Saud Waled Ibrahim raps in a mixture of Arabic and English, a blend that has become a hallmark of a hip-hop scene in search of its identity in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Better known as “SG,” he is recording a new track in his small but modern studio in a low-key part of the Persian Gulf state best known for its glittering skyscrapers and artificial palm-shaped islands.
“There is no country that doesn’t have rap ... but we’re still seen as intruders,” said the 24-year-old, sporting an oversized Adidas T-shirt and obligatory headphones.
Photo: AFP
In a country made up of residents drawn from all over the world and with little street culture to speak of, the hip-hop scene has yet to find its “sound,” he said.
Growing up to the beats of Tupac and Eminem, SG said that it was the genre’s tradition of free expression that drew him in, even if as the years went by, reality bit.
“As we got older, we realized we are a society with deep-rooted principles, which we can’t violate,” he said of his generation of performers.
Born in the street culture of the US in the 1970s, hip hop has spread across the world and given a voice to young people, particularly those in marginalized communities.
Before making its way to the Gulf, rap emerged as an art form in other Arab countries where performers defy censorship and repression to address sensitive political and social issues.
The United Arab Emirates is considered one of the more open states in the Gulf region, even if its security laws remain stringent.
It has invested heavily in arts and culture, and a handful of home-grown rap names have emerged among those who have settled in the UAE, including Freek and Adamillion, who are both from Somalia.
However, like the wider cultural scene, the hip-hop community is trying to find its place in a conservative country where foreigners make up about 80 percent of the population, and where provocative or explicit topics are taboo.
“Unlike in France, the US, Morocco, Egypt ... we don’t have our own sound because we are more focused on foreign influences rather than our own creativity,” SG said.
Hassane “Big Hass” Dennaoui, a UAE-based host of a radio show dedicated to hip hop, said that although identity in the region is still evolving, one thing for sure is that it is “one of diversity.”
Originally from Saudi Arabia, Big Hass, with his signature bandana and white beard, founded The Beat DXB, which organizes live performances and promotes regional artists.
By drawing performers from all over the world, the UAE is rich in languages and culture, he said, even if many are content to stick to lyrics about life and love, rather than political issues of the day.
“When I talk to a Palestinian rapper, they say how can we talk about love when I have an army tank on the roof of my house?” he told reporters at Dubai’s independent Cinema Akil, a favourite hipster haunt. “In the Gulf, we may live comfortably, but that doesn’t mean people don’t have struggles. As a rapper, you have a duty to represent reality.”
To relay that reality, Palestinian rapper Suhaib S. Alises — who was born in Jordan, but grew up in the UAE — performs in a mixture of English and Arabic.
“This is to reach as many people as possible ... and at the same time drive my message across,” he said. “There should always first and foremost be a message, and rap is an expression of poetry and emotion.”
For him, the genre has evolved from the days of “gangsta rap” that dominated his teenage years.
“It has become a respectful form of expression and adapts to where the person is ... addressing what is happening around the person’s life and their own reality,” he added.
MONEY MATTERS: Xi was to highlight projects such as a new high-speed railway between Belgrade and Budapest, as Serbia is entirely open to Chinese trade and investment Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic yesterday said that “Taiwan is China” as he made a speech welcoming Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to Belgrade, state broadcaster Radio Television of Serbia (RTS) said. “We have a clear and simple position regarding Chinese territorial integrity,” he told a crowd outside the government offices while Xi applauded him. “Yes, Taiwan is China.” Xi landed in Belgrade on Tuesday night on the second leg of his European tour, and was greeted by Vucic and most government ministers. Xi had just completed a two-day trip to France, where he held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron as the
With the midday sun blazing, an experimental orange and white F-16 fighter jet launched with a familiar roar that is a hallmark of US airpower, but the aerial combat that followed was unlike any other: This F-16 was controlled by artificial intelligence (AI), not a human pilot, and riding in the front seat was US Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall. AI marks one of the biggest advances in military aviation since the introduction of stealth in the early 1990s, and the US Air Force has aggressively leaned in. Even though the technology is not fully developed, the service is planning
INTERNATIONAL PROBE: Australian and US authorities were helping coordinate the investigation of the case, which follows the 2015 murder of Australian surfers in Mexico Three bodies were found in Mexico’s Baja California state, the FBI said on Friday, days after two Australians and an American went missing during a surfing trip in an area hit by cartel violence. Authorities used a pulley system to hoist what appeared to be lifeless bodies covered in mud from a shaft on a cliff high above the Pacific. “We confirm there were three individuals found deceased in Santo Tomas, Baja California,” a statement from the FBI’s office in San Diego, California, said without providing the identities of the victims. Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their American friend Jack Carter
CUSTOMS DUTIES: France’s cognac industry was closely watching the talks, fearing that an anti-dumping investigation opened by China is retaliation for trade tensions French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) at one of his beloved childhood haunts in the Pyrenees, seeking to press a message to Beijing not to support Russia’s war against Ukraine and to accept fairer trade. The first day of Xi’s state visit to France, his first to Europe since 2019, saw respectful, but sometimes robust exchanges between the two men during a succession of talks on Monday. Macron, joined initially by EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, urged Xi not to allow the export of any technology that could be used by Russia in its invasion