Eslam Jawaad
Encyclopedia
Wissam Khodur better known as Eslam Jawaad , is a rapper of Lebanese
-Syria
n origin. His debut album, The Mammoth Tusk
, was released in 2009.
However, Jawaad stated in an interview that fellow Foos-Hop act Black Bannerz have surpassed him in the art form due to their superior grasp and understanding of the Arabic tongue.
Wu-Tang Clan affiliate rapper/producer Cilvaringz
heard his work and invited him to the Netherlands to form the Arab super group Arap with fellow Morroccan MC Salah Edin, which has now expanded to include Shadia Mansour, The Narcicyst, Ledr P, Omar Offendum, DJ Lady S, and DJ Vans. Since then Salah has left the group after a fallout between him and then-manager Cilvaringz.
Cilvaringz included Jawaad in the 10th anniversary Wu-Tang Killa Bees Tour in 28 cities across Europe. It was also Cilvaringz that helped secure collaborations between Jawaad and Aftermath producer Focus, as well as Wu-Tang Clan's RZA
. De La Soul
and Damon Albarn
also made an appearance on his debut album after Jawaad struck friendships with them following an appearance by Jawaad on The Good, The Bad and The Queen
's track "Mr. Whippy". Jawaad and Albarn have since worked together on a number of projects. Jawaad also appeared on the live version of the iconic Gorillaz
' song Clint Eastwood
when the group performed on their Escape to Plastic Beach World Tour
in Damascus
.
Other than the bands he has officially toured with, Jawaad has shared the stage with artists from a wide genre of music including Amadu and Miriam, Femi Kuti, Super Furry Animals, The Magic Numbers, Drew McConnel (Babyshambles), Sam Duckworth (Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly), Franz Ferdinand, De La Soul, Bobby Womack, Manu Caio and the list goes on.
De La Soul producer/DJ Maceo has pledged to contribute beats to the project as has Focus, the Last Skeptic and Slipperz. Features are rumored with Hassan Salaam, Low Key, and Somali/Canadian artist K'naan
. An official track list has not yet been released.
Jawaad is father of three children and currently resides in London. He has always expressed an interest in the business side of the industry and has been active as a booking agent, a tour manager and more recently as an executive producer. As well as organizing and arranging some recordings for Gorillaz "Plastic Beach" in Damascus, Syria, He is currently co-executive producing the new Wu Tang album produced by Cilvaringz and is set to include all the original Clan members, including the late Ol' Dirty Bastard.
Jawaad's debut album The Mammoth Tusk was released in 2009, featuring De La Soul
, Damon Albarn
, and Wu Tang Clan's GZA
and RZA
. He is also featured on the track "Mr. Whippy" by The Good, the Bad & the Queen (only released on the "Herculean
" single). Other releases include:
His song "Pivot Widdit" was used in the to Dubai film City of Life, and "Siasa" in Rendition
.
Lebanese people
The Lebanese people are a nation and ethnic group of Levantine people originating in what is today the country of Lebanon, including those who had inhabited Mount Lebanon prior to the creation of the modern Lebanese state....
-Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
n origin. His debut album, The Mammoth Tusk
The Mammoth Tusk
The Mammoth Tusk is the debut album by Lebanese-Syrian rapper Eslam Jawaad, the album was released on the 6th July 2009. It features guest collaborations from: Miskeena, Lord Sear, Shadia Mansour, and Rude Jude. The album also features more mainstream acts including: De La Soul, frontman of: Blur,...
, was released in 2009.
Career
Amongst the styles he works with, Jawaad was the first MC in the Arab world to write and record entire verses in what he coined "Foos-Hop". A rap style delivered in classical Foos-Ha Arabic. These first recordings were with producer/DJ Makrodot and were recorded in Beirut in 2000. They formed his first demo which he took to the UK in 2003 and started his professional career with.However, Jawaad stated in an interview that fellow Foos-Hop act Black Bannerz have surpassed him in the art form due to their superior grasp and understanding of the Arabic tongue.
Wu-Tang Clan affiliate rapper/producer Cilvaringz
Cilvaringz
Tarik Azzougarh, better known as Cilvaringz, is a rapper, manager and hip hop producer associated with the Wu-Tang Clan.- Personal :Lives in Marrakech, Morocco...
heard his work and invited him to the Netherlands to form the Arab super group Arap with fellow Morroccan MC Salah Edin, which has now expanded to include Shadia Mansour, The Narcicyst, Ledr P, Omar Offendum, DJ Lady S, and DJ Vans. Since then Salah has left the group after a fallout between him and then-manager Cilvaringz.
Cilvaringz included Jawaad in the 10th anniversary Wu-Tang Killa Bees Tour in 28 cities across Europe. It was also Cilvaringz that helped secure collaborations between Jawaad and Aftermath producer Focus, as well as Wu-Tang Clan's RZA
RZA
Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, better known by his stage name RZA , is an American Grammy-winning music producer, multi-instrumentalist, author, emcee, and occasional actor, director, and screenwriter. A prominent figure in Hip Hop, RZA is the de facto leader of the Wu-Tang Clan. He has produced almost...
. De La Soul
De La Soul
De La Soul is an American hip hop trio formed in 1987 on Long Island, New York. The band is best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative hip hop subgenres...
and Damon Albarn
Damon Albarn
Damon Albarn is an English singer-songwriter and record producer who has been involved in many high profile projects, coming to prominence as the frontman and primary songwriter of Britpop band Blur...
also made an appearance on his debut album after Jawaad struck friendships with them following an appearance by Jawaad on The Good, The Bad and The Queen
The Good, the Bad and the Queen
The Good, the Bad & the Queen is the album by an ostensibly unnamed British alternative rock supergroup also commonly referred to as The Good, The Bad & The Queen, and made up of Damon Albarn, Paul Simonon, Simon Tong and Tony Allen. The album was released in January 2007...
's track "Mr. Whippy". Jawaad and Albarn have since worked together on a number of projects. Jawaad also appeared on the live version of the iconic Gorillaz
Gorillaz
Gorillaz is an English musical project created in 1998 by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. This project consists of Gorillaz music itself and an extensive fictional universe depicting a "virtual band" of cartoon characters...
' song Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood (song)
"Clint Eastwood" is a song by Gorillaz. It was released as the first single from their debut album in March 2001. It peaked at #4 in the UK and #57 in the US on 11 September 2001. The single has sold 480,000 copies in the UK according to the Official UK Charts Company. The song is a mix of...
when the group performed on their Escape to Plastic Beach World Tour
Escape to Plastic Beach World Tour
The Escape to Plastic Beach World Tour is a concert tour by the British virtual band Gorillaz. The tour is in support of their third studio album Plastic Beach. It is notably the band's first world tour in its decade-spanning history...
in Damascus
Damascus
Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
.
Touring
Jawaad has performed in over 150 cities in over 30 countries while on tour with The Good, The Bad and the Queen, Gorillaz, Wu-Tang Killa Beez, Fun-da-mental, Africa Exprez project, Arap, and his own Mammoth Tusk Tour.Other than the bands he has officially toured with, Jawaad has shared the stage with artists from a wide genre of music including Amadu and Miriam, Femi Kuti, Super Furry Animals, The Magic Numbers, Drew McConnel (Babyshambles), Sam Duckworth (Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly), Franz Ferdinand, De La Soul, Bobby Womack, Manu Caio and the list goes on.
Future
Jawaad is currently working on his yet to be titled second album. He has stated that he is no longer under pressure to make commercial hits, and has stuck to what he feels is real hip hop for his second album. In addition to this, Jawaad is also recording a new album with long time friend Aki Nawaz for the Fun-Da-Mental project. He continues to collaborate with various other artists.De La Soul producer/DJ Maceo has pledged to contribute beats to the project as has Focus, the Last Skeptic and Slipperz. Features are rumored with Hassan Salaam, Low Key, and Somali/Canadian artist K'naan
K'naan
K'naan , born Keinan Abdi Warsame in 1978, is a Somali Canadian poet, rapper, singer, songwriter and instrumentalist.-Biography:Born in Somalia, K'naan spent his childhood in Mogadishu and lived there during the Somali Civil War, which began in 1991. His aunt, Magool, was one of Somalia's most...
. An official track list has not yet been released.
Personal life
Note: The stories and characters (including the persona and image of "Eslam Jawaad", name and logo's) portrayed in the album "The Mammoth Tusk" and used in media interviews are all fictional and are the intellectual property of Wissam Khodur © 2009 Eslamaphobic Music Ltd.Jawaad is father of three children and currently resides in London. He has always expressed an interest in the business side of the industry and has been active as a booking agent, a tour manager and more recently as an executive producer. As well as organizing and arranging some recordings for Gorillaz "Plastic Beach" in Damascus, Syria, He is currently co-executive producing the new Wu Tang album produced by Cilvaringz and is set to include all the original Clan members, including the late Ol' Dirty Bastard.
Discography
- The Mammoth TuskThe Mammoth TuskThe Mammoth Tusk is the debut album by Lebanese-Syrian rapper Eslam Jawaad, the album was released on the 6th July 2009. It features guest collaborations from: Miskeena, Lord Sear, Shadia Mansour, and Rude Jude. The album also features more mainstream acts including: De La Soul, frontman of: Blur,...
(2009)
Jawaad's debut album The Mammoth Tusk was released in 2009, featuring De La Soul
De La Soul
De La Soul is an American hip hop trio formed in 1987 on Long Island, New York. The band is best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative hip hop subgenres...
, Damon Albarn
Damon Albarn
Damon Albarn is an English singer-songwriter and record producer who has been involved in many high profile projects, coming to prominence as the frontman and primary songwriter of Britpop band Blur...
, and Wu Tang Clan's GZA
GZA
Gary Grice , better known by his stage names GZA and The Genius, is an American hip hop artist and founding member of the seminal hip hop group the Wu-Tang Clan. He has also appeared on his fellow clan members' solo projects and has maintained a successful solo career...
and RZA
RZA
Robert Fitzgerald Diggs, better known by his stage name RZA , is an American Grammy-winning music producer, multi-instrumentalist, author, emcee, and occasional actor, director, and screenwriter. A prominent figure in Hip Hop, RZA is the de facto leader of the Wu-Tang Clan. He has produced almost...
. He is also featured on the track "Mr. Whippy" by The Good, the Bad & the Queen (only released on the "Herculean
Herculean (song)
"Herculean" is the first single by The Good, the Bad and the Queen, an alternative rock band fronted by Damon Albarn. Though Albarn later claimed that the band was unnamed, and that "The Good, The Bad & The Queen" was merely the name of band's first album, this single clearly credits the artist as...
" single). Other releases include:
- All is War by Fundamental
- I by Cilvaringz
- Today's Democracy by Darwish
- 7th Sky by Darwish
- Horr by Salah Edin
- Palestine the Album, released by 7th Century Records
- 50 Emcees, Volume 2, released by Prohibe Presents
- Keep The Grime On by Visionary Underground
- Chakal & Co. by Chakal
- Compilation by Ziyarat
His song "Pivot Widdit" was used in the to Dubai film City of Life, and "Siasa" in Rendition
Rendition (film)
Rendition is a 2007 drama film directed by Gavin Hood and starring Reese Witherspoon, Meryl Streep, Peter Sarsgaard, Alan Arkin, Jake Gyllenhaal and Omar Metwally. It centers on the controversial CIA practice of extraordinary rendition, and is based on the true story of Khalid El-Masri who was...
.