Saudi Music Hip-Hop Radio Host and Blogger, Hassane Dennaoui (a.k.a. Big Hass) has taken on the role of executive producer in 2020, connecting artists.
From cyphers to singles, Big Hass wants to put forward talented independent artists while highlighting Arab roots, diversity, unity and third culture.
On the 4th November, 2025, Big Hass released his latest record featuring Sudanese Artist/Rapper Kordofani and produced by Dice beats. After a break of 1 year+ , Big Hass is BACK with another release! This one features Kordofani, A Sudanese Artist/Rapper who is visually Impaired and has a lot of heart/Soul. His raps are RAW. He gained attractions on platforms like IG & TikTok with people falling in love with his bars!
Big Hass found Kordofani online early 2025! He resonated with him and was waiting for the right time to connect/challenge him, “I always love to challenge the rappers, especially the ones that love the craft of rapping!!, When i first saw him, something in me sparked and I was inspired to executive producer again!, I put a call on IG asking for producers to send me BEATS, and DICE hit me back and we connected, and the rest is history” Hass says. “Farq Shas3” which somehow translates to “Big difference/gap” is a 90 second rap about Kordofani and his condition.
His passion is transparent and his lyrics hit home! “I don't believe I shed light on Kordofani, because he has his OWN light, light is within him, I feel proud/honored to have released this record with him and I wish him the best moving forward” Hass says
I felt eager and excited to share the story I had written for Rolling Stone on Moroccan superstar DYSTINCT after it published in February'24. With the link at hand and copied, I texted just about every person I knew who listened to Arabic music and would appreciate learning more about one of the biggest pop artists in North Africa. DYSTINCT, with over 9 million monthly listeners on Spotify and garnering over 500 million views on YouTube, maintains a strong fanbase in Europe not just with Moroccans and Arabs, but with non-Arabs alike. Yet here in the United States, from where I am currently writing, most Arab diaspora with whom I spoke either had never heard of him or maybe knew one song vaguely. This struck me as odd. An artist with that many streams and views and who has performed globally in front of large audiences was barely known among Arabs in the US.
I started digging more into other artists similar to DYSTINCT in terms of name recognition and large fanbases—such as rapper ElGrandeToto, pop stars Zouhair Bahaoui and Manal, or even Wegz—and realized more and more that Arab Americans were generally behind on the scenes happening in the Middle East and North Africa or even other diaspora communities outside of the US.
Yet the artists that they did know—Palestinian singer Elyanna, Egyptian artist Bayou, and Palestinian star Saint Levant, to name a few—were cited to me anecdotally as the biggest artists in the emerging wave of Arabic music.
Almost every week there is a new story about Elyanna becoming the new “global face” of Arabic pop music, or how Saint Levant ingeniously mixes Arabic, French, and English in his music. The almighty algorithm, tailored to benefit these kinds of artists, provides an added boost on social media and streaming platforms, as these artists have continued to be marketed heavily in the faces of users and listeners.
And while these artists have certainly tapped into the zeitgeist of Arab America, I can’t help but notice and feel that their overpromotion and overexposure is coming at the detriment of artists in other diaspora communities and, more crucially, artists actually living in the Middle East and North Africa.
Frankly, the US-based Arab artists do not even have the numbers to back up the claims, the hype, and the coverage that they receive—and some of their music does not feel nearly as inspired or creative as artists who should also be recognized for their music.
The Arab diaspora in the US tends to be loud, dominating conversations and spaces with their own opinions and projections of their feelings. I am not here to debate the validity of these feelings, as I am someone who also empathizes as an Arab American. However, from my vantage point as a music writer covering the emerging Arabic music scene, what is happening is that Arab American listeners are settling for Western-sounding songs with Arabic lyrics—or even stereotypical and self-orientalizing music like the Mohammed Ramadan, Massari, and Future collaboration “Arabi”.
And the success among US diaspora by artists like Elyanna, who herself is backed with all of the financial resources of a major label, has created a diverging listening experience and reality between Arabs living in the US and Arabs living in the Middle East and North Africa. Of the people I’ve spoken with who live in the region, Elyanna does not have the same hold as she does in the US. Same with Bayou, Saint Levant, and other US-based Arab artists. Yet they continue to loom so large over the entire emerging Arabic scene, marketed as the faces of this new wave despite not having that impact in the actual region from which they draw their identities, their music, and their language.
I say all of this not to knock these artists or their musical outputs, but to question why coverage and attention has focused so squarely on them when there are artists who are pushing boundaries creatively in Arabic music but don’t receive the same attention.
Artists like Dana Hourani, the Lebanese indie singer who has completely reimagined what acoustic and experimental pop can sound like. Artists likeStormy, the Moroccan rapper who seamlessly traverses genres and put out what I would consider my album of the year with ICEBERG.
There is too much at stake for us to settle. And Arab artists outside of the US cannot continue to live in the shadows of diaspora music that frankly feels unimaginative at times. There needs to be greater recognition, respect, and attention paid to artists in the Middle East and North Africa.
Arab diaspora in the US have to recognize that Arabic music goes far beyond Elyanna and Saint Levant. There needs to be more homage paid to the OGs who laid the foundation for this scene to thrive—artists like Narcy, Omar Offendum, Flippter, Don Bigg, Shadia Mansour, and so many others. And we, as journalists, have an obligation to be better about capturing the breadth and depth of our creative scene.
"I've had a great career as a producer, but one of the main reasons I changed my name from Da MoJaNaD to Ayham is because when you ask people about the "Production" they know its Da MoJaNaD, and I wantedthe people to know that I also sing, I am an artist and hence why the name change " Ayham on the Buckle Up with Big Hass show talking about his decision to change his name.
The Artist/Producer, wants people to get acquainted with "Ayham" as he is trying to push more arabic into his style, not only in production, but also in the way he sings. He is gearing up to drop his album and he has so far released ONE song from this album and it featured Syrian Rapper "MOUDYALARBE" titled "Ma Malet" - The Album is set to have 6 Tracks & is currently being released as singles..(The name of the album is yet to be announced..) but Ayham is building his artist character with every single that drops! And he is very passionate about using Arabic Instruments in his music, "..rather than getting a Kick/Snare, I'd rather get a "Derbake", My vision is to highlight Arabic music more & also I always say "Speak your emotions..!"
Ayham wants to do what Da MoJaNaD couldn't do/did not do and it feels its the birth of a new artist! Da MoJaNaD has worked with so many artists/rappers, one of the highlights of Da MoJaNaD career was working with Palestinian Artist Big Sam on the album "KAZAB" which dropped back in 2020!
Moreover, Ayham is expressing himself in a different way now and with the support and management of SHBB Collective , he feels he has found himself again and is super excited for what's to come!
When asked about his dreams, Ayham replied back saying .. "I just want my friends, SHBB Collective to be proud of what I am doing.."
On the 5th December’22, Big Hass released Sudan Cypher Part 2 , featuring 10 Rappers from Sudan , AidyProof, Tageel, Zeyo Mann, Mustafa Idris, Awab, Veto, Rana, Side Effect, T.A and Eaz Da Bully.
Beat was produced by Sudanese Producer Mshakil Hass pays homage to Sudan Music community one more time, after the incredible success of Sudan Cypher, he releases part ii, spotlighting more rappers from Sudan and this time its rappers that are on the come-up.
The track produced by Sudnaese hero producer Mshakil showcases the diversity of Sudanese rap community and proves one more time that Sudan Rap is something to a force in the elevation of Arabic Rap in the region. “It's the hunger, the penship that actually separates Sudan rap from any other rap in our region, the Sudanese community will back up their artists with all their power and love and that is the sense of community that we need, i hope we all learn and get inspired from Sudan.
Sudan this is for YOU” Hass staes Music Video was put together and shot in different parts of the world for this record and can be seen below.
On the 12th May, 2022, Big Hass announced the release of his new release “Iraq Cypher” which combines Nine Iraqi Rappers.
Beat was produced by Iraqi Producer USFOXXX
The record has been a dream for Big Hass who ever since he started blogging wanted to do something for Iraq; but the opportunity didn’t present itself till now. A Cypher is a collective that gathers three rappers or more in a synergy.
Big Hass has executive produced a couple of incredible cyphers before, one of them being Sudan Cypher which highlighted the talent in Sudan. This release is no different, Nine rappers from Iraq, One Beat from USFOXX go hard in flow and lyrics to showcase the diversity of Iraq Rap and highlight the Iraqi Rappers.
The Iraq Cypher showcases diversity, incredible flow and spotlights Iraq in the Arabic Rap Game! Rappers involved are: Kira The Blurryface, Armando, Odd Khalid, DISSER, KC Hamada, AlRong, Genesis, Nayomi, EL SEEN
Video was shot in various places around the world and where the rappers are based, between Iraq, Turkey, Switzerland.
Final Video Edit was done by Raed Al-Murish Listen Here: For more news,
email Big Hass @ BigHassTheLabel@Gmail.com Release Date: 12th May, 2022
Past couple years witnessed the come-up and the success of few Egyptian Hip-Hop Producers that really elevated the scene and made a huge impact of where the Arabic/Egyptian Rap is at now.
Below is a list I will keep updating for you to get familiar with some of the producers. The attention is always on the rappers but producers play a big role in shaping the culture.
Fyi, this list will keep updating + I would love to see Egyptian Female producers rock it as well.
It didn't take a lot for me to be captivated by Ghada's voice, I stumbled on her voice back in 2019 and I loved the emotions she brings out in her voice. I would say I am really looking forward to see her perform LIVE one day. Her voice and her vibe are so captivating that I was automatically drawn to her art and regarded her craft with so much respect.
Had a quick Q/A with her for re-volt, check it out below and go show love:-
RE-VOLT: When we go through your Soundcloud page, we see that you started dropping music on the internet around 6 years ago. It started out with covers. What was the spark that led you to pursue and get into singing at the first place? Tell me your story.
Ghada: I started posting online covers 9 years ago actually, and I started with an anonymous identity and didn’t expect people to actually like them, but my online friends and followers were extremely supportive that it actually shocked me and motivated me to be more active and do the covers they like.
My story with music and singing started when I was very young, around the age of 7. I had this passion for music that I didn’t fully understand, It began with just me being interested in sounds around me, arts, music that I hear on the radio, tv talent shows, and throughout my childhood I would just find myself randomly memorizing songs and lyrics and sometimes writing my own lyrics to just have fun with them.
Then I was finally introduced to music that I was not familiar with which I liked instantly. I fell in love with these new sounds and language which I didn’t speak but learned mainly through music.. I started practicing what I would listen to and memorizing the lyrics the way they are without any understanding of meanings but as time went by and I practiced more I managed to start composing my own songs and dig deep into the music world and here we are now!
RE-VOLT: You have a beautiful voice, a beautiful way of writing. You write mostly in English, but Ive seen some clips in Arabic. Tell me your songwriting process, what inspires you. What do you write about?
Ghada:Yes, I do write mostly in English and in the last couple of years I became more into Arabic songwriting. My songwriting process and my inspiration all begin with my feelings. I’m generally a very emotional person, I find myself feeling things very deeply and getting into very detailed descriptions of how I feel which reflects on my lyrics and my music. So I mainly depend on my emotions when I write and it actually comes naturally, I try to describe the way I feel through my lyrics and melodies and I rarely plan to write a song. Its always a rush of emotions and ideas then me running to the piano before it goes away.
RE-VOLT: As a singer/songwriter in Saudi. What was some of the challenges you had to go through/still going though, and how do you see the evolution of the country when it comes to supporting/being more open for art/music now-a-days?
Ghada: I am honestly very lucky to have witnessed this huge shift in the music scene and arts generally. I have faced difficulties in the beginnings of my journey in terms of society’s acceptance, lack of music opportunities and events, and even when I started sharing my plan to pursue music my family weren’t very encouraging at first but then eventually as time went by and they saw how passionate I was and how determined I was, naturally they became the biggest supporters in my life and ever since then they have been the ones encouraging me whenever I’m fearful or in doubt of any project or idea.
RE-VOLT: Who are some of the artists you vibe with in Saudi Arabia? / The Arab Region?
Ghada:There are so many great artists in the region and Saudi Arabia specifically. But first Artist that comes to my mind, is Abdulamlik Zubailah I have worked with him closely in different projects like Skeleton Crowds, Statues of Sinking Men, Shaghal and he’s one of those artists who always inspire me to create just by seeing his determination and work flow. In fact, he was the one who actually motivated me to perform live for the first time as a guest performer on one of his albums’ launch event.
Ghada // Pic by @fawazwb
RE-VOLT: Tell us about your original work, "if i let you in" is one of my fav records. What's the main challenge in releasing your original work?
Ghada:If I let you in was a very experimental track compared to what I usually do, I did It for fun and to dive into a different type of music that I usually would like to listen to only but not usually create. There weren’t many challenges with this track in terms of technicality and release as much as it was just something new that I was hesitant to release but ended up liking the responses and how fun the process of creating was to me.
RE-VOLT: How many instruments do you play?
Ghada: I only play piano but would love to learn other instruments one day like the guitar and drums!
RE-VOLT: What does the family think about your art?
Ghada: My family are very supportive of my music, they’ve witnessed my growth and have been there in every stage. And they’re always the ones lifting me up.
RE-VOLT: From what Ive seen online, you are an incredible live performer, what does live performance mean to you? and what is your fav two songs to sing live on stage?
Ghada: Performing live is the part that I love the most in music. brining my songs to life and playing them to the audience has a different kind of satisfaction and joy and definitely the best part of being a singer.
Recently my favourite songs to perform would be an Arabic song called Nesmat 9aif (نسمه صيف) , that I performed twice this month and the audience’s reaction has completely blown my mind. The other song would be Oh God, a somewhat spiritual song and a very personal song to me that helps me through some bad times.
RE-VOLT: What can we expect from Ghada for the remainder of 2021? What are your dreams?
Ghada:I’m working on an Arabic EP consisting of 4 to 5 songs that hopefully would be released in 2021 and definitely more live performances to come!
My dreams are countless, but my biggest goal this year is to connect more to my music, feel it, enjoy the process and definitely deliver music that resonates with people.
RE-VOLT: If you had the chance to open for any artist in the world / Dead or Alive. Who would it be and why?
Ghada: Im a huge fan of Imagine Dragons and have been following their music for years. So opening for them would for sure be a dream come true.
RE-VOLT: If you could sum up your journey so far in one word. What would it be?
Ghada:Extraordinary
RE-VOLT: and lastly, tell us something not a lot of people know about Ghada.
Ghada:I always forget my own lyrics during performances.
Little G Fresh is one of the most passionate souls out there. Artistically, she's hungry. She's always striving; there's a certain "assurance" in her tone of voice that makes me proud of her because I've seen Little G get to work.
She JUST DROPPED HER DEBUT ALBUM entitled "Bottled Emotions" that you can stream on the platforms.
Below is a quick Q/A I did with Little G Fresh, Go Show Love and Show Support.
Re-Volt: - Take us through how you feeling right now as you about to drop your debut album and why Bottled Emotions?
Little G Fresh: I am feeling super excited to finally drop my album, Bottled Emotions. I created this album on my own as an independent artist. I took on many hats during this process because not only was I the artist but I was also behind all the production work. I produced all the beats from scratch and also mixed and mastered each and every song. It took a lot of time, hard work, and a lot of sleepless nights.
why Bottled Emotions? The album contains a variety of sounds, and I see my music as a diary. There are songs on the album that are happy and songs that are sad. There are songs that are made for fun and songs that get really deep. Most of the time, I create music based on my mood. The album represents the bottle, and the individual songs inside the album are the emotions. Therefore I named it Bottled Emotions.
Re-Volt: - You've been real consistent with music and dropping singles, collaborations, always hungry. Where does the hunger come from?
Little G Fresh: Hip-hop was a part of my childhood. It was always in my vicinity. My parents would always play rap music in the car, and my brothers would freestyle with me for fun. I began recording my own music when I was 11 years old, and I was instantly fascinated with the process. That's how I learned to utilize recording softwares on my own, and I've never looked back.
As a kid, I never thought of music as a hobby because I've always had high goals and felt I could make it into something enormous. I remained constant with it, and my passion for it grew. My 11-year-old self was the source of my hunger. I would feel the same way if only one person in the world listened to my music. I do it because it makes me happy.
Re-Volt: Out of the 12 songs in the album, which one was the hardest to finalize? and which one is your favorite?
Little G Fresh: I would have to say the hardest song to finalize was “One Shot” which is the last track on the album. I say this because this song wasn’t my style of music. But I wanted to be different and try new things, so I decided to make an EDM beat and mixed it with Hip-Hop drums. Overall, I love how the song turned out. It’s the perfect outro song for the album, and it gets me in an energetic mood. It’s very hard to pick a favorite song because each song has its own uniqueness to it. But at the moment, I always find myself listening to track #4, which is “Jealousy” The instrumental contains this really soothing harp melody, and the chorus is meaningful but so catchy. It is probably one of my deepest songs on the album.
Re-Volt: You had two features on the album, Jara and Young Cap, how did those collabos happen?
Little G Fresh: It was a must for me to add my Arabic culture to the album. I planned to make an Arabic X English collab. Jara is a very talented Femcee based in Saudi Arabia and we collaborated on other projects in the past. I knew it would've been perfect to get her on this specific song. One day we were both talking about the future projects we were working on, and I brought up the idea of an Arabic collab to her, and she was all for it. I sent her the beat, and she did her thing.
The collab with Young Cap happened really fast. He is a local artist here in Cleveland, Ohio. We've always wanted to do a collab but never got to it (until the album). I pitched the song to him, and he loved it, then sent in his verse really quickly.
Re-Volt: During the process of finalizing the album, what was the most challenging aspect you had to deal with?
Little G Fresh: I had a lot of responsibilities to tackle because I was creating this album on my own. The engineering side of this album proved to be the most difficult. It's a tedious process, and transforming a dry mix into a professional-sounding song can be difficult. I can't tell you how many times I've exported a song and then gone back to tweak the mix several times.
Re-Volt:What do you tell femcees that are not sure to take a step and get into the rap game, because its male dominated?
Little G Fresh: I have been seeing a lot of Femcees more recently, which is amazing!! For those who are still hesitant to enter the rap game because it is male-dominated or because they are afraid, to that I say, be YOU. The rap game isn't a competition, at least not in my opinion. It is not male vs female. Music is art, and if you have the passion for it, you must go for it. Every achievement starts with a decision to attempt, and the real risk is doing nothing.
Re-Volt: Who are your fav Femcees from the region?
Little G Fresh: Rann, Jara, Felukah & Amy Roko
Re-Volt: And Lastly, if you had the opportunity to submit this album to one BIG artist, who would it be and why?
Little G Fresh: It would be an honor to send Eminem my album. His song "Without Me" was the first rap song I had ever heard. He had a significant influence on me as I grew up. As a kid, I used to freestyle to his instrumentals and remixed his songs. He plays a big role on why I started rapping. He has a talent for narrating stories and putting bizarre lyrics together in a way that makes sense.
In an attempt to bridge the Gulf with North Africa, Ive collaborated with my brother "Kwifya" who holds it down in North Africa to start a series of songs featuring rappers from the GCC alongside rappers from North Africa.
I pick the artists in GCC, he picks the artists from North Africa and we go for it.
Very proud of this - check out he video below.
Record produced by the incredible, Big Moe and I had to get Dj Lethal Skillz to scratch.
Big Record from ElGrandeToto called "Mghayer" - Check out the video below.
When first released, it reached the #4 Most Trending Video Globally, which was massive but its also an indication of how powerful this artist is and how Morocco Specifically and North Africa generally is impacting on a global level.
Re-Volt: what is good company? How many members are you? & how did you all get together to launch this ?
Good Company: we are an independent group that makes original music for the sake of making music, we are three guys who go by Talal, Mohammad and Khaled.
we we're all friends before we started this and before good company we started this idea of collaborating with other musicians in the local scene , and Mohammed started this soundcloud page called AUX which is based on tracks from various amount of musicians collaborating together, after that all three of us gained this humble work ethic experience separately and brought it to the group with weird experimental ideas coming from 3 different backgrounds embraced with acceptance and the genuine share of loving music.
Re-Volt: Your first EP “Good Company” , how was it received by the public?
Good Company: we were genuinely surprised, we started this with the idea that we we're making weird music that we personally liked and nobody would care for, but it was the complete opposite we were so overwhelmed by the love and support from the people, and that encouraged us to share more and give back .
Re-Volt: Being in Saudi Arabia and doing the kinda music you doing, what’s the Advantages and disadvantage of that?
Good Company: the big advantage is that everything is raw and the community is kinda Small you'll notice that in a while which is very cool , the disadvantage is mainly the resources available to you as as music lover very limiting stores and material, specially maintenance shops
Re-Volt: You’ve just released your second EP, what’s one major change from this one and the first one?
Good Company: the one major change in this EP from the first one is having a concept , the first EP was more random , more raw and genuine , while the aliens are coming is more well though of during its process but making sure every song still has its theme behind it .
Re-Volt: Love the names you collaborating with, tell us about your collaborations you guys have on both EPs?
Good Company: Over all each person we collaborated with had a really interesting point of view about music and how to approach it which was cool to see and share , sometimes learn from, shout out to all the people that gave us alot of their time beast amr عمر , ntitled , kali-b , koosh كوووش, lanky صالح , oyaji big daddy محسن , bayan for making the amazing artwork much love
Re-Volt: What are your dreams?
Good Company : We just hope we can keep on playing and making music , also the idea of future collaborations and what the future holds for us is very interesting but for now we're just gonna trust the process keep doing what we love.
Re-Volt: What are your thoughts on the evolution of saudi as an art /creative/music scene?
Good Company: its definitely one of its kind and very much growing, specially the last two years but its still in its Early stages and very new to the culture but the future is looking very C major (bright) lol
re-volt: How did Hip-Hop get into your life. Did you find it or IT found YOU?
A.Rob: I grew up in a really diverse city (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA) and Hip-Hop was really popular in my area. It was a staple in my town and my friends group. So I guess it found me, and thank God it did.
re-volt: Tell us about your name A.Rob?
A.Rob: I made up my rap name, A.Rob at thirteen years old, and it stands for “Always Remember Our Blessings”. I think no matter what troubles someone may face, we’re all blessed and need to count our blessings more often.
re-volt: What are some of the challenges that you face being that you rep Palestine but rap mainly in English?
A.Rob: It’s tough for Palestinians or any middle eastern people who don’t speak English. I run into a language barrier sometimes. On the other hand, one of my main goals is to make Americans understand the Palestinian story, so I’m glad I can represent my homeland and heritage in front of English speakers.
re-volt: Tell us about your latest album "42"? what inspired that?
A.Rob: Last year I did a project called “21” with 21 musicians mainly from USA. This year I challenged myself to double that number and expand internationally. It really started with the Big Hass “Lofi beats by Arab producers” video. It inspired me to connect with all these Arab producers and showcase middle eastern Hip Hop, along with musicians from all over the planet on one cohesive album.
re-volt: 2020 been busy for you, mashalla you released few singles and two albums with "42" and "Abstract Blessings" which btw i gotta tell you "Born For This" is an incredible track.. do you realize you dropping lots of music or do you think people actually will take time to dissect these songs on the album?
A.Rob: Thank you! I love that song. I definitely realize that I drop a lot of content but I don’t think it’s a bad thing for a independent artist. I record, mix and master all my own music which makes it easier to get material out fast. I think and hope that if I present it the right way and give it time, people will eventually dissect all of the songs.
re-volt: Do you follow the Arab Rap Movement? If so, who do you like listening to? and will we see you feature Arabic rap in your next releases?
A.Rob: I’m surprisingly pretty new to the Arab rap movement overall. Recently, thanks to you Hass, I’ve connected with some amazing Arab producers like Saüd, Sandhill, Big Moe, Wa3ak, B-Element and more. As far as Arab rappers I definitely look forward to finding artists I never heard about, I’d love some suggestions! Incorporating Arabic rap into my music would be amazing, it’s something I definitely want to do.
re-volt: Who are some of the MC's that inspire/Inspired you to pursue rap?
A.Rob: Lupe Fiasco was my idol growing up. His lyricism, intelligence, and the fact he spoke about Islam and Palestine really resonated with me. Eminem really helped me figure out rhyme schemes and technical skills, he’s one of my favorites. More recently, Chance the Rapper and Kendrick Lamar have been my biggest inspirations.
re-volt: What does the family think about you doing hip-hop? and are you able to live off doing only music or you have other sources of income?
A.Rob: Over the years my family has become more accepting of music as my career choice. As most families, they just want me to find success and be financially comfortable. It took a while but I’m finally able to live off of only music by recording and engineering songs for other musicians.
re-volt: You've been at it really, i mean if we go to your soundcloud, we see that you dropped an EP 8 years ago "WORD" - throughout all these years, what kept you motivated to continue?
A.Rob: Man, you really did some digging, thank you for that! One of the biggest motivations to keep making music comes from the people I lost along the way. In 2013, my best friend and fellow MC, Skyler Stewart lost his life. The very next year another great friend and producer, Zach Moore passed away. I promised their families I would keep them living through the music and made it my life’s mission to follow up on my word.
re-volt: You mad lyrical. What pushed you in that direction given that most of the hip-hop we hear now is about fun/party music, where do you stand in the debate of "Real vs Not Real Hip-Hop", whats real to A.Rob?
A.Rob: Lyrical rap just resonates with me more. I feel like it has longevity and is true to the art, unlike a lot of non-lyrical rap that is short lived and disappears in a year or less. For me, “real” Hip-Hop is powerful, emotional, vulnerable, intricate and definitely lyrical. At the same time I like to have fun and keep a balance of all types of songs, not everything needs to be a heartfelt message.
re-volt: Going back to 42 , what are some of the tracks people been vibin? And how challenging it was to get 42 musicians in one album?
A.Rob: People really been vibing with “42” so far. A lot of people like “Snapchat” which is a fun party song (I do those sometimes). “How Many” with Sandhill, Mike Nappi and Shefali has really been resonating with people. So has “Long Way To Go” with Saüd and Waheeb Nasan. There’s something on there for everyone so I’ve been getting a lot of different favorites from different people. Thanks to social media it was easier than you may think to get 42 musicians on one album but it definitely took time, persistence, organization and of course a little money.
re-volt: what’s coming up in the next few months?
A.Rob: More music videos! I’ll be working on visual art for the “42” album in the next coming months, including a video for “Long Way to Go”. I can’t wait to share them with you and the rest of the world.
re-volt: what scares you?
A.Rob: What scares me is looking back on my life years from now and regretting what I did, or didn’t do. I believe in trying your hardest to do what makes you happy every day, because no one wants to look back with that “should have could have” mindset.
re-volt: what’s your dreams?
A.Rob: My dream is to have my music help people all around the world believe in themselves, get through tough times in life and connect with each other while helping spread the Palestinian story.
re-volt: Tell re-volt something not a lot of people know about you (could be any fact you wana share).
A.Rob: Not a lot of people know I have a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing. Music has always been my career choice and path, but I think even as an artist education is really important. Never stop learning and growing!
Any Last Words to re-volt:
A.Rob: Thank you so much Hass! Taking the time to ask these questions, talk to me about music and support my art means so much to me. I'm forever grateful and inspired by what you do and will always appreciate the platform you've laid out for musicians like myself. Much love.
After making waves in the Middle East and the UK, through his songs “Wala Kilma” and “Wala Kilma Remix ft. Eyez & Young Tribez”, along with hit tracks “Mush Fathi”, and “Shwaya”; Freek is currently ready to release his debut album “150”.
Freek is a Somali Hip-Hop Artist, born and raised in the United Arab Emirates. He is considered a pioneer of the Arabic Drill sound and easily paved the way to inspire young artists to rap in Arabic.
After touring the UK in December 2019, Freek was inspired to write this album, which reflects the current state of fame. The album name “150” represents the fast highway speed limit and was used as an example of his music career for the past 2 years. Album is set to be released first week of January 2021
The album consists of 9 tracks, and will feature Middle East and UK producers as well as major artists. Album cover artwork was designed by the legend CREATIONS OF LA (www.creationsofla.com); his work is associated to ARIANA GRANDE, BIG SEAN, STORMZY, AMANDA STEELE, and IDRIS ELBA.
An upcoming video of the song “KHALI WALI” from the album will be out on the 15th of October 2020.
Included in the video none other than one-half of D Block Europe (Currently one of the UK biggest artists), dirtbike_lb
“KHALI WALI” was produced by JB MADE IT (Who worked with DRAKE, FRENCH MONTANA, and Fivio Foreign).
Freek’s wardrobe was provided by the world class brand Qasimi (www.qasimi.com).
I have so much respect and love for all the members of The Cirxle, they are just doing it right in my opinion. They have just released "Almost Home" that features Eaz Da Bully, AidyProof and Aka Keyz and in my humble opinion, this song is already a classic. I love it. Each of these MC's hit different. I connected with every bar really, related to the lyrics in my own way. Big Love to the Circle!!
Eaz Da Bully, AKA Keyz, AidyProof
Ive asked each MC to send me a quote about the song and they humbly accepted my request exclusively for re-volt:-
"Almost Home to me reflects on my level of comfort. Home is a safe place where I’m most comfortable at. I’m trying to reach that same level of comfort mentally, spiritually as well as financially and I feel like I’m almost there. In my verse I touch on the times where “home” seemed like a thousand miles away." Eaz Da Bully
“Almost Home represents a mix of being almost home by being able to leave home. Basically our environments can be harsh and detrimental to our growth and sometimes leaving is the best way to find your way. I was expressing my desire to get rich not for self but to move my friends and people away from situations that are unfavorable. It’s a feeling that grips me from my hood in New YORK to my hood in Bahry (Sudan ). “- Aidyproof
"In the hook & my verse for Almost Home, the intention was to capture the difficulties of succeeding while being in or from Sudan & also to voice the irony in how people back home want to leave Sudan, whereas Sudani's across the world have a deep yearning to go back home & help out with development. The closer we get to our long term goals, the closer we are to going back home." AKA Keyz
Stream the song on ALL Streaming Platforms right here:-
The Circle is a group that consists of five artists. Follow them and show support
Big Hass drops his seconds single as he brings together Sudanese MC's TooDope and T.A on a track entitled "RASSA". Produced by Sudanese Producer MoSauce, the track is the FIRST collaboration between these two rapper who were able to build an incredible fan base individually, the collaboration started out with a text message from myself to both rappers, after back-and-forth, the rappers decided to go with fusing two beats and i believe they went in-hard!!
"Super proud of this, the guys came in and hey were very excited to work on this and I believe they delivered and this will go down in history as he firs collabo between these two incredible artists, wish them all the best and Its an honor to have worked with this line-up" Big Hass
"this specific song has been a long-time coming, because its my first collaboration i make with You, first collabo with T.A and first collabo with MoSauce, I love the fact that I got all of you guys on one song, very highlight anticipated song and both of my and T.A's fans have been asking for it, super excited for the song" TooDope
"Me and TooDope met 2018 November and caught the vibe since then we wanted to work together we just never perfect timed it but thanks to big hass he drove us to this collab a month later and with the amazing Mo Sauce on the beat we came out with a BANGER big shout out to the team work." T.A told re-volt
Single Artwork was designed by Egyptian illustrator Nora Zeid who has worked with me before on Sudan Cypher, Lofi-Beats by Arab Producers and is one of the most professional artists we have in the region
Check out the song on ALL-Digital Streaming Services here:-
Music Video is now being shot in Sudan!!
Most probably would be out in couple of weeks from today
