Habibi Festival is back for another year at Joe's Pub, bringing Arabs, comrades, and lovers of music together in New York in these difficult times that our nations continue to endure. And for another year, afikra was on stage to speak to the musicians and bring their conversations and performances to you on afikra's Quartertones podcast.
Who better to kick off the season with than the one and only Iraqi-Canadian rapper, writer and teacher Narcy who's been – for decades – making music about the atrocities and racism that the Arab region and people have endured. Narcy calls on his friends and peers Hamed Sinno, Nadine El Roubi, Omar Offendum & Niko to join him on stage in an evening filled with poetry, music and solidarity.
Narcy shares his journey of grieving the Iraq War and the blessing and importance of community in the ongoing healing process. He also discusses cultural production as a form of resistance, reflecting on when to be silent, when to be loud, and when to amplify one’s voice in protest. He and his wife, Sondos, have embodied these principles through Maktaba, their Montreal-based library dedicated to celebrating Arab culture, which he also speaks on.
0:00 Narcy Intro Performance
10:21 Poetry on Sudan by Nadine El Roubi
13:57 Narcy Invites Niko on Stage to Perform With Him
21:36 Who Cares If Kamala's Black?: Narcy & Omar Offendum Perform Together
25:10 Poetry by Hamed Sinno
29:36 Narcy Joins Hamed Sinno to Perform a Mashrou' Leila Track & Tribute to Narcy's Brother Nawaf
37:41 Mikey Interviews Narcy on Stage
Yassin Alsalman, better known by his stage name Narcy (formerly The Narcicyst), is an Iraqi-Canadian rapper, author, university instructor and actor who has shaped the music and culture of the Arab world. He currently resides in Montreal and has produced albums such as World War Free Now, We Are the Medium, and SpaceTime.
Follow Narcy 👉 https://www.instagram.com/narcynarce
Check out Maktaba 👉 https://www.instagram.com/maktaba.bookshop
Created with the goal of giving a snapshot of contemporary and traditional music of the South West Asia North Africa (SWANA) region, every year Habibi Festival takes listeners on a journey of the sounds wafting through the airwaves and living rooms of cities spanning Marrakech to Baghdad. This performing arts festival (now in its fourth year) is a collaboration between the Director of Joe's Pub Alex Knowlton, artist/composer/curator Yacine Boulares, and curator/producer Meera Dugal who are bonded by the goal of creating more joyful spaces for performance, conversation, and storytelling from this part of the world.
Follow Habibi Festival 👉 https://www.instagram.com/habibifestival
Hosted by Mikey Muhanna 👉 https://www.instagram.com/mikey_mu
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THIS SERIES IS PART OF THE AFIKRA PODCAST NETWORK
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ABOUT AFIKRA
afikra | عفكرة is a movement to convert passive interest in the Arab world to active intellectual curiosity. We aim to collectively reframe the dominant narrative of the region by exploring the histories and cultures of the region – past, present and future – through conversations driven by curiosity.
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