Asifeh عاصفة aka Stormtrap - Iradeh إرادة

 

Palestinian emcee and music producer Asifeh aka Stormtrap recently released his latest project Iradeh (translation “Will”), a seven track EP dedicated to his personal struggle and life under the ongoing occupation.

Asifeh collaborates with fellow artists Aras Seyhan,Willi Rosner, Sloth Pallas, Kolonel Bleep, and TAKiMiwhich all makes this entire tracklist quite impressive! Not only does it step away from the usual Middle-Eastern samples we hear in Arab hip-hop, but instead presents us with a sick mix of electronic and hip-hop beats. Asifeh keeps it fresh by successfully drawing our attention with the right musical fusion, all backed up by lyrics (performed in Arabic) about resistance, revolution, and political injustice.

You may recognize Asifeh’s bold and unique style from his work with one of the original Arab hip-hop crews Ramallah Underground, which he also co-founded. Whether apart of RU or as a solo artist, Asifeh remains focused on using music as a tool for unity and resistance.

In fact, Asifeh showed his support to the political prisoners in Palestine last week by releasing the track Ma ra7 a3affen (I Will Not Rot).

Within the EP Iradeh, Asifeh covers all types of issues from tracks like Su’Tafahum (Misunderstanding) which calls out on the people who mistreat each other instead of uniting since they are all dealing with the same harsh realities. My favorite track Kilmeh Wahdeh (One Word) takes a different approach and busts out with a classic battle where Asifeh lyrically kills any emcee that gets in his way. Finally, the self-titled track Iradeh hits it hard with lyrics about colonization and continued injustice. Here’s a quick sample of the chorus:


Time has come, for me to choose and determine my future for myself
Time has come, for me to remove all the ropes and chains from myself
Time has come, to get rid of the occupation
Time has come, to get rid of colonization

Coming to conquer all the lands
Tell me what is stronger, technology or determination?

(Source : http://www.mideastdynasty.com)

Asifeh  عاصفة  aka Stormtrap -  Iradeh إرادة

1. Sabbeh - صبّح
2. Su' Tafahum - سوء تفاهم
3. Iradeh - إرادة
4. Return - الرجعة
5. Fi Hadal Habs - في هذا الحبس
6. Kilmeh Wahdeh - كلمة واحدة
7. El Madeeneh Namat - المدينة نامت

HERE

Ramallah Underground - A retrospective

 

Ramallah Underground, based in Ramallah, Palestine, is a musical collective born from the desire to give voice to a generation of Palestinians and Arabs, in a situation of great economic, artistic, and political difficulty.  The collective was founded by artists Stormtrap, Boikutt, and later joined by Aswatt, who aim to rejuvenate Arabic culture by creating "music that Arabic youth can relate to," in the words of Boikutt.  They rap in   and are credited as some of the founders of Palestinian hip-hop . Their music combines hip-hop, trip hop, and downtempo, besides more traditional Middle-Eastern music,  with a commitment to their local culture and an awareness of the imposing presence of Palestine in their lives.

As producers and as MCs, the collective has collaborated with numerous artists across the globe, most recently Slovo, Boikutt appears on the track "Nakba" from their new album Todo Cambia.  They have performed live in Ramallah, Bethlehem, Melbourne (at the Melbourne International Arts Festival ), Liverpool  , Cairo, Lausanne, Amsterdam (as part of "Rap4Justice" in theMelkweg ]), and Washington, D.C., and recently incorporated a visual set by Palestinian visual artist Ruanne Abou-Rahme in their live performances.

Ramallah Underground does not have an official release as of yet and mostly uses the internet as a way of circulating their music. In fact, their MySpace page led David Harrington of the Kronos Quartet to ask them to collaborate on a piece, "Tashweesh," composed by Boikutt, which the quartet started playing live in 2008.  and which is included on their most recent release,Floodplain. 

Ramallah Underground - A retrospective

01) 970

02) Qararat (feat Lethal Skillz)

03) aswatt il zamann

04) Another Occupied Town (feat Paracat)
05) Hon Habess
06)  risaleh min muqata'a part 1 (boikutt)
07) Min il Kaheff  (feat Lethal Skillz)
08) Amputate (with The Unpeople)
09) Dameer Mustater 73
010) Intro by Tashweesh
011) Tales From The Frontline  (feat Paracat)
012) Khaleeni A'eesh
013) Areeb Il Shar
014) tikhtfi  (stormtrap feat  babok)
015) Nateejeh Bala Shoghol (Stormtrap)
016) Sot Ramallah
017) Kilmeh Sebeh Titfasar
018) Darweesh il Hara Skit
019)  sijen ib sijen  (stormtrap)
020) al zalaam
021) Zey ma sar mbare7  (stormtrap)
022) Taht Il Ankad
023) Kanabel Mudee'a
024) Lama il ftoor yiseer 3asha

HERE