Hey! I just wanted to bring some light to Get Lit, which is a group of four Arab-American artists (Sandman, Big Rob, Ramzi and Vano) who blend contemporary hip hop/rap/r&b with their own Arab music influences, culture and points of view. You can listen to them here.

American hip hop/rap/r&b artists have been sampling Middle Eastern beats for years now without even knowing it. It was always referred to as Latin influence, but where did the Latin influence get its roots? From the strain of Arab/Moor culture that was brought to Andalusia (Spain). It has only been in the past two years that the scene in America has vocally spoken and acknowledged this cultural influence, and I think it is way overdue. Middle Eastern-based/-influenced talent definitely has a place in everybody’s music collection, and music of today owes a huge acknowledgement to the Middle East and Arab culture.