Latlateh & Chyno X Al Rajul Al Hadidi, Alo Wala & Bei Ru Live @ Trainstation

Curated by renowned Lebanese hip-hop pioneer Wael Kodeih aka Rayess Bek, Beirut & Beyond 2016 will take place in Beirut from Thursday 8 to Sunday 11 December. Three different venues will host celebrated and yet to be discovered artists from Lebanon, the Arab region and beyond.

Night Program:

Latlateh & Chyno X Al Rajul Al Hadidi (Syria/Lebanon)
In keeping with its tradition of encouraging novel music collaborations and pairings, BBIMF is proud to present this new collaboration between Syrian hip-hop crew Latlateh and Lebanese duo Chyno x Al Rajul Al Hadidi. Chyno x Al Rajul Al Hadidi is the highly successful pairing of hip-hop with drum machines. Groovy beats, hard-hitting basslines and potent lyrics are some of the trademarks of this duo, founded in 2015 by Syrian/Philippino hip-hop artist Chyno (from hip-hop crew Fareeq el Atrash) and Lebanese beat-maker Nabil Saliba aka Al Rajul Al Hadidi. Watar and Bu Kolthoum formed hip-hop crew Latlateh in Damascus, Syria in 2011. The band’s name comes from the Arabic idea of ‘pep talk’ or ‘street talk’. Latlateh aims to express the yearning of the common people and provide an outlet for ideas and social truths that remain otherwise untold. Their music consists of a finely-honed blend of hip-hop, jazz, soul and classical Arab music. The duo was forced to leave Syria in 2013 due to the ongoing civil war, with band members relocating to Lebanon and France.

Alo Wala (Denmark)
Alo Wala is the explosive result of a meeting between Shivani Ahlowalia, a female Punjabi-Indian rapper from Chicago, and Danish production unit Copia Doble Systema, known for experimenting in everything from reinterpretations of traditional Cumbia to Italian Gangsta Rap. Alo Wala is the sound of a new Europe, a new world, and a new way of thinking about one another as belonging to an interconnected global society. Alo Wala spent much of the last couple of years on tour, opening several shows for renowned electro-Kuduro outfit Buraka Som Sistema, and sharing the stage with Run DMC & Mobb Deep, among others. She is currently working on her next release with producers Clap Clap and Branko from Buraka Som Sistema.

Bei Ru (Armenia)
Baruir Panossian aka Bei Ru is an Armenian-American producer and composer known for his blending of Middle Eastern rhythms with electronic sounds and live instrumentation. He was born to Armenian immigrants from Lebanon in Los Angeles, California, and would often cite the old Armenian records his parents listened to in the family home, as a main influence on his music. Bei Ru first came to prominence with Little Armenia L.A (2010), an album created using almost entirely samples of Armenian music. His next album, Saturday Night at The Magic Lamp (2014), expertly navigated the realms of electronica, funk and hip-hop, mixed with Middle Eastern influences and live percussion. In the same year, Bei Ru contributed three songs to stylish Iranian vampire western A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night. He has just released his third album, L.A. Zooo