Enough!

Tracing its roots back to Africa's long-standing poetic tradition, hip hop in North Africa has always had a large following.  Rap maintaining a strong anti-government focus has ruled the streets across North Africa for years.  The following video from rap duo Y-Crew has remained an underground hit for years:

Recently though, due to widespread unrest across the region, hip hop artists have garnered worldwide attention, producing what has become a soundtrack for revolution.  The most popular group to emerge from North Africa recently is a collective of 8 hip hop artists who go by the moniker Khalas, which means "Enough!"  The members of Khalas come from diverse locations, 3 artists from Tunisia, 3 from Egypt, 1 from Algeria, and one from Libya, yet they all share the same goal of protesting the corrupt regimes and dictators that have plagued their nations for decades.  Khalas have adopted a violent form of hip hop, directly their words right at their nations' corrupt governments and calling together their countrymen to stand up against oppression.  This style is evident throughout their recently released Mixtape Vol. 1, entitled Mish B3eed, or "Not Far" in English:






One of the mixtape's most powerful tracks is Ramy Donjewan's "Against the Government."  In this song, Donjewan attacks Egypt's government with a laundry list of complaints.  Furthermore, Donjewan employs pathos, calling out the wrongdoings of the government against the common man, in attempt to call together a revolution. 

Translated into English, the chorus' lyrics are:

Your blood, the government's shedding it

Your nation, they've exhausted it

Your religion, they've targeted it

Your portion... they've swallowed it

While each song describes the unique circumstances in each artist's country and carries with it the subtleties of local dialects, the most important aspect of Mish B3eed is the unifying factor that highlights the extraordinary similarity of each artist's struggles.