Syrian rappers hop to controversy

[ensho]

http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2009/09/200992211821891981.html


A group of young Syrians have just released the country's first rap album and walked straight into controversy.

Sham MCs, a collective of nine rappers, and their debut album Crossword has provoked more than a few cross words in Damascus.

This is the modern crashing head-on into the traditional. The album launch was held in a centuries-old, traditionally Arabesque house; Sham MCs insist their sound has a home-grown Arab style, and is not a cheap American import.

And in a country where there were protests at the opening of the first branch of Kentucky Fried Chicken, that is an important distinction to make.

Dressed in baggy jeans, and speaking in a heavy American accent, rapper Hosam Essa - known to his fans as Mic Son - says there has been an angry reaction.

"The second track is called Against the Flow, it's like we're going against everybody's idea and they hate rap because it's like a Western thing."

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Simon Mreish from Syria's Higher Institute of Music - the Conservatory - rejects the idea that rap is a purely American style: "Music is not owned by ," he says.

But he admits that hip-hop in Syria faces an uphill struggle.

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"We don't have schools for modern music like pop or jazz, the only way to learn music is the Conservatory, but inside the Conservatory you can find a lot of professional musicians doing their own projects," says Mreish.

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Essa knows he is unlikely to make a career out of rapping in Syria - he spends his days in college studying finance and accounting and he realises he will probably have to leave the country to make it big as a hip-hop star.
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good luck and may his and their dreams come true