Episode 5: MANARA

Welcome to The Safe House Travel Diary, a travel and music podcast that explores hip hop in misunderstood places. My name is SohaI go to the safe houses of hip hop artists for intimate conversations and try to get a sense of what life is like in their corner of the world. The idea for The Safe House comes from Kendrick Lamar's lyric about "venting in the safe house." Every season I travel to a new country and immerse myself in their hip hop scene. This is Season 1: "Three Nights in Beirut" and it takes place in my Motherland: Lebanon.

The idea for The Safe House comes from Kendrick Lamar's lyric about "venting in the safe house."

DIRECTORS CUT

I released "Soha's version," a RAW version of this episode with no intro/outro/or opening theme. You can check it out here.

WATCH

If you enjoyed listening to this episode, look out for the visualizer coming soon on my YouTube Channel.

SOUNDTRACK

E5 Soundtrack. To hear the music from this episode and more music exploring the topics discussed in this episode, check out the soundtrack on Spotify.

THANK YOU

Saleh & Roro 

@chynowithawhy 

@ghoraba2official 

@el_bunasser 

@ghassanrahbani 

@soapkillsofficial 

LEARN MORE

Hip hop tings

• Article: How protest and resistance in Syria and Lebanon shaped a progressive rap scene
• Article: Straight Outta Syria: Meet the young refugee rappers with a message
• Documentary: 961 Underground: The Rise of Lebanese Hip Hop (2012)by DJ Lethal Skillz: The definitive documentary about the rise of Lebanese hip hop culture by the spin master himself, DJ Lethal Skillz.
• Documentary | El Arena: the award winning documentary by Soul House Media is a must watch
• El Arena YouTube channel: watch rappers from across the MENA region converge on Beirut and go head to head. Pro-tip: if you know Arabic, watch Kalach vs. Al Darwish for some heavy duty social commentary about the tension between Syrian refugees and Lebanese citizens.

The aftermath of the Beirut Port Explosion

• Video: "