Front Page   << PREVIOUS - 10 - NEXT>>  Index Page      DARG TEAM ... The Beginning And The    Responsibilities   By Fadi M. Bakheet       It was 2003 in Gaza city, a new culture was beginning to develop. A few young men wanted to try something they have seen everyday on their TV screens. It is the time of globalization and they see globalization as a problem, but thanks to the computers they think they found some solution to their oppression. These young men sat behind the computers and started Googling “what the Hip-Hop culture is all about.”   “We already wore western clothes, not knowing there was any meaning or symbols associated with Hip-Hop fashion. We started to read about the ideology, reasoning and the real culture behind all of it, which at the beginning didn’t leave much impression on us, but as we progressed on our journey and gained more experiences- Hip-Hop became deeper and deeper ingrained in us.  We don’t care about cars, money, or sex, which is portrayed by the mass media. We care about conscious Hip-Hop, the one which has deeper meaning and fights against the discrimination.   Today Palestinian Hip Hop goes beyond any fashion fever. It became something quite interesting, ..something revolutionary, something that became part of our Palestinian society in both regions of West Bank and Gaza strip despite of the distance between these two places.   DAM was the pioneers who placed Palestine on the Hip-Hop map world wide.   Critics say that Hip-Hop is something Palestinians should not get involved in, or that we will never be ever able to handle, but we saw the opportunity Hip-Hop was giving us is a contribution to our revolution. We are able to deliver through the music very powerful messages and paint the real picture of suffering and pain, that type of picture only media are feeding on but at the same time are very cautious about. Our type of art can tell you a lot of information in very free flowing rhythm.   Israelis are very much aware of our new culture and the free speech we are using to tell the truth about what is going on here.   Palestinian Hip-Hop made a break through, thanks to the talents, revolutionaries, and ambassadors of the DAM band. Thanks to them the politics around changed as the music spread throughout the region, but we see Gaza in which we live in still as a hot zone.   Sometime in 2004 the DARG TAM was put in the position of increased responsibilities as we were gaining popularity. Then the Sling Shot Hip-Hop film came along and showed us the different and common issues we face on daily bases with our Palestinian brothers and sisters from the 84’ land.   DARG TEAM itself was not involved in this film, but our friends with whom we are in constant contact were, and because we are all part of the larger movement this film made great impact on us as well. We became even more involved in politics and the improvement of Gazan’s lives afterwards.   Today we are in touch with many people who tasted some of our work and we expanded our networks. We won the first national Hip Hop competition in 2009 here, now our first album is available by a Denmark label. We also plan to become more professional and we would like to create some projects with people from the 48’ land; West Bank, Gaza, then perhaps with Denmark, Switzerland, Egypt and Turkey where we are already known.     When looking back, we can say we have accomplished a lot of projects, we also know there are still many projects to come. We are proud of the work we have accomplished. We gained some respect and interest from the world, but there is still a lot of work to do, to bring many older and younger generations into revolutionary thinking. Spreading the word though music- we see it as a contribution to the struggle.   We are just hoping that this revolutionary march will never stop till the truth of injustice that we live under, the suffering of occupation, siege, discrimination, the wall dividing West Bank, the settlements and more is over and we will one day become a free Palestine.”     DARG TEAM. Da Arabian Revolutionary Guys. Gaza.       Contact us at: Fadi M. Bakheet. +970599 753 827 dargteam@gmail.com   www.myspace.com/dargteamgaza  [FREE MUSIC]   www.gazameetsgeneva.com   www.facebook.com/pages/DARG-TEAM/74903938455?ref=ts                Front Page   << PREVIOUS - 10 - NEXT>>  Index Page Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.