SOURCE: STEP FEED

BY: MALIK AL ASH-SHAYK

On Wednesday, in collaboration with nine renowned international Arab rappers and artists, Anghami – the region’s premier music streaming platform – launched its first-ever English/Arabic hip-hop cypher.

Directed by the platform’s hip-hop editor, Hassane Dennaoui – aka Big Hass – the “Anghami Exclusive” recording comes as an effort to highlight the important and growing role of this music genre across the Middle East.

“It gives strong hints of unity, power, lyrical diversity, and above all, richness in Arab culture,” Big Hass told StepFeed.

The first edition of the cypher is a one-beat track produced by Abu Dhabi-born Iraqi/Canadian music producer Sandhill, elevated by DJ Lethal Skillz‘ scratching, and edited by visual artist Raed Al Murish.

The official music video was shot in nine different cities (Makkah, Los Angeles, Beirut, Cairo, Montreal, Ramallah, Amsterdam, Dubai, and London).

“I’d like to shout out to the videographers that put time and efforts to shoot these videos in addition to Raed Al Murish who put together an amazing edit,” said Big Hass.

It features some of the Arab world’s most talented artists, including Lowkey(Iraq/UK), Shiboba (Saudi Arabia), Omar Offendum (Syria/US), Bu Kolthoum(Syria), Meryem Saci (Algeria/Canada), Narcy (Iraq/Canada), Edd Abbas(Lebanon), GioTwo (Jordan), Deeb (Egypt), and Muqata’a (Palestine).

“This track showcases some of the most amazing diversity in Arab thought and lyrical expression throughout both the MENA region and diaspora nowadays,” rapper, poet, and activist Omar Offendum told StepFeed.

“I’m proud to be a part of it and grateful to Big Hass and Anghami for the opportunity!”

“I’d like to thank Anghami for believing in my vision. This is a very powerful message that we are strong, we got amazing talent in the form of rhythm and poetry,” Big Hass stated.

“To be able to get those incredible names is an honor and I’m sure that whoever listens to the track will feel the passion of these MC’s.”

Founded in Lebanon by Eddy Maroun and Elie Habib, Anghami – which is Arabic for “My Tunes” – first emerged around six years ago and always believed in nurturing and supporting the music scene in the Middle East.

As such, it was important to acknowledge hip-hop as a strong music genre in the regional arena.

“We at Anghami recognize the importance of hip-hop as a catalyst in the evolution of the music scene in the Middle East and GCC,” said Maroun, the company’s co-founder.

“This Anghami Cypher serves as a testimony to our support and an initiative for more rappers and artists to come forward and engage with a bigger audience,” he added.

Boasting more than 50 million users to date, with an excess of 30 million available songs from over 1 million artists, and an impressive 1 billion streams per month, the popular music streaming app has rapidly grown into the largest in the MENA region.

Watch the video below: