Music Monday: Arabs With Attitude

Aug 17

Aug 17 Music Monday: Arabs With Attitude

At the end of May, Big Hass, a radio personality and supporter of hip-hop in the region hosted an event called The Beat at Malja Bahrain. The Beat was a celebration and showcase of arab musicians, mostly hip-hop artists with some R&B and jazz acoustic sessions. The show concluded with Saudi celebrity Qusai, who was the featured artist and, in theory, the biggest selling point for the event. It was such an awesomeballs experience to see such a diverse line-up of creatives who came together to feed off of each other's energies and present their unique styles. Here are all the artists who performed at The Beat, with links to their music, you should check them out (links open in new tabs):

So, basically, The Beat didn't just end on May 29, DJ Outlaw rounded up some of the MCs who performed that night and produced a collaborative track of 7 hip-hop artists from the Middle East, delivering that same explosive energy that they delivered during their live performances in May.

It's an eye-opening (ear-opening?) showcase of what our region has to offer to the music industry. Personally, I really disliked the first verse (Qusai's verse), I felt that it was lazy and awkwardly-paced. Still, it was pretty cool of him to take time off and contribute to the track, adding a promotional edge with his fame. Once you get the first two minutes out of the way, you'll get sucked into a fast-paced, energetic, and seamlessly flowing track of lyrical hip-hop in the foreground of an old-school and subtly effective beat. Hell, even the video is pretty cool beans on its own. And, maybe I'm biased, but I love that Flipperachi is the song's big finish.

The artists featured in this track are (in order of appearance):