Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 07-21-2010 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Music, Comedy
Beauty and the East TV’s coverage of comedian Max Amini’s backstage rap with performers Ne Means, Stevie Soul, and Tehran Ghasri
Tags: Max Amini, Ne Means, Stevie Soul, Tehran Ghasri, Exotic Imports, Beauty and the East TV, Mariam Wardak, Samira Atash, Alina Atash
Facebook
Reddit
StumbleUpon
TwitThis
Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 06-25-2010 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Music
The theme song to the 2010’s World Cup is performed by a skinny Somali singer in baggy pants and a fedora, the voice of the biggest global marketing campaign ever undertaken by the world’s most iconic brand, Coca-Cola. The singer in the Coke ads is K’Naan, a former refugee from one of the poorest, most violent cities on earth. And all across the globe, people are humming the irresistible chorus to his official World Cup song, “Wavin’ Flag”. The road to global stardom has had many twists and turns, a hip-hop fairytale even Hollywood would shy away from. K’Naan has lived through civil war, seen friends shot dead before his eyes, spent months in jail, been beaten up by bouncers in a Swedish nightclub. And now he’s travelling the world in Coca-Cola’s World Cup jet, singing about unity and celebration.
So why did a multinational soft drinks conglomerate choose a third-world rebel icon to front its campaign? A practising Muslim who lived the horror of war as a boy and who raps against injustice and oppression?
The answer lies in Africa, the world’s last emerging market, where music and soccer have huge grassroots appeal—and massive marketing potential. Coke wanted a developing-world star, a modern-day Bob Marley with street cred. They found him in K’Naan.
Tags:
Facebook
Reddit
StumbleUpon
TwitThis
Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 06-11-2010 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Music
Eastern Arts dancer Jamie Sours dances “Afghan stop style”, a traditional dance from the Logar province:
Tags: jamie sours, eastern arts, afghan logari dance
Facebook
Reddit
StumbleUpon
TwitThis
Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 02-03-2010 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Music
Junoon—which in the Urdu language means passion—is the name of the band led by Salman Ahmad. Ahmad’s new autobiography, Rock & Roll Jihad: A Muslim Rock Star’s Revolution, is the story of his passion for making music and of rock as a force to unite people.
Here’s a little bit more about Salman:
Tags: Salman Ahmad, Rock-n-Roll Jihad
Facebook
Reddit
StumbleUpon
TwitThis
Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 02-01-2010 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Music
Ahmad Zahir is the latest of NPR’s 50 Great Voices: influential singers around the world — living or dead, famous or not. Zahir was, and still is, the most famous singer in Afghanistan, often compared to Elvis. Like Elvis, the Afghan singer touched generations and kept his fan base for decades after he died in the 1970s.
Zahir’s rendition of Elvis Presley’s “It’s Now or Never” :
Tags: Ahmad Zahir, NPR's 50 Great Voices
Facebook
Reddit
StumbleUpon
TwitThis
Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 01-27-2010 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Music
Famous Muslim faces in hip-hop: Chamillionaire (aka Hakeem Sekir), T-Pain (aka Rasheed Najm), Akon (aka Aliaune Badara Akon Thiam), Ice Cube, Lupe Fiasco (aka Wasalu Muhammad Jaco), Ghostface Killah, Mos Def, Busta Ryhmes, Q-tip (aka Kamaal Ibn John Fareed), and more
Tags: muslim hip-hop
Facebook
Reddit
StumbleUpon
TwitThis
Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 01-05-2010 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Music
DJ Khaled, born November 26, 1975 in New Orleans, Louisiana is a Palestinian-American rapper and DJ. His debut album, Listennn… The Album, was released in stores on June 6th, 2006. He is DJ in South Florida and has worked with some of the biggest names in hip-hop.
Tags:
Facebook
Reddit
StumbleUpon
TwitThis
Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 10-16-2009 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Music, Comedy, Film/TV, Leaders/Stories, Travel, Art/Books, Fashion-Eastas, Fashion, Beauty, Episodes
Got talent? Beauty and the East TV is looking for emerging Muslim musicians, comedians, actors, film-makers, designers, dancers, and hosts to feature in our new episodes! For details, watch this video:
Tags:
Facebook
Reddit
StumbleUpon
TwitThis
Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 09-29-2009 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Music
In a post-911 era, one of many identities that are being asserted is a Muslim punk rock movement which began in 2003 when convert to Islam, Michael Muhammad Knight self-published his book, The Taqwacores, about a fictional Muslim punk scene in Buffalo, New York. From there emerged the real deal - bands like The Kominas, Vote Hezbollah, Al Thawra, Omar Waqar, and Secret Trial Five, an all-girl punk band out of Vancouver, Canada.
The most popular out of the bunch - The Kominas - are a Boston-based band who feel punk music is a way to rebel against their conservative cultural upbringing and the frustrations of growing up Muslim in America. Punk is not my favorite type of music (I’d rather get bashed in the head with a frying pan), but it’s still interesting to see this movement spring up in the U.S. In the summer of 2007, five of the Taqwacore bands organized a “taqwa-tour” of the northeastern United States. Here is a clip:
Tags:
Facebook
Reddit
StumbleUpon
TwitThis
Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 08-08-2009 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Music
For those of you into dance music, you probably have heard of Nadia Ali’s 2001 hit Rapture. Since then, she has become an international sensation, with tracks like Who is Watching, a collaboration with DJ/ Producer Armin Van Buuren. Something to Lose and Crash and Burn followed suit in 2006 and 2008. Crash and Burn became a club smash, reaching the top 10 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Play Chart. On February 10, 2009, Nadia released her follow-up single to Crash and Burn, called Love Story exclusively on BeatPort. The single proved to be a club success, reaching number one on Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Play Chart in April of 2009.
Nadia Ali was born in Libya to Pakistani parents in 1980. The family relocated to Queens, New York City, when she was still a small child, and has remained there until this day.
Tags:
Facebook
Reddit
StumbleUpon
TwitThis
Are you a Muslim/Middle-Eastern/South Asian actor, musician, singer, comedian, designer, film-maker, journalist/host, or have a special story? Show us what you got!
