By Johanna C. Scully
Ever heard of an Arabic rapper? Well there is one budding right here on the campus. Following in Eminem’s footsteps as a pioneer of his race, struggling to make an entrance into a historically Black hip hop scene, Azal Ahmed, a 20-year-old International Business major, has big dreams for his future and for the future of his people.
He goes by the name Drastic, named from an underground Eminem song called ‘Drastic Measures.’ While getting his degree and education is important to him, his writing and rapping are foremost on his list, as is actively participating in Sixth Element, the campus organization that works to unite different groups of people through hip hop. He’s also working to create a self-buzz by performing at open mics, battles and other events at the University and around the area.
On March 18, he got the audience of the Sixth Element open mic in the Greenhouse of the Student Center jumping out of their chairs in astonishment at his rhymes. Three weeks later, he rocked the crowd at the South Asian Students Association (SASA) Fashion show in Adams Playhouse. On Thursday April 21, he is performing at another Sixth Element open mic in the Greenhouse. Also, on May 4 he will open for Jurassic 5, a well-known California – based rap group and on May 5, he will battle whoever dares go up against him, including the Stony Brook University champion, Big Red. Both events will be at Hofstra USA.
For all those who don’t know, battling is a truly difficult work of art involving two rappers, face to face, spitting rhymes at one another, one at a time. The raps are supposed to be improvisation and quick in retaliation to whatever the other person just said. Imagine Eminem in 8 Mile; once you get put on the spot it’s unbelievably hard to think of something to say in a matter of seconds.
“In a battle, I’m lookin’ at the other guy and I’ll see what he’s wearing, I’ll see who he came with and if he had a girl, I might just turn my back on him and start rapping to this girl. When I’m sayin’ a line, I’m thinkin’ about the next line. I’m always thinkin’ ahead,” he says.
He always brainstorms about what the other person could possibly say about him. One time, after 9/11, he knew the other guy was going to say something relating Arabs to terrorists, so he already had comebacks in his head. And at the March 18 battle during the Sixth Element open mic against another rapper named Sanatra, Ahmed literally walked circles around him and then yelled into the mic, “And everybody goes through his girl; we call her the Unispan!” The idea is to bash the opponent into speechlessness.
From Brooklyn, but with roots in Palestine and Yemen, he became an only child in 1993 when his sister died. He started rhyming in sixth grade and he continued to goof around throughout junior high, but in high school he became serious when more and more people, upon hearing him rap, kept telling him he had to do something with his talent.
“I didn’t always know I had talent. My friends in high school were harsh critics of me. They were real and if I wrote a wack verse, they would be like ‘Don’t ever say that again.’ I loved this part the most. It helped me grow as a songwriter,” he says.
In college, the self-induced pressure to succeed in the industry keeps escalating for Ahmed. He’s constantly writing lyrics and recording in the studio with his producer/manager, Alex Huve, 23, a junior Film Studies/Production major at the University and vice-president of Sixth Element. Huve says what makes Drastic stand out from everyone else is his crazy punch lines, so creative, they leave you speechless.
“I met Azal freshman year in Alliance. I was making beats in my room, he came and introduced himself and we’ve been friends ever since. I used to be a producer in France and then I kind of stopped, but coming to the University and meeting Azal made me want to get into it again. Working with his untouchable talent has definitely made me a better producer,” Huve said.
In addition to recording, Ahmed has been making mixed tapes to send out to other studios and battling in Times Square and in the Village. He always has earphones on, instrumentals playing in his head, and notebook in pocket, so that when a hot line hits him, he can jot it down. When he’s walking around, he’s visualizing his writing and scanning his surroundings for new ideas to rhyme about.
But don’t make the mistake of thinking that Drastic is just another voice rapping about materialism and sex. He calls himself a politician, but a good one, without the superficiality and propaganda; one who will be able to make people listen to something they haven’t heard before, one who will be able to make changes in the lives of Americans and Arabs alike.
“Rappers nowadays do publicity stunts and make watered down music. I’m different. Not only am I going to be the first big time Arab rapper in the U.S., I’m gonna make people feel my music. If I’m rapping about death, I want the listener to feel like he’s dyin.’ If I’m rapping about struggling in something, I want the listener to feel like he’s bein’ torn apart. I’m tryin’ to write from the heart,” he says.
It’s not about the money or the fame for Ahmed. He wants to be able to have the means to help the children, such as his cousins, who are struggling to survive in Palestine. Then he adds that he doesn’t want to single out any group of people, he wants to help all people in general, give back to the kids and take care of his mother.
“I know every rapper says that he’s gonna stay humble when he makes it, but it’s so not my character to have the mansion, the three cars, to be iced out in every aspect of life. I thank God every day that I’m walkin’, talkin’. I carry myself like I’m cocky, but it’s all part of the act of the battle.”
Not only is he trying to be modest, he’s assessing every obstacle that could get in the way of his dreams. Not wanting anyone to be able to say he’s not a true Arab, he’s studying Arabic intensively at Hofstra, wanting his to be more perfect than his English.
But besides this, he loves when people are against him because at least they are listening. He wants to be controversial, stating he’s in love with people hating him, imagining himself in a couple years on CNN, being scrutinized, but staying real. Muhammed Ali is his foremost inspiration since he stood up for what he believed in, sacrificed three years from his athletic prime to not support the Vietnam War and he was outspoken, not caring what people thought about him.
“I see myself as one of a kind – an Arabic rapper. In the beginning, I idolized Eminem because he was white and so different. The whole Marshall Mathers, Slim Shady stuff, was real and from the heart. He was crazy and that’s why he was so popular. He came out of nowhere, but now he’s adapted to that gangsta music and he’s not himself anymore. I can’t conform to today’s rap because I have a mission; to change the stereotypes about Arab people and to get rid of their negative image,” he says.
Lamar Brown, a 20-year-old junior Film Studies/Production major at the University, an aspiring hip hop producer and also the president of Sixth Element, said that Drastic really came out two years ago at an open mic when he destroyed a couple of football players in a battle.
“He really has the raw talent to make it big time. He is a very powerful songwriter, real and straight from the heart. His rhymes are incredible and he really gets at the issues. Like in his song ‘Palestine’ he raps about the pain of growing up in a war-ravaged country. With a little more experience and a little work on his song structure, hooks and bridges, he could soon be the best in the business,” Brown says.
He adds that some labels might want Drastic to work on his look, but he acknowledges that this is not what Ahmed is about. Ahmed’s goal is to wow people with the eloquence of his rhymes and the truth of his words.
Right now, Drastic has eight songs recorded graced with emotional lyrics such as these:
Thank God I’m living to this day/ these ain’t words/ but emotions scribbled on a page/ so want to look at my life/ just look what I write/ the joy I cherish/ the pain that hurts/ it’s in my verse/ it’s all lined up in my head/ my sense of humor minus the cheers/ me crying minus the tears/ the note I feel/ the thing called love/ you could see me dying and the ink’s my blood/ so as if the more I write/ then the more it gets hot/ the more blood on the paper/ I gotta reset.
You’ll have to go to the events listed above to hear the rest of his raps and to get news on when his album is coming out. Laid back in jeans and a hoodie, with hair buzzed short, Ahmed describes his rap style the best.
“I don’t have no label on my rap. It’s just real, it’s not conscious, it’s not gangsta, it’s just me.”