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Story of a Syrian Hip-Hop artist / Bilal Tarabey
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Story of a Syrian Hip-Hop artist
Bilal Tarabey / Le Pictorium
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Bilal has come to take some rest before his night shift.
Story of a Syrian Hip-Hop artist
Bilal Tarabey / Le Pictorium
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"As early as 2010 we knew that something was going to happen in Syria. When we saw what was happening in Tunisia and Egypt, we got scared. Because it's a trend, everyone wants to make a revolution. And actually, for the most part, it's the regime’s fault. Because it treated too many people like shit. We knew it was coming, and we knew it would be tough. My personal opinion, and I'm only speaking for myself, is that what Syria needs above all is peace and safety. But it seems like none of the parties to the conflict are offering that. Can you believe that Syria used to be the third safest country in the world? And even if the guns disappeared today, I don’t think Syria would have peace - because the people can’t live together. That’s the real problem."
Story of a Syrian Hip-Hop artist
Bilal Tarabey / Le Pictorium
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"The tarboush I wear is a tribute to Syrian actor Durid Lahaam, also known as Ghawar El Tousheh. He did comedies, but meaningful ones. "
Story of a Syrian Hip-Hop artist
Bilal Tarabey / Le Pictorium
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(and so Assasi speaks while Bilal has fall asleep)
Story of a Syrian Hip-Hop artist
Bilal Tarabey / Le Pictorium
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"When we were doing concerts in Syria (starting 2003), it was complicated. People made fun of us. They treated us as if we were doing nothing, like, only jumping and screaming. Yet, I've performed my best concerts in Aleppo. Eventually, people started to follow us. I performed in front of 600 people. In 2010 in Damascus, I performed for 10,000 people. That was my best concert ever."
Story of a Syrian Hip-Hop artist
Bilal Tarabey / Le Pictorium
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"The jacket is my father’s. It's from the 1980s."
Story of a Syrian Hip-Hop artist
Bilal Tarabey / Le Pictorium
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"From 2010, hip-hop started to become quite popular in Syria, especially lyrics supporting the regime. I have to admit, I myself made one song like this, despite the fact that the regime jailed me once for ‘satanism’...” (He laughs). “But at that time we trusted what the media in Syria was telling us. This is why I don’t trust the media anymore." Artwork and logos of the Bilad El Sham collective decorate Assasi's room. "Bilad El-Sham was founded by my best friend, a MC from Damascus named Khaled Arnaaout, AKA Big K. He was my best friend, and I'm keeping up the collective in tribute to him. Khaled was killed in 2010 in Lebanon, after an Akon concert. Four Lebanese guys wanted to rob him. He defended himself and they punched him in the chest until he died. The Lebanese police closed the case. Bilad El-Sham is also an old name for the Near East/Levant region, including Syria, Lebanon, Palestine and Jordan. The name literally means "country of Sham," "Sham" being the Arabic name of Damascus. Aleppo, where I'm from, is the oldest city still continuously inhabited on earth."
Story of a Syrian Hip-Hop artist
Bilal Tarabey / Le Pictorium
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Assasi is looking up to a video shot a few days earlier, of Bilal and him bar tending. The video's purpose is to promote them.
Story of a Syrian Hip-Hop artist
Bilal Tarabey / Le Pictorium
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Assasi listens to Tunisian singer Lutfi Boushnaq. The classical Arabic singer is one of his inspirations, musically and spiritually. "Last time I went to Radio Beirut was the time you shot this picture of me three months ago. So I'm going tonight because of you. And also to test myself, to see if I can still catch people’s attention. "
Story of a Syrian Hip-Hop artist
Bilal Tarabey / Le Pictorium
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A couple of hours later, Assasi arrives at Radio Beirut, a Beirut alternative club. He is greeted by Jeff Bourjaili, AKA Mad Prophet, a Lebanese MC who hosts this night open mic show, “Hip-Hop Essentials 101."
Story of a Syrian Hip-Hop artist
Bilal Tarabey / Le Pictorium
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Three months later. In the neighborhood of Hamra, Beirut. Sharing food. A popular traditional meal called Koosa Mehshi (zucchini stuffed with rice).
Story of a Syrian Hip-Hop artist
Bilal Tarabey / Le Pictorium
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"In my lyrics I talk about society, social issues. I use images to tell stories. I talk about daily life. That is why people can recognize themselves when they hear the songs."
Story of a Syrian Hip-Hop artist
Bilal Tarabey / Le Pictorium
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"Or, for example, I talk about a person who misuses power. Everybody in Syria understands what I mean. I'm talking about my problems too, to show the people that I'm a normal guy, like them."
Story of a Syrian Hip-Hop artist
Bilal Tarabey / Le Pictorium
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"I'm at Radio Beirut tonight because it's my last performance before I leave Lebanon."
Story of a Syrian Hip-Hop artist
Bilal Tarabey / Le Pictorium
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Assasi says goodbye to friends. On the right, Jordanian MC Ahmad Yassen, AKA Satti. The third person is Chyno, a Syrian-Filippino MC based in Beirut.
Story of a Syrian Hip-Hop artist
Bilal Tarabey / Le Pictorium
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Then he leaves.
Story of a Syrian Hip-Hop artist
Bilal Tarabey / Le Pictorium
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Assasi needs to get to the Lebanese General Security ministry at 2am in order to get a paper allowing him to leave the country. He will stay overnight, because if he shows up the next morning, the line would be already too crowded to get in.
Story of a Syrian Hip-Hop artist
Bilal Tarabey / Le Pictorium
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Three days later, I got this message. February 2016. Assasi is still in Nepal, waiting for a visa to the US to join his wife. Meanwhile, Bilal has made it to Germany.
Story of a Syrian Hip-Hop artist
Bilal Tarabey / Le Pictorium
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In a bar called Chords, located not far from the American University of Beirut (AUB) and frequented mostly by Syrians.
Story of a Syrian Hip-Hop artist
Bilal Tarabey / Le Pictorium
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"I came to Beirut, Lebanon, for the first time in 2010. I was featured in a Canadian Broadcast Company documentary about Arab hip-hop music, in which I represented Syria and Aleppo. I only had enough clothes and money for two days, but I said to my friends, "I'm staying"."
Story of a Syrian Hip-Hop artist
Bilal Tarabey / Le Pictorium
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"I slept in the streets a lot at that time. Then eventually I found a job, and with my first salary I was able to rent a place to live. Sometimes, I would work 24 hours without sleep."
Story of a Syrian Hip-Hop artist
Bilal Tarabey / Le Pictorium
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"I need to work constantly in order to survive. In Lebanon as in Syria, if you say you’re an MC, people consider you a loser. Like, "You write words, so what.""
Story of a Syrian Hip-Hop artist
Bilal Tarabey / Le Pictorium
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"I wish I had more time for hip-hop. I’ve been a MC for 13 years. I enjoy bartending, but it's not my real career." On the right is Bilal Awni, also from Syria. Bilal is the bartender at Chords. He and Assasi perform a bar-tending routine together.
Story of a Syrian Hip-Hop artist
Bilal Tarabey / Le Pictorium
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"Every day I stay in my room. I don't have any more reasons to go out. I didn't fit into the Beirut scene, don't ask me why. Maybe I'm too different from the other MCs, maybe I'm being too honest, I don’t know."
Story of a Syrian Hip-Hop artist
Bilal Tarabey / Le Pictorium
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March 2015. It would be the first time I meet Assasi. Actually, I didn't know him. I just shot the picture, struck by this guy MC-ing in Arabic. He was wearing the traditional tarboosh while all the other MCs wore American hip-hop caps. Then I gave him the picture.