginning to end - the production, musically. I mean, the ideas and the little sounds that you add here and there. It’s just professionally at the best quality you can get, and the message is on point.”

“It’s up there with all of the top American hip-hop you can think of. You know what I mean?”

“His flow on top of that. My only observation is that Salah’s accent is Moroccan and that limits his Arab audience. But I’ve spoken about this to him.”

MENASSAT: You’ve listened to your album a million times, so I ask, what are your stand out tracks on ‘Mammoth Tusk?’

EJ: Phonetically, I love ‘Criminuhl.’ I also really love ‘Babba’s Shotgun’ (about resisting the French colonial police back in his grandfather’s days as a Lebanese revolutionary.)

Then there’s ‘Heave Ho’ which is actually about the second coming of Christ. I don’t know if most people is picking up on that.

MENASSAT: Do you see yourself moving towards to the more Damon Albarn, Gorillaz-vibe or more the ARAP, Cilvaringz sound?

EJ: “Well, ARAP for sure. But, I love what’s goin’ on with Damon. I don’t like being boxed in or defined by any one movement though, or one sound.”

“I’m working on an album with a Palestinian electronic music producer in the UK, Darwish, and it’s not hip-hop.”

“I’m also doing stuff with some of these hip white boy bands like Get Cape, Wear Cape, Fly - Baby Shambles - Reverend and the Makers, Magic Numbers, and Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers.”

“But I’m excited to see what happens with ‘Mammoth Tusk.’ It’s been such a long process.”

Mar

30

Published on the former MENASSAT(dot)cot (March 30, 2009)

March 30 marks the annual Land Day (Youm Al-Ard) commemoration for Palestinians remembering the 1976 general strike in historic Palestine to oppose an Israeli government plan to confiscate land. Today, support for this movement “from the inside” takes on a number of different forms, including hiphop! Pioneer Palestinian rappers DAM sat with MENASSAT discussing what’s next in their music careers, and what is next for the Arab minority in Israel.

By TANIA TABAR and JACKSON ALLERS

DAM ELLIOT M
A picture from the Elliot M. documentary “DAM - Hip-Hop Palestinian Style - From Israel To The UK.” © Elliot M.

AMMAN, March 30, 2009 (MENASSAT) - The godfathers of Palestinian hip-hop, DAM (Arabic for “eternity” or Da Arabian MC’s) rocked the mics in Amman, Jordan on Friday night (March 27) at an outdoor show that brought the Palestinian hip-hop group together with local Jordanian hip-hoppers, MC Maze, producer/DJ Sotusura and Palestinian rapper Ragtop from the Los Angeles-based hip-hop group The Philistines.

[Suhell Nafar performs last Friday in Amman. © Laith Majali]

DAM - brothers Tamer and Suhell Nafar and Mahmoud Jreri - performed on the eve of Land Day (Yoam al ‘Ard in Arabic), one of the most significant incidents of Palestinian uprising inside Israel.

On March 30, 1976 six Palestinians were killed and some 100 injured in confrontations with Israeli police forces during protests against the continuing expropriation of Arab land.

For young Palestinians living as second class citizens in the shadow of the 1976 protests, DAM has made a career educating listeners about the reality of the 1.3 million Arabs living in Israel.

DAM grew up in the city of Lod, a mixed town of Arabs and Jews that has become a ghetto inside Israel since the creation of the state in 1948.

“So this is reflecting our whole reality. This story of them trying to come in - we react - and the police come against us. This is our daily life,” Mahmoud Jreri told MENASSAT over the weekend.

The trio’s message is even more relevant given Israel’s political shift to the right in the recent elections. Example: newly appointed deputy prime minister, Avigdor Lieberman, leader of the far-right Yisrael Beitenu nationalist party has called for the “transfer” of Palestinian citizens out of Israel.

Jreri said, “Israel will have to decide between carrying out a Holocaust on the Palestinians living in the ‘48 territories or agree societally to welcome ALL of its citizens. So this is the choice. And one day they are going to have to make it. For better or for worse.”

Lyrical masterminds, DAM members like Jreri say their second class status is ironic, and they actively confront this in their rhymes.

“I speak better Hebrew than most Israelis and they call to kick me out and we are the native people,” Jreri said.

DAM  released their debut album “Stop Selling Drugs” in 1998, but the group’s biggest song to date was the 2001 release “Meen Irhabe” (Who’s the terrorist?) - album of  the same title - which is still the most downloaded Arabic hip-hop song with over one-million downloads and counting.

MENASSAT caught up with DAM after their March 27 show to discuss Land Day, life inside pre-1948 territories, their struggles with the music industry and the expansion of Rap 3arabi (Arabic rap).

Video for the DAM song “Letters” featuring Mahmoud Jreri on the mic. Directed by Suhell Nafar. © DAM
MENASSAT: You’re considered by many to be the originators of Palestinian hip-hop (along with the now defunct group MWR)…one of the godfathers of this up-and-coming Rap 3arabi movement in a way…and you’ve been in the game for a while…do you think your music is helping to bring Rap 3arabi to the masses and are people in the West ready to hear your messages?

Mahmoud Jreri: “Our music is bringing Arabic rap to the masses, as our album Dedication (2006-2007) is being sold in Europe and in the US. And we are also touring and spreading the message.”"There are also a lot of rappers coming out of the Middle East now doing Arabic hip-hop, so it is getting bigger and bigger.”

“As for the West, if it will deliver the message to them, musically yes, lyrically, well unfortunately they have to translate it, which is a hard job and they won’t do it. But they can get the message. They don’t get the metaphors and everything we are saying, but they understand that we are singing for a cause.”

“But it’s still not enough.”

MENASSAT: After Jackie Salloum’s documentary Slingshot Hip Hop, we learned that you first rapped in Hebrew. Your Hebrew lyrics are actually dope, and speak of realities for Arabs inside pre-1948 borders. Does your message reach the Israeli hip-hop scene? Is hip-hop a means of dealing with some big issues between Palestinian and Israeli youth?

Suhell Nafar: “Well, first of all, we didn’t start with Hebrew. Tamer started rapping around 1998 in English and then we went into Arabic and Hebrew at the same time – the first song was Arabic and Hebrew mixed.”

“We tried to work on Arabic hip-hop but we didn’t know how to do it, we didn’t have the influences so it took us time to become stronger in it.”

“And about the conflict with Palestinians and Israelis, it definitely won’t solve the problem. The people who already know the situation listen to it. There is kind of a fan club for Dam including Jewish refusniks (people who refuse to serve in the army) and people who are against the occupation.  So these are the people who support our music.”

“About changing the situation, I don’t think so. All of these things take time. But we should connect one step at a time.”

Mahmoud Jreri: “You can deliver the message but the problem with the Israeli audience is that they are right-wing, so it’s very hard to deliver the message to them.”

“And if you do deliver the message it’s a minority not a majority who are listening. It’s a problem that we are living in, because it is a racist country however you want to look at it.”

MENASSAT: What advice would you give to young Palestinian rappers in the Territories and in the refugee camps in the Middle East who are trying to get their music heard?

Mahmoud Jreri: “They should keep on doing what they love and what their passionate about and to keep on, not to just do one song and that’s it. To keep on going and try to make new stuff. That will help them in the future. Telling the reality, and not becoming mainstream.”

“I hope that Arabic rap won’t start talking about cars and bitches, which is what we don’t have – we have occupation and we struggle for our freedom.”

MENASSAT: There are rifts in Palestinian society between those in the pre-48 Territories and the West Bank and Gaza Strip - are those divisions mirrored in the Palestinian hip-hop scene?

Mahmoud Jreri: “Not really. I don’t think so.”

“There are different subjects being discussed in ‘48 and in ‘67, but we never disrespect each other. We don’t even want to get into this thing of, oh I’m dissing people from ‘67 and they are dissing me, it’s not the purpose for why we are doing hip-hop.”

“We are still building the industry, we are still building Arabic hip-hop. So we don’t want to begin from the end, I think. So until now, no, there are no beefs (arguments).

[DAM performs in Amman, Jordan. March, 27, 2008
© Laith Majali]
MENASSAT: Dutch-Moroccan MC, Sala7 Edin, has linked up as fellow Dutch-Moroccan producer/MC Cilvaringz for his upcoming album release - Horr (”Free” in Arabic). The duo has the backing of the Wu Tang Clan and has secured distribution through Universal in the Middle-East, North Africa and Europe. Is it even possible for such distribution and big hip-hop backing to have a pan-Arab effect with the Arab youth? Is a pan-Arab hip hop movement possible…like some Nasser-hip-hop type of movement?

Mahmoud Jreri:  “It’s already happening. I don’t know if it’s big enough to call it that, but you have people like DJ Khaled, who is Palestinian, and is doing beats for every famous hip-hop artist that you can name.”

“You have people like FredWreck (best known for producing for Snoop Doggy Dogg) who is also affecting the Arabic hip-hop industry (FredWreck is the host for MTV Arabia’s flagship show “Hip-Hop Na/(Our Hip-Hop in translation).” I don’t know if it will affect the movement, we are still a minority in the industry.”

MENASSAT: Who in the up-coming Arabic or Palestinian hip-hop movement should we be looking out for?

Suhell Nafar: “There’s a lot of major moves being made by artists throughout the whole pan-Arab hip-hop scene.”

“You can talk about the Algerians who started doing hip-hop in the early stages of the world hip-hop movement because it was part of the influence from France.”

“You have Tunisian hip-hop, Morrocan hip-hop, which is really huge. You have a big movement that is starting in Amman too. You have hip-hop all around.”

 

“I can mention a lot of names. Here in Jordan you have Taj, the 962 crew, Ragtop who is also here, Narcy (“The Narcicyst”) who is Iraqi living in Montreal, PR (Palestinian Rapperz - pictured below) from Gaza, Safa from Akka, Far3an from Egypt.”

A shot from the documentary “Slingshot Hip Hop” © Jackie Salloum

“The movement is really getting bigger and bigger. Compare it to the attempts by the international community in trying to get dialog and cooperation between countries - something these governments are failing to do…And then we see we are bridging the gap between conflicting groups.

“We see we are doing it in hip-hop, which is a good feeling, after all the conquering that we had for all these years.”

MENASSAT: After Slingshot Hip-Hop, people in the hip-hop world are expecting something great from DAM. What’s next? What are you working on with your music? Any collaborations we should be aware of?

Suhell Nafar: “Let’s first start with after Slingshot, DAM, who started the production company called 48 records, produced a soundtrack for the movie, which is out now.  You can get it on www.slingshothiphop.com.”

“We are going to do a tour in a week in the USA with over 20 shows, then are going to Canada. I’m also going to Spain because there is a movie covering Palestinian art, which DAM is part of.”

“There are a few songs that we recorded for the next album that will out soon, in the summer probably. And there are a lot of big people in it.”

MENASSAT: Like who?

“We can’t tell.”

MENASSAT: When is the next album coming out?

Mahmoud Jreri: “At the end of 2009 or beginning of 2010. It will be ready in the summer but will take some time to be released.”

MENASSAT:  Hip-Hop Arabia(dot)com is featuring your brand new video on their main page. The song “Letters” is by Mahmoud and it’s directed by Suhell Nafar. It’s a great video!  Can we expect more videos? Is there a chance for TV broadcasts? What’s next for DAM?

Suhell Nafar: The next project will be the second letters song for Tamer. We started the alphabet song from alif to yaa and then Tamer is doing it backwards from yaa to alif. And there is going to be another video, which is going to be released in a week.”

“And there is a video coming out soon with Invincible from Detroit (USA) and Abeer Sabrina da Witch and me doing one song. Also there’s the music video for our song “Flow Like That,” which is being broadcast by VideoMix TV.”

MENASSAT: Tell us about what is happening now in the ‘48 Territories - the fact that things politically, culturally are moving to the right in Israel, how is this affecting your work, your lives?

Mahmoud Jreri:  “Well our lives are hard and have been hard since 1948. We were occupied and we are still occupied people.”

“Nowadays Israel is starting to be more obvious and they have people saying they should transfer us and kick us out. And those people just came to Palestine, maybe 10 years ago, 20 years ago, they still have a Russian accent in Hebrew.” (Editors note: Jreri is referring to Avignor Lieberman here).

“I speak better Hebrew than them and they call to kick me out and we are the native people. So this is a problem.”

“They always had the plan to kick us out, it just didn’t work for them in ‘48. They tried it in ‘67 and it also didn’t work. And we hope that we can keep on struggling for our resistance to stay as Palestinians on our historical land.”

“What will happen, what could happen, I don’t know.”

‘I don’t expect what is going to happen to be very good. I think it is going to get worst and worst. Israel will have to decide between carrying out a Holocaust on the Palestinian people in ‘48 or agreeing to be a country for all of its citizens.”

“So this is the choice. And one day they are going to have to make it. For better or for worst.”

MENASSAT: Monday is Land Day (Youm al Ard)? What is happening on the ground?

Suhell Nafar: “Well I can tell you what is happening right now. Just a few days ago in Umm al-Fahm (in Israel) we had the events of the extremist Zionist right-wing who wanted to march into Umm al-Fahm to spark another fire. This is what they do all the time.”

“They (right-wingers) didn’t plan it, they didn’t even sms each other, they made it a secret so that when they would go into the city no one would know.”

“So what happened inside Umm al-Fahm was that people were on their roofs and suddenly saw all of these right-wing people just coming in, and their reaction was to kick them out, they clearly wanted to cause the residents problems.”

“But the police started protecting the right-wing Zionists. So this is reflecting our whole reality. This small story of them trying to come in, we react, and the police come against us. This is our daily life.”

“They spark the fire and we have to get angry and react and everything becomes bigger. This is what is happening these days.”

“You have a lot of projects in ‘48 to minimize us, to make us more and more small in a demographic way. They have big projects. For example Yehud Lod, which is to make Lod more Jewish - our city.”

“You can see it in their actions when they demolish houses. There were more than 70 houses demolished in the last two years in our city.”

Mohmoud Jreri:  “Not only Lod, all of the ‘48ers are living under this racist system, for example, house demolitions, Israel forbidding us from learning several subjects…it’s not clear racism like where they say you are not allowed to go to a club because you are an Arab, which is really not important actually.”

“The more important racism is when you are not allowed to, say, be a doctor until you are 21. Why? Because an Israeli is only finishing their service in the army at 21, so they want to make it “equal.”

“They don’t want Arabs to be doctors at an early age. So it’s a much deeper racism, where you don’t have jobs and if you study in university you can only hang your degree on the wall but you don’t have nothing to do with it.”

“All of the jobs ask for people who served in the army. And none of us served in the army and none of us will. This is a very big problem for us, and we are facing a very racist society.”

“You can only imagine how they can treat you. A lot of politicians say that we are the cancer inside Israel. And you imagine how people treat cancer.”

–
To check out more from DAM
www.myspace.com/damrap
www.dampalestine.com

Jan

23

 (this article appeared in the January edition of the Amman-based men’s mag - U-Men)

Lyrics from the Busta Rhymes song “Arab Money”

“Now there ain’t no way that you could kill the beats dead
Middle East women and Middle East bread
I got Oil Well money in the desert playin’ Golf…

Women walkin’ around while security on camelback
Club on fire now — dunno how to act
Sittin in casino’s while I’m gamblin’ with Arafat
Money so long watch me purchase pieces of the Almanac
Ya already know I got the streets bust
While I make ya bow down makes Salaat like a Muslim”

 

By JACKSON ALLERS

Errr. Put the brakes on!

Busta Rhymes. My man. Former member of the legendary hip-hop crew in the early 1990’s – the Leaders of the New School. Multi-platinum selling recording artist. Movie star…

What were you thinking homie?

Putting out a heavily released single called “Arab Money?” Using verses from the Quran’s Surah Fateha as a hook in the remix chorus – propping up oil money as an admirable Arab trait as if it’s something you gotta glorify?

The stuff doesn’t add up.

Just ask Iraqi MC the Narcicyst, one of your biggest fans and an up-and-coming wonderkid on the mic.

“As a person of his [Busta Rhymes] stature, I would have expected more and would have loved to see our people celebrated for our culture and not our money,” he said, adding, “I just think the song wasn’t calculated right. Get an Arab dude on the hook, talk about the reality. I respect that it was an attempt at bridging the gap, but unfortunately it did the total opposite.”

And Busta there’s definitely been fall-out since you released the song. Not nuclear fallout but pretty volatile nonetheless. Ask Steve “Smooth” Sutherland, a UK DJ with Galaxy FM.

“Smooth” played Arab Money in late November and was suspended along with his producer after Galaxy’s owner, Global Radio, received several complaints about the content of the song.

“How you gonna have Qu’ran in a song about Money? The new chorus (for the remix) is the opening to every time you read a su’ra from the Qu’ran. Arabs do not take that lightly at all,” the Narcicyst explains.

“Then you got cats talking about women, cars, houses? What does “In the name of God the most beneficent the most merciful” have to do with you being able to buy whatever you want? That right there really really really really really pissed me and a lot of fellow Arab MCs Off. ”

Some of those Arab MCs also include huge Busta Rhymes fans like Omar Offendum of The NOMADS, Ragtop from The Philistines (both picture below with Narcy) and Moroccan hip-hop heads Cilvaringz and Salah Edin.

Galaxy even put out an apology – almost disavowing the DJ that was voted winner of the 2002 and 2006 MOBO (Music of Black Origin) awards for “Best UK DJ.”

While I could personally care less about some over-the-hill DJ from the UK, Busta, you also managed to offend a fair amount of Muslim’s – both fans and non-fans – for your use of Surah.

And damn if the blogosphere isn’t chock full of comments variously dissing and praising the song.

One woman who goes by the name of Shani writes about on the website AllHipHop.com:
“It’s a dumb song, what more can I say. The average Arab only makes 3-7K a year. And even if you don’t like Arabs you sound like a dummy if you pronounce it “AA Rab” these fools got the knowledge level of Popeye.”

Another user calling himself H-bomb writes on AllHipHop.com:

“Yes, the ‘Arab Money’ is about partying and having fun. So, you mean to tell me that devout Muslims who regularly recite the Bismillah + Surah Al-Fatiha do not party at all? Man, Arab-Muslim society must be super-chaste and saintly, then! (go Wahabbis!)

Such adherence to Quranic tradition sounds a lot like how old, traditional U.S. Christians used to condemn the devilish black churches for singing Biblical hymns with harmonizing choirs and dancing.”

Now Busta. I gotta be honest too – a lot of supporters got your back on this one.

A user calling himself HipHop1524 writes on the website InsideDesi, “The arguments about the song are dumb! It’s freedom of speech, even if what he’s sayin’ is wrong or blasphemous, he’s allowed to say whatever the hell he wants!! Keep goin Busta!”

There’s a whole grip load of folks who defend your right to say whatever it is you want to say even if they’re offended.

Take one supporter called Lexxcom. He says, “I’m a big fan of Busta and I will continue to be a fan. Busta has made a big mistake but it was not purposely done to disrespect Arabs or Muslims.”

He adds, “Keepin’ it 100% though, this is Hip Hop and it’s not always politically correct music. Arabs nor Muslims get a pass. I have heard songs talking about women, children, black people, white people, Chicanos, Asians, Native Americans etc. I have even heard Dj Khaled an Arab American (who appears in the video), scream Nigga!, but this is only a small part of the music I love, just like this is only a small part of Busta’s legacy in hip hop music.”

Busta your legacy is large!

Like your most vocal critic, the Narcicyst says, “I want to say this to make it clear, Busta Rhymes is a lyrical idol of mine. I have always had mad love for his lyrical ability, his style and his grace as an artist.

“His albums are opuses and his delivery is absolute bananas. He was actually one of the first MCs I saw on stage and I was blown away. I will most probably buy B.O.M.B. (the album in question). I’m not making this (the release of the song and remix) stop me from listening to Busta anymore. Busta is dope dude!”

As Narcy says, Busta had Stevie (Wonder) on his last album (The Big Bang 2006). Busta did “Woo-hah,” (first break out song in his solo career, 1996), and he was on “Scenario,” (legendary group/showcase track from 1990 featuring some of the biggest MCs to emerge from hip-hop’s late 80’s-early 90’s massive). These are all milestones in hip-hop history.

I know what makes it even more complicated is the fact that you, Busta, are a convert to Islam. Something I knew and something that made the use of the Surah that much more surprising.

So apparently are some of the other’s on the “Arab Money” remix, which prompted one online comment from M. Burmy who said, “If ‘Arab Money’ was making fun of Arabs and offensive to them, then neither Swizz Beatz nor T-Pain nor Akon would be on the remix (all three are Muslims).”

Now Busta, you haven’t exactly been able to avoid the controversy. That’s for sure.

In response to the firing of UK Radio DJ “Smooth” Sutherland, you said, “I really only respect the Arab culture. I ain’t really trying to pay no attention to, ya know, these little people in political positions and executive positions that ain’t Arab culture oriented people because a lot of the times, what are you really showing all of this concern for?”

And as I write this I hear you called the Narcicyst (below) and had a 30-minute dialog clearing up any misunderstanding created by the song. Apparently you told him that the whole intent of the song had been overtaken by the controversy and that the masses take things they way the want to.

I agree that it would’ve been hard to put out some essay explaining the content of the song and why you put it out. Still, it’s out there and you know how it is with saying something and trying to take it back – people only tend to remember the first thing you tell them, not the follow-up.

But you seem to have won over at least one important supporter. “It was a thorough explanation and he was a very respectful man,” the Narcicyst told AllHipHop.com about the phone call you made. “He explained to me his experience as an African-American man in the States and [it] seemed to me as an experience that I can correlate as an Arab being in the Middle East and having been displaced from my nation (Iraq) and seeing my country being bombarded in the media, being misrepresented.”

I guess in the end what you did Busta was foster an equal amount of ire and understanding about Arabs and the image of Arabs in the media. That’s a good thing.

Like hip-hop as a movement, controversies are part of the game. But I like what Narcy said:

“I’m a strong believer in truth and breaking stereotypes down and not allowing people to box you in. And this whole experience has been a huge eye opener for me. This is what Hip-Hop is about. Two brothers from another mother can come to a peaceful and just conclusion for all sides.”

Salam to that.

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