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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 -
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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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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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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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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Profile: Hadeel Assali co-founder of Houston Palestine Film Festival
Hadeel Assali is a Palestinian cultural activist raised in Houston who knows all too well the need to redefine stereotypes of her community. Assali is the co-founder and executive director of the Houstone Palestine Film Festival, a four year-old (at the time of posting – 5-year old) festival that Houstonians voted the Best Film Festival…
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The Paranoids – Omar Offendum, The Narcicyst & Ragtop – take over Texas
In mid-March every year, more than 1,800 musical acts convene in Austin, Texas for the biggest music industry festival in the world. An Arab rap super group hit the stage at South by Southwest this year – the first of its kind. Made up of veteran rappers Omar Offendum, Ragtop and The Narcicyst, there’s a…
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Beats and Breath interviewed by Re-Volt Radio
Hass Dennaoui is a unique character – someone who has decided to break out of the confines of his geographical situation to embark on a world-wide media adventure. Hass runs Re-Volt Radio – a new experiment in media that features interviews with the brightest talents in Arab hip-hop and beyond – although he’s not limited to any one…
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Exclusive interview with Mochilla’s B+ and Eric Coleman
After the successful showing of Mochilla’s latest documentary bonanza – “Timeless” – at this year’s South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Beats and Breath features this exclusive interview with Mochilla’s Brian Cross aka B+ and Eric Coleman during their recent trip to Beirut and Amman.
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Profile on Zeid Hamdan: “A musician without vision is no use!”
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.) By JACKSON ALLERS BEIRUT – Sitting in…
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Expanding the Dialog: Omar Offendum’s debut album ‘SyrianamericanA’
Syrian-American rap super hero? Homeboy from a street called Straight? Omar Offendum sat down with me recently to hash out what his new album gonna be like. Much love to this brother for what is an expanded rap attack at a time when we need a properly politicized voice straddling these two worlds of oriental…
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Bye-bye Crate Sessions – a talk with Serge Yared
This is the unedited story written by Jackson Allers for the Beirut-based news and culture website – NOW Lebanon – which I feel captures more of the spirit of the Crate Sessions and the editorial philosophy of Beats and Breath. This is a story about the special nature of a Beirut musical experiment that was…
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Brooklyn Beats to Beirut Streets – Pt. 1
In honor of this legendary night of hip-hop in Beirut in January 2008 – Immortal Entertainment, Phonosapien Productionz and Beats and Breath Productions brings you the Brooklyn Beats to Beirut Streets Redux @ Basement on Sunday, January 10! Send an email to me for more information on the January 10 show: jacksonallers@gmail.com In a…
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DJ Sotusura – Holdin’ down Jordan’s hip-hop scene singlehandedly
By Jackson Allers (originally published in UMen Magazine) BEIRUT – Hicham Ibrahim, aka DJ Sotusura, is solid – holding down the hip-hop massive in Amman almost single-handedly, he doesn’t exude the stress you’d expect for someone so damn busy. But don’t let his nonchalance fool you. What I mean to say is that this wiry…
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