“I empathize more with someone orphaned from his mother than from his land, for if you know your mother, you know where your real roots lie.” Giving a voice to the oppressed through art, Jordanian/Palestinian rapper Emsallam brings to life the modern realities of Palestinians and the journey of selfhood during a pertinent time of cultural threat. Emsallam’s 3rd album ”Dyslexia” is produced by his long-time partner, The Archiducer (Ayman Al Salhi), and is the first album with the Jordanian music label Keife Records. In ”Dyslexia”, this album continues to reveal Emsallam’s uniquely theatrical and emotionally charged performances and songwriting amongst the region’s hip-hop/rap and trap scenes. While Emsallam’s earlier work would often express abhorrence towards Middle Eastern societies’ hypocrisy, he transitions towards a less confrontational position that infuses more spiritual influences. The album name ”Dyslexia” encapsulates a coming of age for Emsallam symbolically. Born to a traditional and conservative family that was exiled from Palestine to Jordan in 1967, Emsallam’s family never acknowledged, or was willing to investigate his believed Dyslexia and dismissed it all along. “To them, poor reading skills were simply the result of not reading enough…
Jordaninan/Palestinian Artist Emsallam Gives Voice to the Oppressed and Challenges Taboo Subjects in ‘Dyslexia’
November 3, 2020
