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LAITH AL-MAJALI HIP-HOP ISN’T DEAD, IT’S JUST MOVED TO THE ARAB WORLD
WORDS BY Sakhr Al-Makhadhi
There are not many rappers in the Middle East who Jordanian photographer and filmmaker Laith Al-Majali has not met and befriended. He is currently halfway through a four-year project documenting the growth of rap music in the Arab world.
“Hip-hop started as a voice against social injustice for African-Americans,” says Al-Majali, “and then commercialism changed everything and it became about money and women. That’s when [US star] Nas said hip-hop was dead – but later, one Arab rapper wore a T-shirt on stage with the slogan: ‘Hip-hop isn’t dead, it’s just moved to the Arab world’.”
It may be a modern import, but Al-Majali insists that rap is not an alien concept in the Middle East. “Before Islam there were often competitions between poets,” he explains. “During the tribal wars they’d send their poets. Hip-hop is just a new take on those lyrical contests.”
Al-Majali started out as a filmmaker, studying film and TV in the US. In 2005, he began producing the award-winning Captain Abu Raed, the first Jordanian feature film to secure worldwide distribution. “I returned to photography four years ago because being a filmmaker in the Arab world isn’t easy,” he says.
Even though photography is his bread and butter, Al-Majali became frustrated jumping from one job to another, so in 2007 he started work on a book. “I stumbled across the hip-hop idea when I was shooting for a magazine, and I met Omar Offendum and Ragtop,” he recalls. “They were the guys I started hanging out with. We became close and I went on tour with them.” Travelling to Beirut and Damascus, he met other emerging rappers, and his reputation spread. “Now I get emails from rappers across the Arab world asking me when I’m coming to their country,” he says.
See more of his work at lmajali.wordpress.com.
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TNT, BEIRUT
“TNT is one half of The Invincible Voice. They’re two kids from the Burj Al-Barajneh Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut. Here TNT is standing in their recording studio, which is in the middle of the camp. They really struggle because the camp only gets electricity in the day, so they’ve rigged up two car batteries to buy themselves a bit of extra rehearsal time.”
YEAHSEEN, BEIRUT
“Yeahseen is the other member of The Invincible Voice. They are the second generation of Arab hip-hop stars. They grew up listening to groundbreaking Palestinian rap groups like DAM and Ramallah Underground.”
SPHINX, CAIRO
“Sphinx is part of Egyptian hip-hop group Arabian Knightz. Cairo is new to me. Last year I heard about a big rap gig, so I just booked a ticket and turned up. I met Sphinx and he introduced me to his city’s hip-hop movement. Here he’s sitting on the stairs outside his apartment in Heliopolis.”
SALAH EDIN, HOLLAND
“Salah Edin is Holland’s biggest rap star. Walk around Amsterdam and you’ll see pictures of this guy. He’s got Moroccan roots, and he’s toured with [US hip-hop legends] Wu-Tang Clan in 26 countries. Salah Edin’s work is highly political. His last album was called Horr (A Free Man), and he raps about social problems in the Arab world.”
THE THREE RAPPERS, BEIRUT
“This is one of my most famous pictures; it was on posters all over Beirut. Syrian rapper Omar Offendum (left) grew up in Washington DC; he’s an architect. Mark Gonzales (centre) is Mexican-American, and Ragtop (right) is a Palestinian raised in Tennessee. We were walking round the city when this backdrop caught my eye, and I fancied doing a boyband-style shot.”
SUHEIR HAMMAD, DUBAI
"I kept hearing this woman’s name. Whenever I asked Arab rappers about their influences, they’d pick this Palestinian poet. She’s also a film star – she’s just appeared in the Palestinian feature film Salt of the Sea. I took this picture at the Dubai Film Festival; it looks quite different to the other shots because I used a camera from the 1960s.”
AHMED AL-FISHAWY, CAIRO
“Fishawy is another actor. He’s the son of two film stars, Soumaya Al-Olafi and Farouk Al-Fishawy, but unlike his parents, he also raps. I discovered him on my expedition to Egypt last year, and I took him to a slum outside Cairo on the road to Saqqara for this shot.”
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