Egypt: Rapping the Revolution

Mideast Tunes brings us a group of Egyptian rappers which under the name Arabian Knightz wish to spread their perspective on the recent events shaking their country. From the site:

In the midst of Revolution, Egyptian rap group, Arabian Knightz, releases the first song to come out of Egypt since the revolution and complete internet/communications blackout. The song titled, “Rebel”, is produced by, Iron Curtain, and features a sample of Lauryn Hill on the hook. “Rebel” was recorded right in the middle of the Revolution and subsequently is being released on the first day of restored internet services

image from http://mideastunes.com/arabianknightz/

Thumbs up for Mideast Tunes website for  featuring Middle Eastern musicians who wish to incite social change. Particularly now that social change is taking place throughout the region. Just last month, right before the Tunisia revolt which managed to remove the President, a musician known as The General was arrested. The motive?  His song President, Your People Are Dying.

You can listen to Rebel, by the Arabian Knightz through the player displayed at the end of this post. According to their page, the song is free to download, stream, play and distribute; it is available on the Mideast Tunes page.

6 comments

  • Thanks Juliana! I didn’t know about these Knightz!

    Here’s a quick/rough translation of the Arabic lyrics:

    مصر تثور على طيور الظلام
    Egypt is revolting against the shadows of darkness

    الشعب يريد إسقاط النظام
    The people want the regime down

    قتلونا، ذبحونا، سجنونا، عذبونا، نهبونا، خوفونا، أرهبونا ، وتجاهلونا
    They killed us, slaughtered us, put us behind bars, tortured us, robbed us, scared us, terrorized us and ignored us

    الشعب المصري لن يموت
    The Egyptian people won’t die

    إرادة الشعب يجب أن تسود
    The people’s will will conquer

    بلادي بلادك
    My country is your country

    أموالي أموالك
    My money is your money

    يجب إلغاء إستعبادي وإستعبادك
    Enslaving us must end

    آلامي وآلامك إحنا اللي نداويها
    We heal our pains

    أحلامنا سلمية، ولازم نصرخ بيها
    Our dreams are peaceful and we should call for them out loud

    بروح عبد الناصر والناصر صلاح الدين
    طالبين الحرية كتف الكتف موحدين
    We call for freedom united with the spirit of Abelnasser and Salaheldine

    مصريين ثائرين، ثابتين على اليقين
    We’re revolting Egyptian, and we’re sure of it

    مقيّدين عن التعبير، مجندين، مدرعين
    Restrained from expressing our feelings, we’re soldiers

    إزاي في يوم يا مصري تقف سد لأخوك المصري
    على حقوقك وحقوقك، دي مصرك ومصري
    How could you oh Egyptian stand as a barrier between your Egyptian brother
    and your rights and his? This is your Egypt and his!

  • Thanks so much for translating, I was wondering about the lyrics.

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  • […] Global Voices: “Mideast Tunes brings us a group of Egyptian rappers which under the name Arabian Knightz wish to spread their perspective on the recent events shaking their country. From the site: In the midst of Revolution, Egyptian rap group, Arabian Knightz, released the first song to come out of Egypt since the revolution and complete internet/communications blackout. The song titled, “Rebel”, is produced by, Iron Curtain, and features a sample of Lauryn Hill on the hook. “Rebel” was recorded right in the middle of the Revolution and was subsequently being released on the first day of restored internet services […]

  • What an awesome track! Thanks for sharing this and great work to the Knightz :D

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