Belly

"Belly" (real name Ahmad Balshe) is a rapper who was born April 7 1984 in Jenin, Palestine. He currently resides in Greely, Ontario, Canada. He twice attained a top chart position in the national Much Music Countdown.

In April 2007, Belly released the video for his second single "Don't Be Shy" featuring Nina Sky, as well as the video for "History of Violence" which remains his most controversial record to date. In "History Of Violence", Belly explains his views on the Palestine-Israel conflict, and the War in Iraq.

Shortly after, "I'm The Man" featuring Kurupt was released and it was premiered as the "Big One" on MuchMusic. He also released a video for "Smell Like Money" on MySpace in early October.

In late October 2007, his third single featuring Mario Winans entitled "Ridin'" was released. The video features Mario Winans, model KD Aubert, who plays Belly's lead-girl and Dr. Benjamin Chavis.

Career highlights

Go Sens Go

During the 2007 NHL Playoffs, as the Ottawa Senators were competing, Belly released a single entitled "Go Sens Go." When the Senators made the Stanley Cup Finals, Belly released a second version of the song which featured goaltender Ray Emery. The "Go Sens Go" song was a huge success among Ottawa Senator fans.

"The Revolution"

His debut album, "The Revolution", was released June 5, 2007. This double disc album was divided into two sections: "The People" and "The System". "The People" contained more in depth songs, such as "History of Violence", "Follow Me" and "Revolutionary", where he challenges his listeners to discover the facts regarding the Middle-East situation. Other songs on this disc include "People Change", "Leave me Alone", where he talks about his long time friends and the memories that he kept from them. "The System" contained his hit singles "Don't Be Shy", "Ridin" and "Pressure". Belly won the 2008 Juno Award for Rap Recording of the Year for his album "The Revolution". Also at the MMVA [ much music video awards ] , Belly won Best Rap Video, for 2 years in a row, this year was for the song Ridin, which also reach number 1 video on the much music countdown

2008 police raid

A major police raid was conducted at the artist's home in Greely on 15 August 2008 based on a search warrant to seek firearms there. However, the only evidence of note found in this raid were three BB guns that were purchased from a Canadian Tire store. No charges were laid and Belly later commented that the raid "was a waste of Ottawa taxpayers' money, but now my neighbours can see that I don't have anything to hide."http://dic.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/5892878

Related articles by Zemanta

• Best Music of March, 2009: Troubadour by K'Naan (chordstrike.com)

Lotfi Double Kanon

Lotfi was born on 06/07/1974 in Annaba, father of a worker is a mother at home.He grew up in a modest family composed of a brother and two sisters.All university graduates.Environment creation and motivation in him the thirst for knowledge.
Degrees:
BA-Mathematics series in 1992 in Annaba.
-Engineer status in 1998 in geology from the University of Annaba.
The modest income of her family motivated to take charge of her young age, so to purchase his first “synthesizer”, it had to do odd jobs for summer.
Lotfi produced models with a very archaic material to present to the local radio and make themselves known in the art.His second step will be passing Annabi on stage to present to the public this new style of Algerian music. The result was immediate and many young people as Lotfi s’identifièrent in carrying their message.DOUBLE KANON AND JUSTICE: During a live performance on stage Lotfi theater green Annaba summer 1997, he became acquainted with the intolerance of public authorities which have interrupted the show involving the texts too expressive in their words.This act ignited the crowd that met the force of law and order and who earned the label Lotfi singing “Rebel”.AND LOTFI Waheb: With his friend Waheb, lotfi formalize the group “DOUBLE KANON” by entering the studio to record the first album KAMIKAZE; opening the door of the long road that will go through the group .Last.fm

THE NARCICYST

The Narcicyst- P.H.A.T.W.A. (Official Music Video) from The Narcicyst on Vimeo.An Iraqi MC/Media Master born in the UAE, raised in Canada and continually questioned by the powers that be, his musical career was spawned through the collaborative work of the Euphrates family; A growing collective of Muslim visual artists, musicians, painters, filmographers and photographers.Releasing two albums with Euphrates, “A Bend in the River” and “Stereotypes Incorporated” respectively, the crew garnered worldwide attention from Time Magazine to publications out of the Middle East and Europe. A graduate in Political science and Communication Studies, Narcy went on to get a Masters degree in Media Studies focusing on the identity politics in Hip-Hop poetics, specifically encountering and dissecting the Arab-American experience through a thesis project entitled “Fear of An Arab Planet”. With a book being released under the same title, and a brand new album called “The Illuminarcy”, The Narcicyst is sure to make you see yourself through the proverbial mirror that is the current state of the world.http://www.myspace.com/euphrates

Related articles by Zemanta

• Conservative Arab clothing cuts sun exposure, vitamin D levels in women (scienceblog.com)
• Toronto home to hip-hop diasporas (thestar.com)
• TV dramas: stop the music! (tvsquad.com)

H-Kayne

H-kayne est un groupe de rap marocain basé à Meknès, né vers 1996.Il s’agit de la fusion entre les pionnier du rap au Maroc composé de Adil Sif Lssane,Hatim HB2,Azzedine Ter-Hoor, Otmane, Iliass(New) et de DJ Khalid,Ayant remporté le premier prix de les catégories Rap et Hip-Hop du concours Boulevard des jeunes musiciens (BJM) de Casablanca en 2003. Des titres comme Issawa style, F’mo hadak, Ya Dania, FL’Houma et H-K Kima Dima figurent parmi les titres qui propulsent cette formation musicale.

EL KHANSA

EL KHANSA a été la première découverte de Maurice Elbaz au Maroc.En 1999 le marché musical marocain été sclérosé et les productions musicales de très mauvaises qualités techniques et artistiques.La volonté de Maurice Elbaz en implantant la FTG records au Maroc était de faire changer les choses et permettre a tous les talents potentiels du pays de pouvoir de nouveau s'exprimer dans un cadre technique et artistique aux standards internationaux.EL KHANSAA représentant le profil idéale pour construire une nouvelle scène musicale au Maroc.Fille d'artistes renommés, sont père feu Mohamed Batma était un des paroliers et compositeur les plus novateurs au Maroc des années 70 et 80.Avec ses groupes LEMCHAEB, et MESSNAOUA il a sans cesse réussi l'exploit de faire sonner des textes en dialecte local marocain (Darija) avec une musique et un chant résolument modernes.Mort en 2001, l'histoire n'as pas encore redonné la place qu'il mérite a Sy MOHAMED BATMA, mais l'extraordinaire travail de réinterpretation de ses chansons par ses enfants Tarik et Khansaa donne une idée claire du potentiel innexploité de ses chansons.EL KHANSA est chanteuse interprete, mais aussi parolière et compositrice de talent.n plus de ses dons musicaux dévloppées par MAURICE ELBAZ au sein de la FTG, elle mène en parallèle une carrière de mannequin, d'animatrice télévision et d‘actrice.Douée aussi d'un fabuleux don pour le dessin et la peinture, EL KHANSAA est une artiste complète, multi disciplinaire à l'image des plus grands.Après avoir enregistré plus de 30 titres avec Maurice Elbaz à la FTG records, elle a dù s'exiler comme de nombreux artistes pour continuer sa carrière.Nul doute que comme son homonyme la poétesse El KHANSAA, la descendante des BATMA, marquera son epoque. http://www.symehdi.com/

Related articles by Zemanta

• Clarika (idiomag.com)
• Coralie Clement - Toystore (2008) (mcmasterr.blogspot.com)
• Salah Edin (arabmusique.blogspot.com)

Numydia

Image via Wikipedia

Un Maroc, des musiques. Numydia explore la musique marocaine dans son ensemble.Du sud jusqu’au nord du pays ce groupe puise  son inspiration dans la terre marocaine. Numydia nous ouvre la voie vers une musique en mouvement où chante la tradition marocaine au son de la modernité.Numydia a été fondée en  2004 par des  musiciens de la ville de Rabat. Son répertoire original est constitué de mpositions caractérisées par des sonorités modernes et acoustiques. Organisé autour de son fondateur  Tarik HILAL, professeur de guitare au conservatoire national de musique et de danse de Rabat, ce groupe marocain énergique  et créatif propose de revisiter les traditions musicales du Maroc. Leur travail inspiré et abouti séduit déjà un large public. Source - from Numydia webpage

Related articles by Zemanta

• Double share / Double Ration! (joelapompe.net)
• Atlantis found? (americablog.com)
• Moroccan convicted of Madrid link (news.bbc.co.uk)

Casa Crew

Le groupe CASA-CREW Crée en 2003 à Casablanca et actuellement une pièce maîtresse dans le monde de l'animation des programmes de télévision réserves aux jeunes. C'est en autre un champ d'attraction pour un grand nombre de jeunes. Un atout qui a fait gagner les confiances des organisateurs de spectacles et concerts.
A Casablanca CASA-CREW sont déjà connu pour leur exclusivité de style, à la quête de l'audition à l'échelon national et international.CASA-CREW a besoin de sponsoring pour subvenir leur besoin d'organisation de cercles de concerts surtout pour ce qui est du matériel relatif à l'enregistrement composition et les besoins de la tenue vestimentaire. Les membres actifs du groupes casa-crew :
La valeur artistique est assurée par des Rappeurs haut de gamme.
Tous réunis pour former une constellation d'artistes qui maîtrisent à la fois l'ingénieusement de la composition musicale et poétique. Dont voici un aperçu sur chaque membre :
* YOUNESS HAOUDER : alias CHAHT MAN le fondateur du groupe CASA-CREW membre d'ancien groupe w'lad-casa il est aussi rappeur et compositeur des Paroles. X- Participant au 5éme édition (Boulevard des Jeunes Musiciens 2003).
* MOHAMED MALKI : alias MASTA FLOW, compositeur musicale et Textes membre du groupe VEMPIRS KILLAR SQUAD Gagnant de Premier prix au 4éme Édition (boulevard des jeunes Musiciens 2002).
* MAROUANE AHNID : alias JOCKER, compositeur des textes membre du groupe HELL OUAF X- Participant au 5éme éditions ( Boulevard des jeunes musiciens 2003 ) .
*AMINE KAMAL : alias CAPRICE, compositeur des textes membre du groupe MAFIA-C X- Participant au 4éme édition( Boulevard des jeunes Musiciens, 2002 ).

Nawid Orokzai

Nawid Orokzai was born in March 16th, 1982 . Nawid was born and raised in a family of actors and moviemakers and followed footsteps of his dad and uncle. Nawid’s father, Mr. Obaid Orokzai, had the reputation of the best cameraman in National Television of Afghanistan. Nawid’s uncle, Mr. Saed Orokzai, who was awarded international movie festival, played lead roles in Afghan movies, as well as writings scripts. Mr. Obaid Orokzai, once known as “Golden Hand Cameraman”, saw the acting talents in Nawid, when Nawid was only 5 years old. The eldest amongst four siblings, Nawid started his acting career in the age of 5. His first role was in an Afghani commercial. Then in the age of 6, Nawid played in his first movie “Ba soye Laana.” In 1991, Nawid Orokzai’s family left Afghanistan and moved to Russia. In Russia, Nawid, while attending high school, focused his attention on development of his acting and singing skills. In age of 16, Nawid started working for Ariana Films, where he developed directing and film editing skills. Nawid’s first movie “Smart Boys” was released in 2000. “Smart Boys” was the first movie directed by Nawid, who played the leading role. The movie, which focused on problems that face the Afghan youth outside their country, was a great success. Along with acting and directing movies, Nawid Orokzai worked for Afghan magazines “ Koshesh” and “Talaash”, as a graphic designer. He also joined the Red Cross & Red Crescent. While growing up around great musicians like Nashenaaz, Shaatkam, Simaa Tarana, Wahid Sabiri Ustaad Saraahang, Nawid Orokzai developed a passion for music. His music teacher Ustaad Majid Qiyam supervised Nawid, as Nawid attended music school and learned how to play tabla, harmonia, robab, and etc. In 2002 Nawid Orokzai and his family moved to Toronto, Canada. In 2006, Nawid started working on his new movie “Racist Religion.” The movie is about Afghans involved in relationships outside their race. The cast of the film includes talented Canadian actors such as Kelly Wiltshire, John Kensgen, and Rata Teri Loretto. In March 2006, Nawid released his first song with Naghma – Mohabbat. Mohabbat made its way from Canada to Afghanistan, conquering hearts of hundreds of Afghans. Nawid Orokzai is the rising Afghan star. He currently resides in Toronto, Canada. He is working on his new movie “Mistake”, which is based on real events. He is working hard to achieve his dream of becoming the new star of Afghan movie industry. http://www.arianaspace.com/view_profile.php?member_id=176