U.S. Embassy Hosts Hip-Hop Group ‘Native Deen’
The U.S. Embassy in Beirut hosted Native Deen for the Lebanese leg of their 2011 middle East/North Africa tour sponsored by the U.S. Department of State from Wednesday until Saturday.
Native Deen is an American Islamic hip-hop group composed of three Muslim-Americans who use their music to promote religious tolerance and to talk about Islam, and being a Muslim in America. While in Lebanon, the group conducted workshops with local hip-hop artists, held discussion groups with Lebanese youth, and performed in both Beirut and Tripoli.
Scores of hip-hop emcees, DJs, and musicians from Beirut, Tripoli and as far away as Syria attended a workshop hosted by Al Madina Theater in Hamra. Native Deen talked about the path they took maturing from three friends performing at summer camp into an internationally successful music group and their experiences growing up as Muslim men in America. At the end of the workshop, Native Deen and all the participants performed together in an impromptu jam session that lasted 30 minutes.
Native Deen also attended an event hosted by The Hangar in cooperation with Umam Documentation-and Research where they talked about the history and culture of hip-hop music in the U.S. and discussed issues facing Muslim youth. In discussions with Lebanese youth, the group members focused on the idea that their singing is a statement of tolerance and openness: the tolerance of Islam in approaching the other and the openness of Muslims to the era and to the contemporary forms of expressions.
The group also gave two performances, in Beirut and Tripoli. More than 300 attendees packed the Al Madina Theater in Hamra, Beirut to hear Native Deen on September 23 and more than 200 attended a September 24th concert hosted by Al Rabitat Al Thaqafiat, in Tripoli.
For more information and photos from the event, check out the U.S. Embassy Beirut Facebook page: www.facebook.com/USEmbassyBeirut
Native Deen continues their Middle East/North Africa Tour with stops in Algiers, Algeria and Casablanca, Morocco. You can follow Native Deen’s tour on the web and Facebook at http://nativedeen.com/2011/ and http://www.facebook.com/nativedeen
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