Hamada Ben Amor
 
Andy Morgan has written a terrific article for UK paper The Guardian called “From Fear To Fury: How the Arab World Found Its Voice.” It details how music has had a pivotal impact in kickstarting and sustaining the revolutions in the Arab world, with particular attention paid to Tunisian rapper Hamada Ben Amor, or El Général.

On 7 November, El Général uploaded a piece of raw fury called “Rais Le Bled” (President, Your Country) on to Facebook. “My president, your country is dead/ People eat garbage/ Look at what is happening/ Misery everywhere/ Nowhere to sleep/ I’m speaking for the people who suffer/ Ground under feet.” Within hours, the song had lit up the bleak and fearful horizon like an incendiary bomb. Before being banned, it was picked up by local TV station Tunivision and al-Jazeera. El Général’s MySpace was closed down, his mobile cut off. But it was too late. The shock waves were felt across the country and then throughout the Arab world. That was the power of protesting in Arabic, albeit a locally spiced dialect of Arabic. El Général’s bold invective broke frontiers and went viral from Casablanca to Cairo and beyond.”

Morgan’s article can be found here and it is essential reading.
 

 
The Guardian has also posted some links to music videos of songs that figured into the Arab uprisings by Sheik Imam Amir Eid, Hany Adel and Sherif Mostafa of Egypt and Iraqi rapper Narcicyst. Check them out here.
 

 
Thanks to Mark Kamins.
 
Previously on DM: A hip-hop reflection on the Tunisian revolution.