Defending Democracy in the Arab World via Hip Hop

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posted on: Feb 23, 2011

Originally from Basra, and now hailing from Montreal, Yassin Alsalman, known by his Hip Hop moniker The Narcicyst, is one of a dozen artists performing at this week’s Gaza Strip to Detroit Benefit Concert. Performing for over a decade, The Narcicyst began his venture into the world of Hip Hop with the trio Euphrates, soon finding his footing in the solo world and joining forces with Arab American artists and Hip Hop artists alike.

However, before “The Narcicyst” came into being, he was introduced to music the same way most Arab-Americans often remember – from the tracks of artists like Abdel Wahab, Um Kulthum, and Abdel Halim.

“When I was younger, my parents would always be playing those tracks around the house, in the car, all over the place,” Alsalman reminisces, “and as I got older and got into progressions and musicality behind beat making, composers like Abdel Wahab blew my mind. Um Kulthum’s voice is a staple to me, there is nothing like it. Abdel Halim is also one of our pioneers.”

Though musically inspired by the strength of Um Kulthum’s voice and the legendary crooning of Abdel Halim that sent many a romantic’s heat aflutter, there was also a different kind of influence at work, saying that these artists influenced him “as a man, and as an Arab.”

Only recently, The Narcicyst along with artists Freeway, Ayah, Amir Sulaiman, and Omar Offendum released a song titled <i>#Jan25</i>, thus named after the first official day of protests in Egypt and the Twitter hashtag that filled timelines for weeks. After being approached by Offendum to join him and Suleiman, they collected the rest of the collaborators, Freeway and Ayah, feeling it was imperative to have a woman on the track.

“It was important to share all these different perspectives to show solidarity for the Egyptian people because it truly felt like an international cause we all believed in,” says Alsalman, “Struggle is universal, so our voice should be too.”

With the help of producer Sami Matar and manager Amir Abbassy, the song was out days before Hosni Mubarak stepped down, showing support for the Egyptians on the street.

Along with <i>#Jan25</i>, the Egyptian Revolution found itself producing many different creative expressions of dissent against the tyrannical rule of Hosni Mubarak’s regime. Art, Alsalman believes, is crucial for this generation’s fight for freedom.

“Art is a direct reflection of our emotions and experience, without being tainted by the powers that be. People speak of rights all day in North America, but even when you exercise your rights, you are really just being subservient to a system of governance that doesn’t represent you,” Alsalman continues, “When you make art, it is forever, it can’t be controlled, it can’t be told to go back home, and no one can tell you whether you can or can’t make it. It is our time capsule, our now, and our future. What we leave behind will be our message to the world, be it a painting, a song, an album.”

Hip-Hop specifically, he feels, can facilitate voices in very little time. The cost of production can be achieved by anyone, allowing a spectrum of people to create their own music despite “so-called class or economic stance.”

Not only is the method of creation conducive for ongoing movements of freedom, but so is the delivery. Alsalman adds, “Hip-Hop is one of the rawest forms of verbal output in the world. The poetry is straight forward and can be taken anywhere; therefore, it allows any cause or struggle to be disseminated in the matter of minutes.”

The Narcicyst has employed the strengths of Hip-Hop for the Palestinian cause, never missing a chance to support the Palestinians. Nour Abed, one of the organizers of the Gaza Strip to Detroit Benefit concert, admired the way The Narcicyst immediately jumped on board for the cause, recalling Alsalman’s response: “Palestine? I’m down.”

Traveling to Michigan to perform at the Hyatt Regency on February 25th, Alsalman is excited for the gathering of artists from the community, but also for a milestone – his first time in Michigan.

“I can’t wait to come to Michigan. It’s been almost like a legend in my life about the amount of Iraqis there,” he says excitedly, “I can’t wait to see it and be with my people in the same city.”

After the benefit concert, The Narcicyst will be working on his next album and more collaborations with other artists. Though unsure of the identity of who shot Biggie Smalls (“I don’t know. But if we don’t get em, they gon’ get us all!”) Alsalman is sure of another project, the release of his book <u>Diatribes of a Dying Tribe</u>, about his experiences with fellow Arab-American Hip-Hop artists Omar Offendum, Ragtop, and Excentrik.

Ryah Aqel
Arab Detroit

The Narcicyst’s album is available on iTunes and the song <i>#Jan25</i> is available for download <a href=”http://www.usershare.net/6cjtbiapu5y8″>here</a>.

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