Responding to a response

You are quite right, my writer friend--these are not simple "clings" and "clangs" and "beeps" and "bops". These are the sounds and the souls, the vibrations and the vibes, the harmonies and the hearts borne from and giving birth to Hip Hop music.

It's sacrilege to over simplify it or dismiss it as noises that can be produced with a fork and a "tunjara." But Hip Hop is simple; that is why it is widely appreciated. Hip Hop is the spoken word of the poet, recited in rhythm--in time with a heart beat, monitored by the pounding of a fist against a chest; a fist that takes its breath clenching erect in the air, joined by a head nod of respect--touch the chin to the chest and relate the instrument to its power source.

All very simple; that is why it is understood. That is why it has spread. That is why it has fans and loyalists.

Hip Hop music; Hip Hop movement--it is the pulse that monitors the flow of life. That monitor is now watching and timing and mixing the Middle East.

It remains the same there--it goes back to its roots there. When it was fresh in Brooklyn, it was about real life; it was about daily life. An MC told a tale with no fantastic ending--he echoed the tragedy and the poverty and the illiteracy and the illegitimacy and the corruption and the power and the trust and the intelligence that was all around him. And he did it in beat, and he did it in rhyme, with the DJ by his side. And that was it--and it was everything.

It is everything to young Palestinians and Lebanese and Algerians and Egyptians and Syrians and Moroccans. The Middle Eastern rap poet is the descendant of the orators and story-tellers that carried forth the instructions of the prophets and the teachings of the professors and the investigations of the reporters. This art is ingrained in Middle Eastern culture and history. A good memory and an articulate speaker made a man who became responsible for maintaining tradition. We know our tradition because of him. He is that tradition. Hip Hop artists are Middle Eastern tradition realized in today's environment.

Today's Hip Hop artist is the people's representative--he and she are the honorable politicians. Through their lyrics and their music, the masses are activated into "muzahirat," they are charged to call out injustices and to insist on change. Hip Hop is the battle cry of the rock-ready and the 7atah wearing shabab, resisting occupation and protecting their people. Hip Hop is a commentary that spreads in decibels and over airwaves and reaches beyond the boundaries of the "mukhayamat" and the check points. I7dood Lubnan stand no chance against the giants of the Palestinian flow; nor can they block out the spray of "Lubnan ardee, Lubnan baladee, Lubnan watonee" that shoot at them from inside. The voices are one; the collective power is immense. Rhymes passing through the "ma7soom" between Gaza and Egypt proceed without hesitation or long lines or rejection. The Syrian is expressing in tandem with the girl from 3akka, and the mesmerizing flute carries her message to the narcicist in Iraq. And the song lands in the iPhone of the Palestinian sitting in Virginia, longing for her "baranda" back home.

You are right, Mr. Writer, Hip Hop is not just a "beep" and "clang." Hip Hop is simply everything.