Everybody knows that post-revolutionary Tunisian underground hiphop is cool. Until I got my bars together for the song that will ignite my status as a bonafide citizen of Bizerte’s North side Rapdom, I was set on doing the next coolest thing which is write about underground rap for Nawaat.
All that glitters: Tunisian Democratic-Exception?
Media coverage of the MENA region is plagued by blanket statements and superficial analysis. International news outlets reserve even the right to name events. The so-called Arab Spring is an example of a de facto forced label. I will proceed to call the events bundled as such, rightfully and as their proponents overwhelmingly agree: Arab Revolutions. To the matter at hand: Tunisia’s ongoing general elections are hailed as the sole success-story of the Arab revolutions. Democratic transitions are complicated and that statement is a gross Orientalist over-simplification.
Mediterranean: will Demographics demolish the iron-wall?!
The history of the cultures and nations present today on the northern and southern banks of the Mediterranean are interwoven. Through the complex interactions of people living on both sides emerges the rich cultural mosaics of much of the old world.