It’s time for these names-to-know to take centre stage

Meet three powerhouse Arab female rappers about to take over the music industry
Meet three powerhouse Arab female rappers about to take over the music industry
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@N1yah

Her liner’s always sharp, and her bars always hard. Lebanese-born, Dubai- based artist N1yah isn’t here to play…

Cosmo: Did you always know that you wanted be a rapper?

N: I’ve always loved music, but my sister was actually the star of the show, but when she stopped rapping I thought

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@Alya.singsz 
There’s nothing ‘lil’ about this young queen. Her flows are tight and her voice is divine; this 15-year- old R&B artist is here to take her spot.

Cosmo: How did you get into music?

Alya: I was born into the industry. My mum’s an R&B soul singer, my grandma was a jazz singer, and my great granddad was a piano player. It kind of runs through the family. When I was 10 I used to stand on the balcony and teach myself the dances from Beyonce videos, and I always just really loved it.

C: Which musicians are you inspired by?

A: I love hip-hop, R&B, and rap, so Beyonce inspires me a lot because her music is an amalgamation of all
of those genres. I also love Lauryn Hill, I think that she’s amazing at writing lyrics; I love Cardi B for not caring about anything; and also Snoop Doggy Dogg, Warren G, and Biggie Smalls.

C: Your music has a distinct grime influence, too…

A: I love the London grime scene. Like, hardcore Grime, so my music is very inspired by it.

C: How does it feel to be an Arab woman being given a platform in the music industry?

A: We’re starting to find our sense of place. It’s an honour to be able to finally have such great opportunities and be allowed to showcase our music to the world.

C: What’s the best bar you’ve heard?

A: I love Chance The Rapper, he’s an excellent lyricist. In one of his songs with Ty Dollar $ign, he said;

I speak of promised lands
Soil as soft as mama’s hands
Running water, standing still
Endless fields of daffodils and chamomile
Rice under black beans….

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@Malikah61music

Twenty years on the rap scene, but she’s still coming for your edges with hard bars. Oh, and she’ll make you move your hips whilst at it.

Cosmo: What did your parents say when you went got into rap music 20 years ago?

M: When I started in 2000 there wasn’t much noise around the Arabic hip-hop scene in Lebanon – it was just starting to pick up and there was no medium for me to find out about rap in other countries, as we didn’t have social media at the time. I started rapping as a hobby when I was in Lebanon. I just always wanted to sing. My brother exposed me to hip-hop music and I just loved how empowering it was. Back then, everybody would make fun of us for rapping. We used to meet in the street or in a nice park and just cypher. It was really the start of the Arabic hip-hop movement. I started rapping in English, and in 2006 I swapped to Arabic and changed my name to Malikah, which means queen in Arabic.

C: You have a 9-5 job. What is stopping you from going into music full-time?

M: Unless your music is mainstream, you won’t really be able to make enough of an income from it, and I always knew that. I always knew that I was part of this new music genre of Arab hip-hop, and therefore would never be mainstream. I’d rather stay true to myself than try and become something else in order to make money.

C: How has the representation of Arab women in rap changed over the last 20 years?

M: When I first started, being a female rapper was frowned upon. Even coming from Lebanon, where I had

an open-minded family, my parents were still against it. I had to cover my face for two years when I performed because I didn’t want my family to know about my new hobby. And on top of that, I had to work twice as hard and be twice as good as the best male rapper to get the respect I deserved.

C: What do you want the legacy of Arab woman to be in music?

M: I have always wanted to change the stereotype. The stereotypes of Arabs make me angry and I want to show the world who we truly are. We’re great people, we’re a great nation, we’re very nice and welcoming, and we’re strong. I was honoured to be able to represent Arab women and stand on a massive stage in the UK and show them that we are strong and talented.

C: What’s the best bar from one of your songs?

M: There’s one where I say “I am a woman, I am free, I am a wall that you cannot break, and I can be mean if I need to, I am the light, I am the biggest pillar in my age, and I am the leader.”

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