Rap x Classical Arabic

I grew up in a house where my Mom listened to whatever was popular on the radio and my Dad was playing a mix of classical Arabic and Motown. My memories of specific artist and songs on the Arabic side is hazy. Umm Kulthum is an artist that stands out, but most all of it is characterized by a specific sound^ that is imprinted on my mind.

In the late 90’s when rap started sampling the genre, it was a very specific cheat code that get me onboard early. Jay Z’s ‘Big Pimpin’ epitomizes that era, but it and a lot of other songs rode that wave for a few years.

Big Pimpin’ heavily sampled Abdel Halim Hafez’s ‘Khosara’. Well it was actually not sampled, but re-recorded. Water and a $100K lawsuit under the bridge later and the original is still the better song.

This topic all came rushing back to me with the Clipse’s Let God Sort Em Out earlier this year. Specifically the track ‘So Be It’ where Pharrell sampled Talal Maddah’s ‘Maza Akoulou’.

^ That sound comes from the oud (pair shaped lute), ney (end blown flute), and darbuka (goblet drum) to name just a few.