Rapping about social troubles – an interview with Sadat El3almy

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In an evening lecture (Amsterdam, May 21st) organized by the North Africa and Middle East department of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the serious title, “Youth Unemployment, Counter-Culture and Instability”, we (Charlie Crooijmans and me) were surprised to see the name of the young Egyptian rapper Sadat among the speaker guests (young political activists and a professor economist). The young street rapper – a star in the new wave of Egyptian popular music called “mahragan” (rap on electronic music with heavy use of Auto-Tune ) – doesn’t speak English. Unfortunately did not get a chance to speak out in such a foreign and formal setting. However, in a 5 minutes rap at the end of the evening, he kind of wrapped it all up.

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Palestinian Assaf wins Arab Idol

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The winner of the pan-Arabic talent show ‘Arab Idol’ (held in Beirut, Lebanon) is Mohammed Assaf from Gaza.  Even though the people in Gaza are being confronted with strict morality rules of Hamas, the fundamental Islamic movement – on News and Noise! we had an article about this before – this student of 23-years old was determined to participate Arab Idol. He already got arrested a twenty times by the Hamas, because he was singing at weddings and family parties. The only way to get out of Gaza was bribing an Egyptian guard. Unfortunately he got stuck at the frontier for two days. When he got at the auditions, the doors were already closed. He climbed over a wall, and inside he started to sing in an extremely passionate way. That’s how he was allowed to join the show. Three months later, shortly before midnight on Saturday, he was the declared winner!

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The people of Super 11 are in distress – an interview with MPS Pilot

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The war in Mali brings a lot of  instability and poverty for many people. For the nomadic people like the Tuareg, the situation is even more complicated as we saw in the interview with Ousmane Ag Mossa of Tamikrest on News and Noise! This is also the case for the group Super Onze (or Super 11) from Gao, who is unlike Tinariwen, Tamikrest and others, unknown outside of Mali. They play just one rhythm, Takamba, on traditional instruments like the calebash and the n’goni. But the way they do it is amazingly raw and virtuoso. One of the most adventurous DJ’s in Holland MPS Pilot, aka Horst Timmers – active in the ‘cutting-edge World Music scene’ – got fascinated by Super 11 and found a way to work together with the group. Recently he released their second album on his label Two Speakers. I asked him some questions about how they met, their collaboration and how the situation in Mali affects Super 11.

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“Artists are the best way to communicate” – an interview with Yvonne Kahan

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Yvonne Kahan from Norway is the manager of the international booking agency Olamalé. We spoke with her at Babel Med 2013 where one of her artists, the Alaev Family was having a showcase. It was one of the most cheerful and energetic groups at the festival. The 80-year-old master drummer Allo Alaev who has deep roots in the music of Tajikistan and the Jewish music of Buchara, emigrated with the entire family to Israel in 1991. Under enthusiastic supervision of Allo Alaev, the younger generation in the multi-talented band makes true cross over from the old to the new. Kahan reveals the difficulties she encounters working with Israeli artists in the international field.

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Singing is a way to resist – an interview with Rokia Traoré

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Even though there will be elections in Mali on 28 Juli, the situation remains insecure and dangerous. Lots of Malian musicians are touring around the world. Not only because they are very successful, but they also need to spread the message of solidarity and unity. One of those artists is Rokia Traoré. She was at the Babel Med 2013 to receive an award and to participate in a conference about Music in Resistance with Olev Reitov (Freemuse), Mariem Hassan, and Gennardo de Rosa (Musica Contre le Maffia). At one moment she was saying something about women in polygamous marriages who expresses themselves through singing. There wasn’t much time for her to elaborate on this subject, but afterwards she found a moment in her tight schedule to tell me more about it.

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