Hip Hop Is Universal

[andronicus]

Some of the sickest flows I have ever heard have been in Bosnian and Arabic. 

I was listening to DAM, the Palestinian rappers John mentioned a bit ago (and I swear they've been brought up on here before, I think Marinus posted it).  The thing that gets me about them is that even with a song like Meen al-Habe (Who's the terrorist -- you get two guesses for their answer) there is some seriously interesting stuff going on, lyrically, if you can get past the chorus.  I mean, it goes past the point of 'oh these guys are rapping in Arabic', and I haven't checked the lyrics, but on the song John mentioned, Ya Sayidati (O my lady) I swear that one of the MCs namechecks Nizar Qabbani, a famous mid-20th century poet.  So these guys ain't just shuckin' and jivin', as it were. 

Also, if you're afraid rap transplanted into the Arab world might not be the best mix for a progressive stance on gender, (eww those dudes are Muslims, they must perform clitoridectomies part time on the weekends) these guys apparently also have a song that translates to Freedom for My Sisters (which I can't find anywhere).  I was going to get the CD, but they want paid in pounds (not that I blame them) and my currency is too weak for that shit!

Anyway, is anyone digging this shit?  Any other 'ethnic' rappers that you can recommend to the LPTJ hive?

[elpollodiablo]

'Ethnic rappers' is a pretty funny concept

[Babar]

hip hop relies so much on the lyrical side of the music that i have no interest in listening to hip hop in a language i don't understand, regardless of dope flows.

[elpollodiablo]

hip hop relies so much on the lyrical side of the music that i have no interest in listening to hip hop in a language i don't understand, regardless of dope flows.

I would have to pretty much agree. Like if I didn't speak English, most American hip hop would just be manufactured beats to me. Not that there isn't a place for manufactured beats; I just don't know if I could sustain an interest in lyrically-based music whose lyrics I could not understand, regardless of how novel the delivery.

I guess I could've just used QFT, huh

[G.C.R]

That Ngoma Afro Asia Soundsystem album, which is all remixes by DJ Zhao I think is pretty good. I also like French Hip Hop, though a lot of it is too clean sounding. I always loved this song though. And the silly silly video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uB_yJ3fW-ms

[dieblucasdie]

(and I swear they've been brought up on here before, I think Marinus posted it). 

Here's the old thread:

http://www.lastplanetojakarta.com/forums/index.php/topic,8913.0.html

I thought two things when reading reading John's post

1)  Holy FUCK I can't believe they're playing in the US

2)  It's a little chide-y.  DAM have actually received a fair bit of attention in America.  I'm pretty sure I first heard of them when they were interviewed for an NPR piece for crying out loud.  Also French hip-hop gets lots of attention. 

[John]

yeah I have a chiding problem the last year or two, I actually appreciate having it pointed out. I didn't hear the NPR piece but I'd say "French hip-hop gets lots of attention" is perhaps something of an overstatement

[dieblucasdie]

yeah I meant to qualify that with "in some circles."  While the indie rock/internet-music-nerd scene tends to ignore world music in general, mainstream outlets absolutely *love* them a good "those crazy foreigners like rap now!?!?!" piece now and again.  I'd say that IAM's received more notice over the years than a lot of American "indie" hip-hop, for example, and the more contemporary French scene got a lot attention during/after the Paris riots.

[ddillaman]

How weird. I'm editing a piece on DAM right now for a show I'm working on, where the host takes New Zealand tracks all over the world and gets international artists to do covers/interpretations. They did Scribe's "Not Many".

Without having any idea what they're saying (seriously - they haven't given us a translation), I'd have to say they're pretty compelling, though working with the visuals helps. And they're definitely serious about their politics, and their situation is pretty unique. (For example, as Arabs living in Israel, they have an Israeli passport, and are therefore denied entry to many Arabic countries.)

As far as other foreign language rap, I've been digging that AFRICA RAPS compilation quite a bit.

[dieblucasdie]

ddillaman--

Youtube has several of their videos with English subtitles

[ddillaman]

Thanks - I meant on this specific track, though, which they did custom for the show. I've seen their subtitles on other vids, so I know what they say in those.