Arabic Hip Hop - Musical Influence

Musical Influence

Arabic hip-hop artists, commensurate with those of the overall genre, engage in the process of sampling. According to Jannis Androutsopoulos, sampling is "a process of cultural literacy and intertextual reference... taken from various domains, such as traditional folk music, contemporary popular music, mass media samples, and even poetry." Artists in the genre cite musical references, influences, and sampling material from a number of contemporary and classical sources, including 20th century Lebanese singers Fairuz, Majida al-Roumi, and Julia Boutros, as well as a number of modern mainstream and underground hip-hop artists, and regional music styles from countries such as Jamaica. Arabic hip hop artists have used full Arabic orchestras in beat-making as well as beats inspired by traditional Arabic music styles.

Certain regional variations of the music, most notably French and Northern African styles, incorporate influences from the musical genre known as Raï, "a form of folk music that originated in Oran, Algeria from Bedouin shepherds, mixed with Spanish, French, African and Arabic musical forms, which dates back to the 1930s." (Wikipedia, "Rai")