WELCOME TO ASLAN MEDIA MUSIC!

Rebel Without a Place: A Review of “The Nomadic 2” by Kuwaiti-American Rapper BigMo

BigMo's second mixtape, The Nomadic 2, contains a diverse selection of sounds - songs that contain smooth, pop hooks that would be welcome by radio audiences. There are also songs with a socially conscious taste. The album is at once capable of incredible softness (see "Time to Talk," which features some nicely integrated vocal refrains from Claire Heacock) and some blunter songs, both in topic and sound. The second song, "Nomad," is full of political zingers like "I'mma be your prophet/from you I will profit like King James did The Bible," but is followed a few songs later by the contemplative "Elevator Music," which provides a clever take on heartbreak and relationship dramas ("So sick of looking at the back of your neck/I just wanna say hello/in one ear, out the other, there you go/I went like elevator music/hear me everyday, you just got used to it"). The Nomadic 2 does not, of course, forget to include that self-referential lyrical braggadocio that makes hip-hop what it is: eternally youthful, always on the counter-attack ("Try to keep up with it/my combo syllables and verse/so vicious").

Music Sans Borders: Pakistan’s Zeb and Haniya, Cultural Diplomacy, and “Lahori Blues”

They came onto the stage nondescript. Set against the backdrop of the Lamont School of Music’s massive organ, literally crowning over them, the band looked small, serious, almost a little out of their element as they got ready to play their 15- song set for a full house of around 225.

But then again, when it comes to concerts, I should know better to determine anything until after the music starts playing.

Privilege and its Discontents: A Review of Brother Ali’s “Mourning in America and Dreaming in Color”

Sometimes it takes your classic outsider to show you the beauties and flaws that lie within.

Such has been the case for Brother Ali, one of America's most critically acclaimed and financially successful Muslim rap artists, as well as one of its most controversial. Hip hop intellectual. Mainstream periphery. Arrested during an Occupy demonstration Red-flagged by the Department of Homeland Security. For Ali, hip hop isn't about the notoriety or the bling; where he raps from boils down to activism - that intersection between music, lyrics and purpose - where laying beats and spewing flows isn't just about what he has to say about society, but what he knows how to do in order to better it - called out disenfranchisement, advocate for the marginalized, give a voice to real issues we would rather feel better to pretend don't exist.

To Gnawa with Love: Moroccan Music Group AZA Celebrates Tradition with a Trans-Global Twist

On a Tuesday evening in mid-August, Yoshi’s Jazz Club in Oakland, California offered a little-known musical ensemble an opportunity to perform at their prestigious venue, pleasantly surprising a small, but enthusiastic audience with a soulful 90-minute journey through North Africa.

Singing the Gap Between American Muslims: Ani Zonneveld Forges New Identity with Islamic Hymns

Muslim-American: What does that term mean to you? For many, either knowingly or subconsciously, it’s that hyphen that makes the dual identity somewhat problematic. Literally looking like a math equation, Muslim – American looks more Muslim than American, as if calling yourself one automatically sets you up as an either/or, the terminology making you by default identify more with your religion than your nationality.

Hip Hop Uknification: Rap Trio Arabian Knightz Debut Album Fights Censorship While Empowering Listeners

Repression has a way of stalling epiphanies, but to extinguish them is a nearly impossible feat. Such has been the case for Arabian Knightz, one of Egypt’s foremost and most talked about hip hop groups, and one of Aslan Media’s “Five Arab Music Artists to Watch in 2012.” After years of fighting censorship under both the Mubarak regime and Egypt’s current government, the group finally released its debut CD Uknighted State of Arabia on August 21, albeit underground, after the album was rejected for official distribution by Ministry authorities because of the tracks’ political material and social commentary.