Saudi radio personality and regional hip-hop guru, Hassane ‘Big Hass’ Dennaoui, has released the first of what is looks set to be a string of singles that will see him recruit some of the best rappers as part of his #SpitterLockdown initiative.
No, Hass isn’t about to launch a rap career - but he is playing a sort-of curation role that all started at 2019’s Sole DXB. There, Hass launched the ‘Spitter’ concept that challenged rappers to spit their very best. Once the Corona lockdown set in and all public events were cancelled, Spitter became #SpitterLockdown, with Hass sending out beats and challenging rappers to do their thing.
The concept has taken another step forward, with Hass stating that he wanted to create more than social media content - he wants to create hits. And so here we are with the debut release of the project, ‘Harib’, featuring Saudi rappers Al9ine & Blvxb, who spit on a beat from UAE-based Egyptian producer, Big Moe.
‘Harib’ (which means fight) is a hardbody, boom-bap hip-hop track in the classic style of 80s/90s East Coast hip-hop. Lebanese turntablist, DJ Lethal Skillz, also hops on the track to provide some intricate scratching, a-la DJ Premiere. It represents the kind of hip-hop that has largely taken a back seat to the increasingly popular trap stylings you can now find everywhere from Egypt to Palestine - and it’s for that reason that it comes as a breath of fresh air.
