Arabic hip hop? To many, it may seem like an oxymoron. Surely, they might think, it’s impossible to fuse two mutually exclusive cultures? But for brothers Salim and Abdullah Dahman, aka Illmiyah and Arableak of Desert Heat, such synergy is a fact of life. Indeed, the duo have had a string of successful singles and have now just released their debut album after a year’s hard work.
The Dubai-based brothers were inspired to turn their rap-writing hobby into a way of breaking down negative Arabic stereotypes, after the destruction of the US World Trade Center in 2001, but hit a brick wall in the form of a reticent music industry.
‘The record labels were hesitant to take us on board even just to distribute,’ Illmiyah says. ‘They didn’t know how to handle and market this thing, because so much of the infrastructure is there for pure Arabic music, not for Arabs doing English-language music. So we set off to do it ourselves, taking loans and extra jobs on the side and charging for shows instead of doing them free.’ The brothers were able to put together singles and (with a little sponsorship help from Hummer) videos, not to mention their first album, When The Desert Speaks.
Which brings us back to the initial question: how do you produce a hip hop album about Arabic culture? ‘We keep it real,’ says Illmiyah, ‘People forget that hip hop isn’t about swearing or violence, it’s just that it grew out of that environment. Where we live we don’t have that, so why should we swear to sound cool? People who know hip hop know that it’s about educating your people and getting your message across.’
For Desert Heat that message is one of truly understanding Arabic culture and history, rather than relying on the stereotypes portrayed in the media. ‘We don’t want to sound too preachy, though,’ he adds. ‘We want the listeners to be able to feel the beat and then let the lyrics come through.’
The pair have already had a great deal of success in Dubai, including playing to 25,000 people when they opened for Sean Paul in 2006, but surely if they’re going to break America and spread their message in the home of hip hop, they’re going to have to make some changes to the way they do things?
Definitely not, says Illmiyah. ‘We sometimes perform in our traditional clothes and this is how we want to portray ourselves to our biggest audiences – we’ve lost a few potential deals because of that.
‘If we did an ad for Pepsi or Coca Cola and they said, “You’re young, you’re hip, we want you to do an ad where you’re in a club,” or whatever – OK, that’s fine, we all go to clubs and everything, but you don’t need to be associated with bars or chasing a girl who’s half naked. We follow the traditional values, but we’re not 100 per cent conservative.’
Just as important to the band is ensuring that the message that made them turn from hobbyists to budding professionals is not lost along the way. We have a song called ‘Terror Alert’,’ says Illmiyah, ‘and it’s about the mind of a terrorist and everything he goes through before he decides to blow himself up. If a US distributor said that they wouldn’t want to use it in the US market then we would have lost the purpose of our band, because the whole point is to educate them about why he does what he does.’
Desert Heat are not naïve – they know that some concessions may have to be made. ‘OK,’ he says. ‘If they said they don’t want the song where we say we used to rule Spain and we should get it back because it’s sensitive and they can’t put that out then I would compromise. But not if it’s one of the major topics.’
Woah, there – getting Spain back? ‘I’m not saying we should invade,’ he clarifies, ‘but we should ask, “How did we lose something that we had for 800 years?” You have to go back and say, “Why did we lose Spain?” And look at the situation today – are we in danger of losing this place – Dubai and the Middle East – right now?
‘Should we make changes so that the Arab world doesn’t end up like another Spain? Once you lose your identity and your language and your culture, you don’t know who you are any more.’ And that is the strange tension at the heart of Desert Heat, a band that wants to save Arabic culture by appropriating US music. Where this will take them might not be entirely clear right now, but based on past performance, Desert Heat looks to have a hot future ahead.
Tracks in the sand
Which of the album’s songs are closest to Desert Heat’s heart? Illmiyah reveals all.
Song: ‘‘Did U Know?’
Why: ‘This details things that Arabs and Muslims have invented and discovered, like algebra, optics and the way blood circulates.’
Song: ‘Keep It Desert’
Why: ‘Here we say who we are and why, as Arabs, we should be proud of our place in the world.’
Song: ‘Under Her Feet’
Why: ‘This is a song dedicated to our mother, for all the sacrifices she made, and is one of our key songs. We also just wrapped up the video for the track.’
When The Desert Speaks is available in stores now. See www.desertheatarabia.com.
