Anger Boys: Arab rap for change and freedom
October 13th, 2007My friend Mahmoud introduced me to a few very talented rap artists from Palestine: Anger Boys.
The band was created during the late summer of 2003. We got recognized within a very short period of time. This is due to our captivating words, attractive style and meaningful music.
The main inspiration that led us to start such a career is the situation in the Middle East and especially the Palestinian issue. It was also a reaction to the Arabs 48 issue where most of people outside Palestine think that we aren’t Palestinians while we get discriminated for that every day in Israel.
The name of the band is Anger Boys “ABNA2 IL GHADAB” which stands for the motivated anger we deal with on a daily basis. We express our anger through music to deal with the hard times.
I would like to clarify first that by “anger” they do not mean violence. They mean emotionally-charged music inspired from frustrating conflicts, being misrepresented, mistreated, and misunderstood. It’s great to see them do some productive things with this anger:
Anger could be the best motivation for us as Arabs to achieve our rights in this sophisticated world. Anger Boys is the first Arab rap band to merge real Arab classical music with Hip-Hop music, we are known for this musical style.
The members of the band are:
1-MC.YN = Yahya Natour, 20 years old
2-DR.X = Ward Tayeh, 19 years old
3-MODY = Mohammed Zmiro, 19 years old
We rap about our life, we rap about our experiences, we seek ending the occupation in Palestine and in Iraq and we also rap for peace, happiness, justice. But most importantly we seek freedom.
Then why do this through music, specifically rap?
Rap music is part of political and social activism, when you rap you aquire the power to change. You can change people’s minds, you can make them realize the truth, and stop pretending that everything alright, you can affect their ability to initiate movement and be generally active. Rap is a positive form of power, rap is hope.
Yahya also notes that through rap music, nobody can stop them from saying what they really want to say. And in his opinion the messages they send through rap music is successfully reaching their target audience.
It’s attracting more and more people to this music, through our songs we are a free voice and we want to be able to continue doing this for as long as possible.
Why the consistency? For Yahya and his team members, music is not just a phase…
I really want the whole world to know that we are alive and we are here as “Arabs 48″ and of course as Palestinians. And nobody, I repeat, nobody can exterminate us!
I also want the whole world to know about our life, our traditions, our beliefs, our culture, our history, our country. We are not terrorists, but at the same time we are not slaves for anything or anybody. We would like the Arab world to unite. Why can Europe unite and we can’t? People there have different nationalities, different histories, cultures, beliefs, language, and we are the same in that sense. We need to unite as Arabs.
Yahya has a dream. He wants everyone to listen to their music and not just merely listen for entertainment purposes… but to listen to it frequently and to understand the messages that we are promoting. He wants to inspire others to speak and to be active.
The public right now has a lot of things to fear, I want to capture this fear and convert it into music.
Closing remarks:
First of all, thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak in your web site, and special thanks to whoever took the time to read this interview. Then I’d like to say that our band is unique, we put a lot of hard work into our latest album. I suggest that you all listen to some of our songs and you can decide for yourself whether or not we are gifted! We have yet to achieve most of our goals, and we think it’s necessary to bring people closer to reality through our music. We want to introduce a better future, and most of all to bring hope especially to the youth. We won’t give up or stop, that’s the mission of Anger Boys.
My favorite song by them is “Kalimat,” which means “words.” You can listen to it here:
Anger Boys: Kalimat.
You can also download some of their other songs from the Arab Rappers website.
This is their latest song:
Anger Boys: Skab il Nar.
This band is young, hopeful, talented, and they sure have a lot of inspirational stories to share. We all have different ways of expressing ourselves, either through blogging, film, art/design or just talking. Anger Boys do it best through rap music, which is indeed a very influential and powerful medium especially for our youth.
I wish for them to succeed and to keep up the great work, we will certainly be rooting for them and keeping our eyes open for their new album which they worked extremely hard on!
I’d like to thank Yahya for this interview and I’d also like to thank Mahmoud for putting us in contact with such amazing young talents within the region. It is always a great pleasure to discover these things.
I’ll close this off with two Anger Boy videos:
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Very cool! Music is the soothing substance for lions.
[...] Malcan wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptANGER BOYS is the first Arab rap band to merge real Arab classical music with Hip-Hop music, we are known for this musical style. The members of the band are: 1-MC.YN = Yahya Natour, 20 years old 2-DR.X = Ward Tayeh, 19 years old … [...]
Anger Boys? C’mon guys. Try the literal and much more elegant translation: Sons of Wrath.
they sound great! I’d only heard of dam before.
hey anger boys i love you…
i want to say fantastic songs…and great interviwe
keep on moving
Arabs and rap?
I don’t see the two mixing at all.
amira be imazed they mix and they mix ferquently…
be shocked arab rap is one of da best rap musics and ANGER BOYS is the best band….
halelooya anger boys
Hey guys well done and keep up with the great job and efoorts that you do in order to make the change !!!
i hope to you just the best in the best.
yahya abo al3am allh y5leek
Da best band… best songs and greatest guys…
i love this band
keep goning .. specially ya7yaa
peace n luv
heeey…yeah it’s my favorite band…..go…go…goo.LOVE YOU GUYS
ANGER BOYS 4 LIFE
Oh thanks for esraa for puplished this interview . and best wishes for my friends anger boys
we waitting for the new guys .:)
This is some really excellent and unique music. These guys are doing the right things with their talents; inspiring change. Keep it up, Anger Boys.
hye angerboyz good work . I belive u r the best . good luck I love u sooooo much & keep n touch I thank GOD coz I have friends like u guys
… ur friend JOJ …
i am one of your admires…love you abnaa el ghadab
[...] story here This entry was posted on Saturday, October 13th, 2007 at 9:36 am and is filed under rap music. You [...]
super band……super MC.YN.!! just keep going.i love you from the buttome of my heart.
These guys are flaunting it.
Yalla Anger Boys For Life Palestine For Life
i love you Bigg YN.luv you luv you luv you,,,,,,,
u are awsome,keep going lovie…
i am waiting for the chance to meet you,,,
nar-meen
this is a very nice interviwe with Yahya…love you boy keep going
ONLY ANGER BOYS
mc yn here watch yourselves….i loved the songs and i love anger boys
farward people
much love for abnaa il 3′adab
ya gays keep on and good work .. i love rap but after i lsn to yr songs i love it more than be4
now ur one of my favorites bands plz try to make some work with dam it soundes great >>
luv ya luv ya luv ya n wish ya a gd luck MWA ur lovely freand DANA peace out
yo this is a man called mc/r(-)mi
you no when im on the mic im gnna trash yah,
put you in the dirt,ure driving me bezerk,
now its time to let loose and murk,
coz basher thats my name,
gonna go all out and put u to shame,
put u in a badass pain,
i drop it like its hot n it gnna kain,
it will be in ure mind like a repeated stain,
my style you wont b able to gain,
its a one way lain,
wat i c ure in front of a train,
all your lyrics are simple and plain,
you not even worth to train,
this crew flying like a plain,
u step to me u must b insane,
now iv finihed wit my rhyme,
go b4 i comit a crime,
now go home n rub ure shit of ure shoulders,
b4 u get my left n right big bad boulders,
so go n get ure bath,
b4 i rub ure face in the path,
coz ure lyrics are shit,
n go bak n sit,
coz u gtta wait in line,
b4 i pull out my nine,
thers plenty more crewz,
spark up n same me toooz,
go to the shop coz u gtta wait,
ill eat ure bars n spew em up on a plate,
now iv had enuf of ure voice,
uv left me no choice,
but to pull it out,
n spread ure ure guts all about.
wlah bitrapo jmiil ana marocain de rap ces moi driss ki s’apelle l-driss
hi whats up guys i just wanna say this is wonderful guys i really like it and its really nice the way u rap so0o just wanna tell guys me too gonna rap about the same thing so0on but i need to talk to someone from the group this is my e mail please contact me as so0on as u can thanks c ya
Asalam-a-laycum,
I am a teacher in UK and some of my international students are getting together to make an ‘international’ rap. Some of them are British Arabs (from the gulf region, yemmen and Egypt), but their Arabic language skills are quite poor.
They would like to the following phrases translated into arabic phonetically. For example ‘I am Mossad’ would be ‘ana ismee Mossad’
I hope you can help.
Phrases: (all for a male voice)
1. I’m an angry young arab
2. I’m armed with my Sheesha pipe
3. Hold me without charge for 42 days
4. My dishdasha’s all wrinkly and the creases won’t come out.
5. it’s not a halo, it’s a gutera
6. I won’t air my dirty washing on the ‘Jeremy Kyle Show’
7. you can tell I’m a northerner because I’ve got a broad accent
8. I won’t shave my moustche off for you Mr.Brown
9. I quite like orange jumpsuits so there
10. I don’t swallow mouthwash because it contains Ethanol
11. My camel uses unleaded petrol
12. I’m not arguing, it’s just a very expressive language.
13. I’d take you on a desert safari but I live in Yorkshire (to a girl)
Thanks
you can email the responses to mossadcollege@islam-online.net
[...] of a noble cause, not merely to entertain. Previously I interviewed the Palestinian hip hop stars Anger Boys for similar [...]