A stalwart of the UAE hip-hop community has teamed up with an up-and-coming producer in Dubai to release a protest song inspired by the violence in Gaza.
The rapper Jabbar, formerly of the crew The Recipe, and DJ Somalie have recorded the track Free, inspired by the struggles of the Palestinians under Israeli occupation.
For the Palestinian-American Jabbar, whose real name 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. “I feel it is my duty to help not only Palestinians but all people who are oppressed and are placed in unfair and extreme humanitarian situations.”
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.
“It was all very spontaneous,” says Somalie (real name Ahmed Garoun).“We just came together with this goal and we are all very happy with how it turned out.”
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 The Palestine Children's Relief Fund.
