The New Arab Meets: Somali-UAE rapper Freek whose hybridity is resonating throughout borders and laying a recent blueprint for brand spanking new expertise. By means of his fame, he hopes to inform the tales of migrant communities and second-generation Arabs throughout the Gulf.
“I have been getting bit by mosquitos this entire time.”
Freek, talking by Zoom on his telephone, has been outdoors frantically strolling round Sharjah within the United Arab Emirates attempting to keep away from these pesky bugs.
As he strikes round swatting them away, he’s conveying to The New Arab a well-recognized, mosquito-like downside within the music trade – and in life – within the Center East and North Africa: The incessant leaching of alternatives and obstacles attributable to racism.
“I look completely different. I even look completely different in my very own metropolis.”
“Lots of people, when they give thought to the [Arab Gulf countries that are part of the] GCC, they suppose we’re all spoon-fed, we’re all spoiled that grew up right here. The tales we have now, we’ve seen loopy stuff rising up. That story has not been instructed but, and that’s me”
Freek, a Somali-born and UAE-raised Black artist, has rapidly risen within the ranks of emcees from the Center East and North Africa and has constantly dominated the hip-hop scene within the area since his begin in 2013.
Freek was the primary to carry out drill rap – a subgenre of rap presently thriving within the UK – in Arabic, fascinating listeners with unmatched lyrical prowess and blistering manufacturing.
His breakout single Wala Kilma (“not a phrase” in English) was launched in 2019 and never solely did it garner widespread regional consideration but additionally vital acclaim within the UK, a serious international hub and residential for drill.
Whereas hip-hop throughout the Center East and North Africa continues to thrive, there’s nonetheless the ever-pervasive situation of systemic racism within the area.
Relating to the regional music scene particularly, Black Arab artists have largely not been given the identical assets, platforms, or publicity as their white Arab counterparts, be it in hip-hop or different genres.
Freek understands and has skilled this racism first-hand, conscious about what which means for his profession and for his personal humanity.
“I feel we’re means, means again in relation to folks of color attempting to do stuff within the Arab world,” Freek says. “Within the States, the UK, France – you’ll be able to see main Black artists on the scene. However even in relation to [artists who perform the genre] tarab, and even in relation to [Arab pop artists like] the Najwa Karam’s or the Ragheb Alama’s – you’ll by no means see a Black particular person. You’ll by no means see a Black artist within the Arab world touring Egypt or touring Saudi.”
On high of this, and solely till lately, Freek additionally needed to navigate life within the UAE as a migrant with out full Emirati citizenship.
Although he spent a lot of his time “with the locals, attempting to mix in, attempting to belong to some society”, he was not in a position to take pleasure in the identical privileges as his friends.
“You’ll by no means see a Black artist within the Arab world touring Egypt or touring Saudi”
“After I graduated faculty, we couldn’t go to the identical college as a result of they went to the unis that solely settle for residents. So I’m disregarded now. I’m sitting within the hood alone now, that hit me. Like rattling, these guys went in, clearly, we’re not the identical. That stripped me of the identification of ever feeling like I could possibly be absolutely Emirati.”
To Freek, music is greater than only a artistic output or a profession. For him, music gives a way of identification and group that wasn’t out there to him rising up. Music, he professes, actually saved his life, giving him a chance to journey past the UAE’s borders and displaying him that “there’s this world that accepts you and doesn’t thoughts the place you’re from so long as you do dope shit.”
“Freek is on a mission to inform the tales of migrant communities and second-generation Arabs throughout the Gulf nations”
With this sense of function, Freek is on a mission to inform the tales of migrant communities and second-generation Arabs throughout the Gulf nations.
“All of us have this disaster of ‘who the f*** are we man,” he shares. “Lots of people, when they give thought to the [Arab Gulf countries that are part of the] GCC, they suppose we’re all spoon-fed, we’re all spoiled that grew up right here. The tales we have now, we’ve seen loopy stuff rising up. That story has not been instructed but, and that’s me.”
Frankly, Freek has a degree. Trying on the Gulf nations from a branding perspective, the carefully-cultivated picture of glitz and glam and obscene quantities of cash stays dominant throughout that area. Which is on function, designed to distract from the political and human rights issues in these nations.
These tales he so passionately discusses are ones a couple of assemble many people take with no consideration: residence.
Residence gives a sure kind of power that envelopes us in a sense of euphoria and authenticity. Freek first discovered that in heavy metallic music, due to his sister. “My sister Maha launched me to music rising up,” Freek affectionately says with a smile on his face. “I began listening to metallic after I was younger. I used to be a metalhead. That power, even the mosh pits, I really feel all that from rock.”
As a fan of bands like Insane Clown Posse, Korn, and Slipknot – amongst others – Freek felt impressed by the thought of making a fanbase round a personality, a high-energy act that anybody can be a part of and really feel a part of a group.
“To Freek, music is greater than only a artistic output or a profession. For him, music gives a way of identification and group that wasn’t out there to him rising up. Music, he professes, actually saved his life, giving him a chance to journey past the UAE’s borders”
However the lyrics in hip-hop, the rawness that got here from an artist like The Infamous B.I.G., spoke to Freek differently than metallic had. “The concept of storytelling, I beloved it in hip-hop. Coming from nothing and making it, I felt like this was truly me, like they’re speaking to me.”
He knew of the underground rap scene rising up within the UAE in 2012, with emcees within the area performing in Arabic. However Freek didn’t gravitate to the standard, old-school boom-bap beats that these rappers used.
With an ear to the hip-hop scenes within the UK, New York, and Los Angeles – and with an affection for Drake – Freek got down to combine the lyrical Arabic flows and the new-school beat manufacturing collectively.
Adamantly, Freek stresses the significance of rapping in Arabic.
“Arabic rhymes and Arabic punchlines simply resonate to me,” he exclaims. “I knew there was a market, particularly since there’s an enormous hole of people that don’t actually communicate English. To them, I’m their Tupac. It felt extra highly effective for folks to narrate to me aside from attempting to make folks relate to what’s taking place in New York or LA. When somebody says one thing that’s within the lingo that I’ve lived, it simply hit me means completely different.”
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And to be clear, he has carried out this fairly efficiently. After a string of hit singles, together with his music Shwaya (“slightly bit” in English) which sees him experimenting with Afrobeats, Freek lately dropped his first album 150 with options from different emcees throughout the Center East and North Africa.
He additionally signed his first report take care of GXR Records, a newly-established joint impartial label enterprise between Dubai-based esports firm Galaxy Racer and music label EMPIRE geared toward producing and growing artists from West Asia and North Africa.
Simply this previous summer time in Washington DC, as a part of the UAE programme of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, Freek carried out in the USA for the primary time. “It felt surreal to be 18 hours away from my very own metropolis and be in DC. Each time I do not forget that day, I get excited.”
Freek is simply getting began. Already engaged on his subsequent mission, he says he’s drawing inspiration from the hip-hop scene in Sudan and needs to attempt his hand at Amapiano, the South African home style that’s lastly getting the worldwide recognition it deserves.
So long as Freek continues making music, he’s residence. The artist’s identification and group are one with the songs he creates for his listeners – and for himself, as a way of survival.
When he’s residence, no barrier can problem his simple artistic drive of power.
“In the event you’re an artist, any impediment must be a problem.”
Danny Hajjar is a media relations skilled primarily based in Washington, DC. An avid music lover, he’s captivated with hip-hop artists within the Center East and North Africa and the expansion of their music past the area. He curates music and tales in his weekly publication “Sa’alouni El Nas”.
Observe him on Twitter: @DanielGHajjar
