Arab Money Offence

It is great to see a member of the Arab community make a stand and rebuke the song made by a longstanding veteran in the hip hop community who should know better. Busta Rhymes released the song "Arab Money" with what is seemingly a mock rather than a celebration of Arab culture. The truth is the song sounds stereotypical in that an arab is an Audi driving oil slick, with money touching the ceiling from petroleum refineries. And to add insult, the hook was seemingly a bunch of jibberish made to sound like an arabic phrase, which leans toward an insult to a language rather than an artistic piece. And you would think any experienced artist would only put out songs with a hook that would sum up the verses and not have incomplete sentences to place in a chorus. Either way, the Iraqi-Canadian ambassador in hip hop was outraged and put out his response to the song, being "the Real Arab Money", and put his education to use in ways that would put out any heat resulting from such an ignorant song. I'll let him do the talking...

-Husam.

Iraqi MC Offended by Busta Rhymes’ “Arab Money”
9-Dec-2008
Written by: Ashlee Todd

While hip-hop junkies and partygoers are currently bopping to Busta Rhymes and Ron Browz's new hit single, “Arab Money,” one fan feels the song is nothing to dance to. While hip-hop junkies and partygoers are currently bopping to Busta Rhymes and Ron Browz's new hit single, "Arab Money," one fan feels the song is nothing to dance to. Iraqi MC, the Narcicyst, is outraged by the lyrics and claims the track to be racist and degrading to his culture and the Arabic community. "Once again, Arabs are represented as these arm flailing, oil rich, loft having, private jet taking, camel toe lady bangin', desert camel riding, bearded sand men," said the Narcicyst, who deemed it a bigger disappointment that the song came from the hip-hop community.

Disturbed by the song’s message, Narcicyst took a break from his current project, a feature film he was shooting in Dubai, UAE, to record a response track entitled "The Real Arab Money." According to the rapper, entertainment companies are being suspended for playing Busta’s version in the UK and most citizens have publicly announced they are heavily offended by it. The Narcicyst says he admires Busta Rhymes’s talents as an artist and in no way will stop being a loyal fan to him, but wants the MC to acknowledge this time he may have gone too far.

"You would think, at a sensitive time like this, that if anyone knew what it felt like to be boxed in it would be the African-American community in America. We are of the same strife. Public Enemy #1 is now Arab/Muslim males. What did they try to do to Obama during his campaign to destroy him? They made him out to be a closet Muslim. Like that is a bad thing, to be a Muslim. It's all one big f**k-up, as you can see, it’s deeper than the song itself, it’s the principle."

Narcicyst believes strongly in rebuilding Iraq and dispelling any stereotypes cast upon its society. The rapper is set to release his new album , PHATWA, in early 2009. A full remix to "The Real Arab Money" has been added featuring Arab rappers Omar Offendum, Cilvaringz, Salah Edin, and Palestine.

"As a person of his [Busta Rhymes] stature, I would have expected more and would have loved to see our people celebrated for our culture and not our money. I just think the song wasn't calculated right. Get an Arab dude on the hook, talk about the reality. I respect that it was an attempt at bridging the gap, but unfortunately it did the total opposite," said Narcicyst.

Source: http://thecelebritycafe.com/features/22477.html.