It was the early hours of the 14th May'14. I was checking my twitter feed and of all a sudden decided to search for "Chuck D" & to my surprise , I found a link that stated "CHUCK D in Beirut giving a talk about Hip-Hop in AUB on 15th May"
I literally jumped off my seat & without thinking started to find a ticket from Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) to Beirut (Lebanon) - I did not have enough time & at around 3AM on 15th May (Exact Day of the talk) - I Managed to book my flight & flew to Beirut to meet this legendary soul. I was very excited as one of the community leaders in Beirut (Jackson Allers) arranged a small gathering with Chuck D & some of the local Hip-Hop Artists & few journalists/media guys. The second i walked into the cafe , I could glimpse Chuck & he recognized me and we embraced & i admit I felt emotional and respected in every single way. He is a soul that is true to all the things he says on his tracks and I respect that.
We had a great discussion and talked about the importance of being collective, United & believing in your work. He spoke highly of Hip-Hop artists such as Jasiri X , Brother Ali & Immortal Technique. It was a nice chat up!
We then had one of the best walks of my life , where we walked from the Cafe to the American University Of Beirut (Where the talk was being held) and it took us around 15-20 min but we all didnt feel it as we were havin great one on one talks with this legend who was walking the streets of Beirut!
Below are some pix
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Chuck D Supporting Local Hip-Hop Crew "Fareeq Al Atrash" |
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The Walk |
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The Discussion / The Connection with a legend |
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Chuck D with community leader Jackson Allers |
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Selfie up with Mazin & Hani |
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Local Hip-Hop Artist El-Rass speaks with Chuck D |
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Big Selfie with Chuck D ! Left To Right Chyno, Mazin, Atticus & Jackson Allers |
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Chuck D's Business Card ! |
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The Walk to the lecture Hall (AUB) with Chyno & Mazin |
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A Humble Soul |
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Some Fans of the great Chuck |
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Where the talk took place |
The Talk that Chuck D had in AUB was truly inspiring , full of history facts and to the point. I loved it when he shouted me out, I loved it when he referred to himself as an EARTHIAN - A Citizen of the world & how we are all ONE BODY. His emphasis on being collective was again mentioned - "Stay The Course, Travel The Earth" Chuck D said ; We had a quick Q/A and at the end, the FULL packed lecture hall gave a huge applause to this man & his mind.
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One of the best moments in my life. Meeting, Connecting, Building & Chilling with the one & only , the legendary Chuck D |
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Thank you Beirut, Thank You AUB, Thank you world! Blessed |
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Chuck D - Photo By BIG HASS |
I also had the honor to interview Chuck & only for few minutes & thankfully I had with me Jackson Allers who took care of the footage & did a great job in capturing this historic moment.
I feel blessed and honored. Hamdulilah
You can find the FULL VIDEO Interview below:
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