#Jan25 Egypt – Omar Offendum, The Narcicyst, Freeway, Ayah, Amir Sulaiman (Prod. by Sami Matar)

I love this song, been playing it for the past couple of days and again, as I’ve said before of my love of the genre, I am very fond of slam type poetry set to the tune of dance music. All the musicians that created the song are Muslims, some Arab, some African American:

Inspired by the resilience of Egyptian people during their recent uprising, several notable musicians from North America have teamed up to release a song of solidarity and empowerment. The track is fittingly titled “#Jan25” as a reference to both the date the protests officially began in Egypt, and its prominence as a trending topic on Twitter. Produced by Sami Matar, a Palestinian-American composer from Southern California, and featuring the likes of Freeway, The Narcicyst, Omar Offendum, HBO Def Poet Amir Sulaiman, and Canadian R&B vocalist Ayah – this track serves as a testament to the revolution’s effect on the hearts and minds of today’s youth, and the spirit of resistance it has come to symbolize for oppressed people worldwide.

Song lyrics here. And they are well worth a look, as they quote a variety of political inspirations, from Ghandi to Che Guevara to Malcolm X. An excerpt:

And that’s where the beef ends
you should learn a lesson from oppression where it begins
black white yellow it don’t matter what race
before you break us you can push us off the Deep end
different country same struggle we even
contemplate on squeezin when our kids ain’t eating
only other difference is it’s hot all year round there
winter time and your kids ain’t freezing
but we all starving all grieving
and the people with the power ain’t got heart enough to feed us
follow the procedures and I study my Quran
this is modern day signs we just waiting on Jesus
you should be the teacher of Quran to your kids
instead of wasting time watching Kelly Ripa and Regis
this is Egypt
home of the ruins last time we needed change it took Musa to move em
operation get rid of the pharoah
now we getting rid who ain’t willing to share no
bread with the people we are all equal
true men of God, Fear God, don’t fear no
person that’s walking on the face of the earth
if he got a tank, knife, gun, bow or an arrow
long as there’s breath
then there’s still hope left
so let hope rise like the eye of a sparrow

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