Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Pages 46-47

Music & Arts

Oktoberfest With First Rock Rap Band in Palestine

More than 10,000 people attended Taybeh Oktoberfest 2009, held Oct. 3 and 4 in the ancient village of Taybeh-Ramallah. The Octoberfest blended the traditional and revolutionary when, on Saturday night, CultureShoc, Palestine’s first rock rap band, rocked Taybeh with music beyond the norm in the Palestinian music scene.

Lead rapper Suleiman Harb said the release of some extraordinary new songs on the radio was carefully timed to follow the holy month of Ramadan. Lead singer Amira B. Dibsy said that CultureShoc had created songs and music arrangements “exclusive to us [Palestinians] and an experience like no other...imagine a mix of Arabic-Oriental-Western sounds, blending the essence of rock, hip-hop and rap....the result is the shock we bring you with each and every song containing an identity of its own and telling a story of its own...beats that will make you sway from side to side or make you want to JUMP!”

This amazing new band also includes handsome lead and rhythm guitarist and composer Ahmad Al Sharif, Apo Sahagian, bass player Amer Yaghmur and Souheil Abu el Said on drums. The band members admit that fate and luck brought them together, in addition to their desire to bring something new to the music scene in Palestine. They are all Palestinian in blood and upbringing, with a few mixed with two cultures.

Since its first performance in August 2008, the band has gone from seven original songs to a current total of 18, although concerts include a few other popular songs.

Thrilled to be the one and only original rock-rap band in Palestine, its members say that CultureShoc songs “talk about life...real life and the elements of life that we identify with as human beings....We live these stories...You probably do, too and we bring these stories to you using diverse effects of lyrics and music.”

Original songs include “Traffic,” “Dungeons-Reloaded,” “No Man’s Land,” “Silly Boyz,” “Heyye Yaba Heyye,” and more. The band works to push musical boundaries and shock traditional culture. As composers, arrangers and performers, they believe they should offer fans a new hope, a new horizon and a new level for music “to climb walls and cross borders.” Personally, not only do I admire them but I just love them!

—Dr. Maria C. Khoury