A popular UAE hip hop community has come up together in the city of dreams to release a new song that protests the violence in Gaza against the Palestinians by the Israeli government. The track was recorded by the crew member of The Recipe, rapper Jabbar and DJ Somalie to voice against the Humanitarian crisis.
For the Palestinian-American Jabbar, whose real is Hani Khatib, it is one of the first tracks he has released since leaving the UAE and returning to America, where he lives in New York.
With subject matter that hits so close to home, Jabbar says that writing the lyrics was a form of release. “I find it easy to write about this topic because it is one that I have studied, researched, lived and experienced first-hand,” he says. “It is our sole duty to raise the voice of the oppressed people who were struggling for their lives and the Israeli government is continuously violation the Human rights in Palestine”
Jabbar’s fierce lyrics – “Till the cement fence is levelled forever, with rebellious eloquence” – are tempered with a sparse yet evocative production built around a looping melancholy oud riff, a funky bassline (with DJ Somalie on the bass-guitar) and a chorus supplied by the R’n’B singer Tala.
You can hear Free at Jabbar’s Soundcloud account (soundcloud.com/jabbar). The song is available for purchase from Amazon and the US iTunes site. The proceeds will be donated to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.
It remains to be seen that how successfully the band can educate people and make them aware about the sufferings of Palestine people in Gaza.
Leave a Reply