Is the Arab - Gangsta Rap convergence approaching?
1 Comments Published by Tom Gara on Wednesday, October 29 at Wednesday, October 29, 2008.
I've said for a long time that it is only going to take a little push for gangsta rap culture and Arab culture to fuse in a weird and awesome way. You just need the right photo of 50 Cent chilling in a flowing white robe, or a badass bunch of homeboys sitting on the steps in front of a building smoking shisha in the next Timbalnd video clip.
And lets not even get started on how sweet if would be if Dr Dre talked up how he swaggers around with a falcon on his arm instead of an AK-47.
How to be a proper badass, part 1: Have an Awesome Falcon
Anyhow, I reckon "Arab Money" by Busta Rhymes is getting pretty close to that magical mark. Think it's hard to make "Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al-Saud respects the value of my work" sound smooth? Take it away, Busta:
(lyrics)
A few random points:
- It would be a lot better if he didn't pronounce Arab as Ay-Rab in that retarded American way
- Is it just me or is the pseudo-Arabic chorus not Arabic at all? Sounds more like Hindi
- While the more mass-market gangsta rap and Arab culture are yet to fuse, its fair to say the Islam has been pretty tightly assciated with the more quality hip-hop for quite a while - super awesome Muslim rappers include: A Tribe Called Quest, Afrika Bambatta, Mos Def, Jurassic 5, Lupe Fiasco and Brother Ali, plus hundreds more.
And lets not even get started on how sweet if would be if Dr Dre talked up how he swaggers around with a falcon on his arm instead of an AK-47.
How to be a proper badass, part 1: Have an Awesome Falcon
Anyhow, I reckon "Arab Money" by Busta Rhymes is getting pretty close to that magical mark. Think it's hard to make "Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al-Saud respects the value of my work" sound smooth? Take it away, Busta:
(lyrics)
A few random points:
- It would be a lot better if he didn't pronounce Arab as Ay-Rab in that retarded American way
- Is it just me or is the pseudo-Arabic chorus not Arabic at all? Sounds more like Hindi
- While the more mass-market gangsta rap and Arab culture are yet to fuse, its fair to say the Islam has been pretty tightly assciated with the more quality hip-hop for quite a while - super awesome Muslim rappers include: A Tribe Called Quest, Afrika Bambatta, Mos Def, Jurassic 5, Lupe Fiasco and Brother Ali, plus hundreds more.
Absolutely incredible doc on this - "Slingshot Hip Hop" A must-see.
Preview (which doesn't even come close to doing the movie justice) here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rdS8zNp3ow