booomer
2/16/2011, 01:31 PM
Songs of the Revolution: A Bahrain Website Mixes Music and Activism
By ARYN BAKER Aryn Baker – Wed Feb 16, 1:30 am ET
You might want to start brushing up on your Iranian rap. Or Palestinian trance. Jordanian Punk will be important too. And don't forget Bahraini R&B. This is the music of the new revolution sweeping the Middle East. In Tahrir Square Egyptians rocked to a catchy number by rocker Mohammad Munir, who asked, "How can I love you Egypt (http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/08599204940600#) if you don't give that love back?" If you want to know what the anthem of change in Yemen will be, check out mideastunes.com (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/time/wl_time/storytext/08599204940600/40216271/SIG=10p2f1kae/*http://mideastunes.com/), where the region's revolutionary playlist is ready for download. This is no sugarcoated pop site. The music is about social change, human rights and freedom of expression, and it's manned (rather, womanned) by Esra'a Al Shafei, 24, a Bahraini activist whose social consciousness was raised not by western rock, but by the passioned rhymes of Kurdish Hip-Hop. "My inspiration comes from music," says Shafei, who cut her activist teeth campaigning for the rights of Kurds at the age of 18. "Sure, people like Gandhi give me hope, but what makes me want to go out and make change is people's stories, and that comes through their music."
more.... (http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/08599204940600)
http://mideastunes.com/
I've found the bios and the music here to be very interesting.
By ARYN BAKER Aryn Baker – Wed Feb 16, 1:30 am ET
You might want to start brushing up on your Iranian rap. Or Palestinian trance. Jordanian Punk will be important too. And don't forget Bahraini R&B. This is the music of the new revolution sweeping the Middle East. In Tahrir Square Egyptians rocked to a catchy number by rocker Mohammad Munir, who asked, "How can I love you Egypt (http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/08599204940600#) if you don't give that love back?" If you want to know what the anthem of change in Yemen will be, check out mideastunes.com (http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/time/wl_time/storytext/08599204940600/40216271/SIG=10p2f1kae/*http://mideastunes.com/), where the region's revolutionary playlist is ready for download. This is no sugarcoated pop site. The music is about social change, human rights and freedom of expression, and it's manned (rather, womanned) by Esra'a Al Shafei, 24, a Bahraini activist whose social consciousness was raised not by western rock, but by the passioned rhymes of Kurdish Hip-Hop. "My inspiration comes from music," says Shafei, who cut her activist teeth campaigning for the rights of Kurds at the age of 18. "Sure, people like Gandhi give me hope, but what makes me want to go out and make change is people's stories, and that comes through their music."
more.... (http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/08599204940600)
http://mideastunes.com/
I've found the bios and the music here to be very interesting.