FORTHRIGHT – STRONGER THAN A WEAPON
DEEB, Egypt
“We wanted to make some music that tells people the truth.”
Egyptian rap musician Mohammed el Deeb was born 1984 in Cairo.
He was part of the group Asfalt that was founded in 2005. Two years later he formed Wighit Nazar together with a friend from Asfalt.
Since 2010 he performs solo. He performed in Tahir Square during the revolution and was part of the movement aiming for better conditions in Egypt.
He addresses political, social and cultural issues in a very comprehensible way and is therefore most popular amongst the youth.
He travels a lot while attracting attention to Egypt’s needs and concerns.
El General, Tunisia
“I see myself as the voice for young people.”
Hamada Ben Amor known as El Général is a Tunisian rap musician. After school he began his studies in pharmacology and in 2008 he started rapping and singing.
In 2010 he released his song “Rais Lebled” on the Internet. The message was spread via YouTube, Facebook and Twitter and it led towards the revolution in Tunisia, “Rais Lebled” became the revolutionary anthem and El Général was arrested for a few days and now the most popular hip hop artist.
After the government was suspended, El Général was supported by the new Ministry of Culture and released his first album. “Time Magazine” chose him as one of the 100 most influential people in 2011.
Sagol 59, Israel
“So every side has to leave some of its dreams aside..”
Khen Rotem, known as Sagol 59, was born 1968 in Israel and grew up in a kibbutz. He is referred to as the godfather of Israeli hip hop.
In 2000 he released “The Blue Period” as the first hip hop album ever in Israel. In 2001 he was the first Israeli artist who collaborated with Arab artist Tamer Nafar,
making a song together calling for peace. He is a well-known artist, performing all around the world.
He is ambitious to call for peace and equal rights and looks at things from the human side rather than from a political side.
He performed at MasterPeace aiming for peace in order to overcome armed conflicts.
SAZ, ISRAEL / Palestine
“I fight for change. Music for me is a weapon to make a change.”
Sameh Zakout, also known as Saz, was born 1984 in Ramleh, a small town in Israel with a large Arab population.
Ramleh is known for its poverty and high crime rate. He is a Palestinian rap artist, who became a well-known rapper, and chose music as a tool to bring a peaceful change into the Palestine-Israeli conflict.
He performed at several festivals such as Glastonbury. Together with other artists, he performed at MasterPeace in Amsterdam in 2014,
which is a global peace movement aiming for peace and togetherness.
