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Voice of the Streets: the Birth of a Hip Hop Movement
CAIRO – Last November, 12 of the region’s best-known Arab rappers were set to perform together at a public youth center in the swanky central Cairo district of Zamalek. Organizers billed Voice of the Streets as a concert to remind people about “the continued struggle for freedom of expression in the wake of the Arab uprisings.” Indeed,…
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Revisiting the Third Rail: Arab rappers negotiate revolution
THIS WAS THE ONE AND ONLY EPISODE OF AN INTERVIEW SERIES (‘On the Real’) FEATURED ON WORLD HIP HOP MARKET (MARCH, 2013). THIS ARTICLE FEATURES AN EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH SYRIAN-AMERICAN PRODUCER AHMED KHOUJA WHO PRODUCED THE ARAB RAP COMPILATION ‘KHAT THALETH’ (“THIRD RAIL”) THAT WAS RELEASED WORLDWIDE IN THE SPRING OF 2013. IT WAS UNFORTUNATELY…
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Kuwaiti music artist Zahed Sultan: Searching for the Blueprint
Kuwaiti electronic music producer and multimedia artist Zahed Sultan has finally launch his second full length album – eyeamsound – more than 3-years after the success of his debut release. This time around Sultan has expanded his live repertoire with a revamped set-up that has allowed him to present an entirely new interactive, live band-format,…
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Red Bull Music Academy Session Kuwait w/Bei Ru, Omar Offendum, Hasan Hujairi +
It was a dynamite weekend filled with the best musical prospects from Kuwait at the first ever RMBA Kuwait Session (January 30-31, 2015). Watch the short film directed/produced by Jackson Allers and edited/co-shot by Timothy Carr of TJC Films.
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Back with a Vengeance: Lazzy Lung!
AFTER THE 2010 RELEASE OF LEBANESE INDIE ROCK BAND LAZZY LUNG’S DEBUT ALBUM STRANGE PLACES, UMEN FEATURED AN INTERVIEW WITH THE BAND’S FRONTMAN – ALLAN CHAARAOUI. SHORTLY THEREAFTER THE BAND BLEW UP, WINNING A LEGION OF REGIONAL ACCOLADES THAT INCLUDED THE ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE ME’S ‘BATTLE OF THE BAND’ CONTEST IN 2011; THE 2011 ‘MUSICIANS…
Allan Chaaraoui, Beirut, Black Lips, Capitol Records, Charlie Paakari, Emily Lazar, Esquire ME ‘Musician of the Year’, Homegrown to Hollywood, Imad Jawad, Jackson Allers, Lazzy Lung, lebanon, Rolling Stone ME Battle of the Band Winner, Sailor’s Delight, Strange Places, Studio A, The Lodge Studio NYC, UMen -
Debut Solo Album: Palestinian MC – Muqata’a aka Boikutt – comes of age
Muqata’a aka Boikutt – has been at the forefront of the Palestinian Rap scene since the mid-2000’s. One of the original members of the seminal rap crew Ramallah Underground, he has just released his long-awaited solo album, Hayawan Nateq; it’s an album that was 2-years in the making, and BEATS AND BREATH is proud to…
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Chico and the Man: reviving the vinyl tradition in Beirut!
Diran Mardirian is the owner of Video Chico, a dvd shop that was established as a record store in 1964 by his father Katchik. It was once a mecca for vinyl collectors that continued to sell vinyl up until 1982 when the shop "shook off the dust of the Israeli invasion and switched to videos.…
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The PERCs’ perks – Production Equipment Rental Companies in Lebanon
BEATS AND BREATH FEATURES THIS HUGE PROFILE WRITTEN FOR COMMUNICATE LEVANT MAGAZINE (*AFFILIATED WITH ADVERTISING AGE) ON THE REAL ENGINE THAT MAKES THE REGION’S TELEVISION COMMERCIAL INDUSTRY RUN – THE PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT RENTAL HOUSES OR PERCS AS I TERMED THEM. MASSIVE THANKS GOES OUT TO JOSEPH AL KADAMANI (GAMMA ENGINEERING SARL), CHANT ETYEMEZIAN (PLATFORM STUDIOS),…
Advertising Age, Association of Lebanese Commercial Producers ALCP, Beirut, Black Rhino, Communicate Levant, Dubai, Final Cut, Gamma Engineering sarl, Independent Productions, Joseph Al Kadamani, Laser Films, lebanon, PERCs, Platform Studios, Qatar, Samer Dadanian, Samir Traboulsi, Shant Etyemezian, Tarek Sikias, Television Commercial Industry -
Launch of Red Bull Music Academy Radio show: Quarter Tone Frequency Vol. 01
In October, 2013, Red Bull Music Academy Radio launched Quarter Tone Frequency. This was the first episode of season 1 – with eleven (11) monthly episodes following (*ending in September 2014). 4 hosts from Lebanon (Beats and Breath’s Jackson Allers), Egypt (Mohamed Safi), Jordan (Tamer Gargour) and the UAE (James Locksmith, sound engineer: Mostyn “Megadon”…
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One Board at a Time: Mohammad Zakaria – Jordan’s skateboarding pioneer
MOHAMMAD ZAKARIA IS ONE OF THE PIONEERS OF JORDAN’S SKATE SCENE AND A VETERAN OF THE PAN-ARAB SKATEBOARDING SCENE. A PALESTINIAN-JORDANIAN WHO BASICALLY ADHERES TO THE FIELD OF DREAMS SCHOOL OF THOUGHT – “IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME” – ZAKARIA CO-FOUNDED PHILADELPHIA SKATEBOARDS IN 2009 ON A SHOESTRING BUDGET AND THE HOPE THAT…
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Video: “History has found me” – Oak featuring Julia from Postcards (Lebanon)
Beats and Breath spent a day with two filmmakers (director/editor Tony H. Khoury & producer/director Karim Koleilat) and two extremely talented songwriters – Allen Seif known as Oak – and Julia Sabra from the Beirut Indy band Postcards. The result was the video for the song “History has found me” – shot and recorded on-location…
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Beirut’s own: The Wanton Bishops Unchained, Part 1
An exclusive interview with the Beirut-based blues-rock-revival band The Wanton Bishops and Beats and Breath founder Jackson Allers. It’s part 1 of an interview that was released in early 2013, and was conducted in December 2012 right before the launch of their first album – Sleep with the Lights On.
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Beirut’s blues-rock revival – The Wanton Bishops
IN DECEMBER OF 2012 – BEATS AND BREATH SAT DOWN WITH WHAT HAS TURNED OUT TO BE BEIRUT’S HOTTEST MUSICAL EXPORT, THE BLUES-ROCK REVIVAL DUO THE WANTON BISHOPS – NADER MANSOUR AND EDDY GHOSSEIN. THE INTERVIEW WAS CONDUCTED RIGHT BEFORE THE OFFICIAL LAUNCH OF THEIR FIRST ALBUM – SLEEP WITH THE LIGHTS ON. AS I…
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Interview with Lebanese filmmaker Wissam Charaf
BEATS AND BREATH PRESENTS THIS INTERVIEW WITH LEBANESE FILMMAKER WISSAM CHARAF SOON AFTER THE LEBANESE PREMIERE OF HIS DOCUMENTARY FILM IT’S ALL IN LEBANON. WITH A CHRONOLOGICAL VIEW OF THE LEBANESE PSYCHE FROM THE END OF THE CIVIL WAR TO THE PRESENT, CHARAF’S FILM IS A ROMP THROUGH THE COMPETING MEDIA NARRATIVES OF THE COUNTRY’S…
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Lebanese rapper El Rass ‘Unveils the Hidden’
In a sea of otherwise unappetizing pop-market Arabic musical fare, the alternative music scene in Lebanon has produced yet another artistic gem, this time with a collaboration that straddles the highly progressive but insular experimental works of the Beirut-based label Ruptured with the vocal skills of the poet, journalist, MC – Mazen el Sayyed aka El Rass.…
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The Perfect Storm: Beirut’s Alt Music Scene
LEBANON IS A COMPLICATED PLACE. HISTORICAL ANTAGONISMS, BOTH INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL, HAVE SHAPED ITS POLITICAL AND SOCIAL LANDSCAPE. ITS DIVERSITY, ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS, IS UNMATCHED IN THE ARAB WORLD, AND SINCE THE 1950S, ITS CAPITAL CITY BEIRUT HAS BECOME THE FULCRUM BETWEEN ORIENTAL AND OCCIDENTAL, CREATING THE ‘PERFECT STORM’ OF INFLUENCES THAT HAS MADE IT…
Arab Hip-Hop, Beirut, Charbel Haber, Dabke, DJ Lethal Skillz, Dub Snakkr, Edd, El Rass, entertainment, Fadi Tabbal, Ghazi Abdel Baki, Irtijal, Johnny Damascus, Lazzy Lung, lebanon, Lumi, Mashrou Leila, media, middle-east, Munma, Osloob, politics, Ramcess L’Hamorabi, Red Bull Music Academy, Ruptured, Scrambled Eggs, Sharif Sehnaoui, Slutterhouse, Tarab, The New Government, Touffar, Zeid and the Wings, Zeid Hamdan, Ziad Nawfal -
Ziad Nawfal: Lebanon’s Indie Music Facilitator
IN MAY 2012 – BEATS AND BREATH SAT DOWN WITH ZIAD NAWFAL -THE FOUNDER OF THE ALTERNATIVE MUSIC LABEL RUPTURED TO DISCUSS WHAT HE’S EXCITED ABOUT WITH THE NEXT-GENERATION OF ARAB MUSICIANS AND THE PROSPECTS OF WORKING AS AN INDIE LABEL IN THE MIDDLE EAST. (NOTE: THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN JUNE 2012)
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Profile on Zeid Hamdan: “A musician without vision is no use!”
Originally posted on BEATS AND BREATH: Beats and Breath features this exclusive interview with Beirut-based musician, producer, composer, and arranger Zeid Hamdan, the pioneer of Lebanon’s alternative music scene. (Editor’s note: In the 2 years since this was published – it is still a relevant discussion of the future of alternative music in Lebanon.) Zeid…
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Rolling Stone Magazine ME article for ‘Voice of the Streets’ event
CAIRO – Last month, 12 of the region’s best-known Arab rappers were set to perform together at a public youth center in the swanky central Cairo district of Zamalek. Organizers billed the Voice of the Streets event as a concert to remind people about the continued struggle for freedom of expression in the wake of…
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Another Arab Revolution Arabic Graffiti Reclamation of a Canvas
Beats and Breath/Jackson Allers talked to legendary German graffiti writer and publisher Don Karl aka STONE, fresh off the release of his newly published book Arabic Graffiti authored by Lebanese typographer Pascal Zoghbi, with essays from a host of calligraphers, graffiti artists, designers, photographers and academics.
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Live from Beirut….Lazzy Lung the Arab alt-rock Olympians!
BEIRUT – The 4-piece Lebanese alternative rock outfit Lazzy Lung released their debut album in late 2010, and by all accounts they’re the hardest working crew in the Arab alternative rock scene looking to win their fans over – one listener at a time. Beats and Breath sat down with the band’s co-founder and frontman…
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Soul II Soul’s Jazzie B: These are the breaks – Jazzie B’s sermon in Beirut
Trevor Beresfor Romeo aka Jazzie B, the legendary DJ, music producer and founding member of the musical collective Soul II Soul was in Beirut in March for a musical workshop with 44 musicians and producers from around the Arab world. BEATS AND BREATH sat down with Jazzie B to discuss music, his life philosophies and…
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Arab Raps Theoretical Unification
Beats and Breath’s interview with Egyptian rapper Mohammed el Deeb aka Deeb released in June contended that the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa had a galvanizing effect with Arab hip-hop heads worldwide. But has this been the spark for a Pan-Arab hip-hop movement? I put this piece out there in the context…
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Independent Lebanese musician Zeid Hamdan arrested over song – “General Suleiman”
Blogger and music scholar Angie Nassar writes on the Beirut-based website NOWLebanon about the government detention and subsequent release of Zeid Hamdan – the self-described “gardener” of the independent music scene in Lebanon, co-founder of the electro-Arab fusion act Soap Kills and his most recent musical venture Zeid and the Wings. (We featured Zeid in…
AltCity, Alternative Music in Lebanese Culture, AltMedia Experience, Angie Nassar, arab awakenings, arab spring, Censorship, Feel Notes, General Suleiman, Gigi Roccati, Hamra, Independent Arabic Music, Jad Baaklini, lebanon, NOWLebanon, Omar el Fil, Revolution, Self-Censorship, Soap Kills, Walad, Zeid and the Wings, Zeid Hamdan -
TIME MAGAZINE: Syrian Rappers Urge … Restraint? Protesters Find Little Support in Popular Music
This is an article written by Rania Abouzeid for TIME Magazine ©. I am reposting it here to frame the controversy that has erupted over this article, which was a spin-off to a post put on Greg Schick’s website World Hip-Hop Market.com. The post was about the stance on the Syrian unrest from a good…
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Movements.org – Hip Hop’s Responses to the Arab Awakening
WHILE SOCIAL MEDIA HAS GOTTEN MUCH OF THE CREDIT FOR GALVANIZING THE UPRISINGS SWEEPING THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA (MENA), A NEW RADIO DOCUMENTARY BY SOCIAL CRITIC AND MUSIC JOURNALIST – JACKSON ALLERS – IS PAYING RESPECT TO ANOTHER INFLUENTIAL MEDIUM IN THE REGION, ONE THAT HAS ARTICULATED THE FRUSTRATIONS OF THE MARGINALIZED AND…
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