USA: With the release of their new album "Free The P," Palestinian-American rappers, The Philistines, bring a face of consciousness to hip hop music

Record ID: 783983

  • Title: USA: With the release of their new album "Free The P," Palestinian-American rappers, The Philistines, bring a face of consciousness to hip hop music
  • Date: 31st July 2006
  • Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (RECENT) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) NIZAR WATTAD, MEMBER OF PALESTINIAN RAP BAND 'THE PHILISTINES', SAYING: "So I talk about being an Arab American raised with an awareness of what's going on back home, having traveled back and forth and having seen it, having done a lot of work in the refugee camps and volunteer work in the villages and things like that. That's what I talk about. I don't pretend that I am getting shot at by Israeli soldiers. As a matter of fact I will never say that in a line, you know."
  • Embargoed: 15th August 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA88WZAD7GOQISM93TBEGTJORL2
  • Story Text: With the release of their new album "Free The P," Palestinian-American rappers, The Philistines, bring a face of consciousness to hip hop music.
    Part spoken word, part hip-hop beats, the music is sincere as is the rap group, in its attempt to inspire the global struggle for peace.
    Their album "Free the P," which is "dedicated to the youth of Palestine," features duets with artists from around the world including Gaza-based rap groups and female Detroit based Israeli rapper "Invincible."
    The Philistines is made up of Palestinian-American brothers Nizar and Bader Wattad, also known as Ragtop and Bdub, and producer/emcee C.J. Pizarro, a.k.a. Cookie Jar.
    The brothers were born in Haifa, Israel, but were raised in the hills of Tennessee. Frontman Nizar Wattad says initially, they honed their rapping skills separately. He says he didn't find out until he graduated from university that his brother was rapping. They ultimately came together when they realized they had a message they needed to get out.
    "We decided to officially come together as a crew after 9/11, after what was already a proliferation of negative stereotypes of Arabs in the media started to get really extreme and we thought maybe by trying to bridge a gap, do something that Americans could relate to, that we as Americans love but also bring our own perspective to it, that we might be able to counterbalance some of that," said Nizar.
    Since then the Los Angeles-based group has been churning out spitfire rhymes. Most of the songs are in English, but there are a few in Arabic.
    Nizar says the songs are influenced by Palestinian tradition. However, according to him, the songs are universal in their reach because the common theme of all his songs is humanity.
    "The basic idea that, and its such an easy concept but people don't get it, that human beings are human beings. It doesn't matter where they're from or where they grew up. And we have shared experiences. I think you can hear that in the music."
    While he has never lived in the homeland he sings about, Nizar spent time working with youths in Gaza. He says he draws on that experience and those of his friends and family in his music.
    "So I talk about being an Arab American raised with an awareness of what's going on back home, having traveled back and forth and having seen it, having done a lot of work in the refugee camps and volunteer work in the villages and things like that. That's what I talk about. I don't pretend that I am getting shot at by Israeli soldiers. As a matter of fact I will never say that in a line, you know," he said.
    Following last month's release of their debut album, the group will also be coming to the big screen. They're featured in a documentary entitled "Slingshot Hip Hop, for which the band are busy raising funds.
    Part of their efforts include collaborative performances with a slew of other Arab rappers like Syrian-American Omar Offendi of the N.O.M.A.D.S. and Canadian-Iraqi group Euphrates.
    As for taking their act mainstream, Wattad says the group is happily taking hip hop to the next level, making music with a message of tolerance.
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