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IRAQI MC The Narcicyst has jumped into the storm surrounding Busta Rhymes' controversial new single “Arab Money.” The rapper has released a stinging response to the song, hitting back at what he calls straight out racism.
The Narcicyst says he was stunned when he first heard the track—and has been flooded with calls from the Arab Hip-Hop community who are furious that Busta has made such a high profile error and poked fun at their culture.
"Immediately I got that screeching sound in my head like, ‘Whooaa.’,” says the Narcicyst. “Once again, Arabs are represented as these arm flailing, oil rich, loft having, private jet taking, camel toe lady bangin', desert camel riding, bearded sand men.”
He continues, "And to come from Hip-Hop was just disappointing. All that and the title. I started reading up on the lyrics, watching the YouTube videos and that just took my feelings to a whole other level."
So perturbed was the Narcicyst the he took a break from shooting a feature film in Dubai, UAE, and immediately hit the studio to record "The Real Arab Money," a stinging response to Busta Rhymes' single.
The Real Arab Money - The Narcicyst
Download & Lyrics
Explaining why he had to hit back on the mic, The Narcicyst says: “The remix they all did took it to a whole other level. People are getting suspended for playing the song in the UK, when that song came out you should have seen the reaction.”
"How you gonna have Qu'ran in a song about Money? The new chorus is the opening to every time you read a su'ra from the Qu'ran. Arabs do not take that lightly at all. Then you got cats talking about women, cars, houses? What does "In the name of God the most beneficent the most merciful" have to do with you being able to buy whatever you want? That right there really really really really really pissed me and a lot of fellow Arab MCs Off. "
The Narcicyst, who immigrated to Montreal with his family after Saddam Hussein's regime destroyed Iraq, adds: "We need to rise up together as society against the evils that bring us down. We need to speak our minds freely and expand on the knowledge we were gifted to have. I hope that's how it came off. And to explain myself fully, my song is about everybody to relate to what it feels like when someone called me a 'sand n****r' or a 'dirty desert rat' or someone who told me to go back home when I immigrated to Canada. Enough is enough man."
And the Narcicyst, who is set to release his new album PHATWA in early 2009, also explains how it was even harder to hear Busta's track when his own homeland Iraq is war-torn and in total poverty despite having huge oil reserves.
"If the hook was in Arabic… If they got an Arab to do the hook and didn't call us ‘Ay-rabs’… Trust me, I would have probably been fine with it. S**t, I would have been proud! Besides the whole beards looking weird and that it’s possible to fly a Lear jet to go lounge in Baghdad. Baghdad ain't no joke right now. My country is f**king dead. It's not somewhere to be glorifying as ‘Arab Money.’ That's the last thing people need. They need security."
Moreso than anything, the Narcicsyt was stunned to hear one of his Hip-Hop idols insulting his culture.
"I just didn't understand,” he says. “I know Busta is not ignorant, I know he's not a racist. Then where does it come from?”
He continues, "It's my duty to speak on this, to give my opinion on ‘Arab Money.’ Don't even get me started on Ron Browz, that dude should put away his auto-tune cuz T-Pain and Kanye did it better than anyone else. To have a young man my age, putting random syllables together and calling it Arabic is completely and utterly racist. It wouldn't go down any way if a non-African American did a song about African culture and made up some random gibberish about the language. It's not funny anymore.
"You would think, at a sensitive time like this, that if anyone knew what it felt like to be boxed in it would be the African-American community in America. We are of the same strife. Public enemy number one is now Arab/Muslim males. What did they try to do to Obama during his campaign to destroy him? They made him out to be a closet Muslim. Like that is a bad thing, to be a Muslim. Its' all one big f**k-up, as you can see, its deeper than the song itself, its the principle."
Though upset at the situation, the Narcicsyt does now want to cast Busta aside. He goes as far as to he will still support his fellow MCs career.
"I want to say this to make it clear, Busta Rhymes is a lyrical idol of mine. I have always had mad love for his lyrical ability, his style and his grace as an artist. His albums are opuses and his delivery is absolute bananas. He was actually one of the first MCs I saw on stage and I was blown away. I will most probably buy B.O.M.B. I'm not making this make me not listen Busta anymore. Busta is dope dude. Busta had Stevie on his last album. Busta did "Woo-hah,” he was on "Scenario,” Leaders of the New School.
"My track is not a diss song, this was a response. I ask you this, How would Busta feel if I came out doing a song about Black People with some stereotypical s**t on the hook?
"As a person of his stature, I would have expected more and would have loved to see our people celebrated for our culture and not our money. I just think the song wasn't calculated right. Get an Arab dude on the hook, talk about the reality. I respect that it was an attempt at bridging the gap, but unfortunately it did the total opposite."
The Narcicsyt has also contributed to a full remix featuring a host of Arab rappers including Omar Offendum, Cilvaringz, Salah Edin, Palestine - which is set to be leaked within a few days.
For more check out: www.myspace.com/euphrates
LINK: http://allhiphop.com/stories/featur...741722.aspx?CommentPosted=true#commentmessage
The Narcicyst says he was stunned when he first heard the track—and has been flooded with calls from the Arab Hip-Hop community who are furious that Busta has made such a high profile error and poked fun at their culture.
"Immediately I got that screeching sound in my head like, ‘Whooaa.’,” says the Narcicyst. “Once again, Arabs are represented as these arm flailing, oil rich, loft having, private jet taking, camel toe lady bangin', desert camel riding, bearded sand men.”
He continues, "And to come from Hip-Hop was just disappointing. All that and the title. I started reading up on the lyrics, watching the YouTube videos and that just took my feelings to a whole other level."
So perturbed was the Narcicyst the he took a break from shooting a feature film in Dubai, UAE, and immediately hit the studio to record "The Real Arab Money," a stinging response to Busta Rhymes' single.
The Real Arab Money - The Narcicyst
Download & Lyrics
Explaining why he had to hit back on the mic, The Narcicyst says: “The remix they all did took it to a whole other level. People are getting suspended for playing the song in the UK, when that song came out you should have seen the reaction.”
"How you gonna have Qu'ran in a song about Money? The new chorus is the opening to every time you read a su'ra from the Qu'ran. Arabs do not take that lightly at all. Then you got cats talking about women, cars, houses? What does "In the name of God the most beneficent the most merciful" have to do with you being able to buy whatever you want? That right there really really really really really pissed me and a lot of fellow Arab MCs Off. "
The Narcicyst, who immigrated to Montreal with his family after Saddam Hussein's regime destroyed Iraq, adds: "We need to rise up together as society against the evils that bring us down. We need to speak our minds freely and expand on the knowledge we were gifted to have. I hope that's how it came off. And to explain myself fully, my song is about everybody to relate to what it feels like when someone called me a 'sand n****r' or a 'dirty desert rat' or someone who told me to go back home when I immigrated to Canada. Enough is enough man."
And the Narcicyst, who is set to release his new album PHATWA in early 2009, also explains how it was even harder to hear Busta's track when his own homeland Iraq is war-torn and in total poverty despite having huge oil reserves.
"If the hook was in Arabic… If they got an Arab to do the hook and didn't call us ‘Ay-rabs’… Trust me, I would have probably been fine with it. S**t, I would have been proud! Besides the whole beards looking weird and that it’s possible to fly a Lear jet to go lounge in Baghdad. Baghdad ain't no joke right now. My country is f**king dead. It's not somewhere to be glorifying as ‘Arab Money.’ That's the last thing people need. They need security."
Moreso than anything, the Narcicsyt was stunned to hear one of his Hip-Hop idols insulting his culture.
"I just didn't understand,” he says. “I know Busta is not ignorant, I know he's not a racist. Then where does it come from?”
He continues, "It's my duty to speak on this, to give my opinion on ‘Arab Money.’ Don't even get me started on Ron Browz, that dude should put away his auto-tune cuz T-Pain and Kanye did it better than anyone else. To have a young man my age, putting random syllables together and calling it Arabic is completely and utterly racist. It wouldn't go down any way if a non-African American did a song about African culture and made up some random gibberish about the language. It's not funny anymore.
"You would think, at a sensitive time like this, that if anyone knew what it felt like to be boxed in it would be the African-American community in America. We are of the same strife. Public enemy number one is now Arab/Muslim males. What did they try to do to Obama during his campaign to destroy him? They made him out to be a closet Muslim. Like that is a bad thing, to be a Muslim. Its' all one big f**k-up, as you can see, its deeper than the song itself, its the principle."
Though upset at the situation, the Narcicsyt does now want to cast Busta aside. He goes as far as to he will still support his fellow MCs career.
"I want to say this to make it clear, Busta Rhymes is a lyrical idol of mine. I have always had mad love for his lyrical ability, his style and his grace as an artist. His albums are opuses and his delivery is absolute bananas. He was actually one of the first MCs I saw on stage and I was blown away. I will most probably buy B.O.M.B. I'm not making this make me not listen Busta anymore. Busta is dope dude. Busta had Stevie on his last album. Busta did "Woo-hah,” he was on "Scenario,” Leaders of the New School.
"My track is not a diss song, this was a response. I ask you this, How would Busta feel if I came out doing a song about Black People with some stereotypical s**t on the hook?
"As a person of his stature, I would have expected more and would have loved to see our people celebrated for our culture and not our money. I just think the song wasn't calculated right. Get an Arab dude on the hook, talk about the reality. I respect that it was an attempt at bridging the gap, but unfortunately it did the total opposite."
The Narcicsyt has also contributed to a full remix featuring a host of Arab rappers including Omar Offendum, Cilvaringz, Salah Edin, Palestine - which is set to be leaked within a few days.
For more check out: www.myspace.com/euphrates
LINK: http://allhiphop.com/stories/featur...741722.aspx?CommentPosted=true#commentmessage
