Lebanese-Palestinian rapper Anees Mokhiber has been the talk of the internet since his Instagram Live with Justin Bieber on Saturday.
The night began with an assessment of what makes good honey mustard before Anees performed a few unreleased tracks, putting his willowy, uplifting flow on display. As the rapper, who lives in the Washington DC area, began performing his latest release Slip, Bieber streamed into the conversation.
Bieber's zeal for Anees's track was immediately clear as the Baby singer began mouthing along to the lyrics. "Yes!" he said, once Anees concluded the song. "Yes! You're so talented! Hailey's over here just tripping. Oh my god, you're so talented bro. Oh my god!"
Bieber then asked the Palestinian-Lebanese rapper to perform the song one more time, telling him that more than 60,000 people were watching the live stream. "They need to see this."
“I’m not going to turn down the opportunity,” Anees said, grinning ear to ear. After Anees’s encore, the two began unpacking the sources of their musical inspiration, talking about love and marriage.
"When you have someone you love deeply, writing these lyrics comes naturally. And I feel like that's what I see in your music," Anees told Bieber.
Several leading Arab musicians responded positively to the conversation including Makoo rapper Narcy, Yalla singer Zach Matari, Be Easy singer Massari, as well as Saudi hip-hop star and radio presenter Big Hass.
With only a handful of released tracks, Anees is a relative newcomer to the scene. He began making music in late 2018, after leaving behind a career in law.
“Had I remained an attorney and followed a path that depressed me, I would be dreaming of moments like these, not living them,” he wrote on a Facebook post following his conversation with Bieber. “My point: Chase your dreams. Do it. Your dreams are only your dreams until you make them your reality. I believe in you and anything is possible with enough faith, hard work and passion!”
Anees elaborates on what inspired him to drop law for music in an interview with the non-profit organisation Palestine in America in September.
“I was freestyling before all this. That's all I was doing every day. I finished law school in 2017,” he said. “ At that point in my life, right before as I was about to get my results for the bar exam, I was in a dark place. I was not mentally well.
"Just frankly I was depressed and I did not like what I was doing. And it was a tough crossroad to be at. Because when you get to that point in your life you work so hard to finally get a degree and in everybody’s mind start that career path you would think it was a time to celebrate, but for me it was a very challenging place to be at. The whole time I was freestyling. The whole time my therapy was freestyling.”
Anees released his first song Maybe in July 2020. Though he had already established himself as a freestyle rapper on social media, and was known for his jovial lyricism and lithe delivery, the release marked the beginning of a promising career.
"That was crazy," he told Palestine in America. "Everything I've done to the point of releasing my first single was social media. Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, just advertising myself. To be able to finally put art out for people to interact with without being through the medium of social media was refreshing."
In an interview with Big Hass in April 2020, following the release of his buoyant banger Neverland Fly, Anees revealed that his aptitude for word play was clear from an early age and was rooted in his love for word games.
“Smart Mouth, Scrabble, Boggle, crossword puzzles, you name it. Finding ways to play with words, letters, syllables, has always been a rush for me. When I'm crafting rhyme schemes and word-smithing, I am truly alive,” he said, going on to list the musicians that inspire him, including Nas, Eminem, J Cole, Immortal Technique and Kanye West. “And, of course, we cannot have a discussion about inspired writing without at least reverencing the true Goat (Greatest of All Time) Khalil Gibran.” Naming some of his influences from the Arab world, Anees listed Omar Offendum, Narcy as well as the Palestinian hip-hop group Dam.
Anees’s conversation with Bieber, who has more than 169 million followers on Instagram, brought some much-deserved attention to the rapper, whose work we will all likely be seeing more of in the near future.
"I'm hungry. I want this bad,” he told Big Hass. “When I love something, when I'm truly passionate about something, there is nothing else I'd rather do. I can't do anything less than everything I can do. Every second spent working on my craft is thrilling. Every step I take in this journey is a micro-adventure. A story within a story.”
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TV: World Cup Qualifier 2018 matches will be aired on on OSN Sports HD Cricket channel
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White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Who is Mohammed Al Halbousi?
The new speaker of Iraq’s parliament Mohammed Al Halbousi is the youngest person ever to serve in the role.
The 37-year-old was born in Al Garmah in Anbar and studied civil engineering in Baghdad before going into business. His development company Al Hadeed undertook reconstruction contracts rebuilding parts of Fallujah’s infrastructure.
He entered parliament in 2014 and served as a member of the human rights and finance committees until 2017. In August last year he was appointed governor of Anbar, a role in which he has struggled to secure funding to provide services in the war-damaged province and to secure the withdrawal of Shia militias. He relinquished the post when he was sworn in as a member of parliament on September 3.
He is a member of the Al Hal Sunni-based political party and the Sunni-led Coalition of Iraqi Forces, which is Iraq’s largest Sunni alliance with 37 seats from the May 12 election.
He maintains good relations with former Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki’s State of Law Coaliton, Hadi Al Amiri’s Badr Organisation and Iranian officials.
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Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
Batti Gul Meter Chalu
Producers: KRTI Productions, T-Series
Director: Sree Narayan Singh
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Divyenndu Sharma, Yami Gautam
Rating: 2/5
Prophets of Rage
(Fantasy Records)
Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
Last-16
France 4
Griezmann (13' pen), Pavard (57'), Mbappe (64', 68')
Argentina 3
Di Maria (41'), Mercado (48'), Aguero (90 3')
RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile
Started: 2016
Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel
Based: Ramallah, Palestine
Sector: Technology, Security
# of staff: 13
Investment: $745,000
Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
How to report a beggar
Abu Dhabi – Call 999 or 8002626 (Aman Service)
Dubai – Call 800243
Sharjah – Call 065632222
Ras Al Khaimah - Call 072053372
Ajman – Call 067401616
Umm Al Quwain – Call 999
Fujairah - Call 092051100 or 092224411
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
Groom and Two Brides
Director: Elie Semaan
Starring: Abdullah Boushehri, Laila Abdallah, Lulwa Almulla
Rating: 3/5
TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
MATCH INFO
Barcelona 4 (Suarez 27', Vidal 32', Dembele 35', Messi 78')
Sevilla 0
Red cards: Ronald Araujo, Ousmane Dembele (Barcelona)
The biog
Favourite food: Fish and seafood
Favourite hobby: Socialising with friends
Favourite quote: You only get out what you put in!
Favourite country to visit: Italy
Favourite film: Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
Family: We all have one!
if you go
The flights
Emirates flies to Delhi with fares starting from around Dh760 return, while Etihad fares cost about Dh783 return. From Delhi, there are connecting flights to Lucknow.
Where to stay
It is advisable to stay in Lucknow and make a day trip to Kannauj. A stay at the Lebua Lucknow hotel, a traditional Lucknowi mansion, is recommended. Prices start from Dh300 per night (excluding taxes).
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
Essentials
The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Malaysia Airlines all fly direct from the UAE to Kuala Lumpur and on to Penang from about Dh2,300 return, including taxes.
Where to stay
In Kuala Lumpur, Element is a recently opened, futuristic hotel high up in a Norman Foster-designed skyscraper. Rooms cost from Dh400 per night, including taxes. Hotel Stripes, also in KL, is a great value design hotel, with an infinity rooftop pool. Rooms cost from Dh310, including taxes.
In Penang, Ren i Tang is a boutique b&b in what was once an ancient Chinese Medicine Hall in the centre of Little India. Rooms cost from Dh220, including taxes.
23 Love Lane in Penang is a luxury boutique heritage hotel in a converted mansion, with private tropical gardens. Rooms cost from Dh400, including taxes.
In Langkawi, Temple Tree is a unique architectural villa hotel consisting of antique houses from all across Malaysia. Rooms cost from Dh350, including taxes.
Coming soon
Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura
When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Akira Back Dubai
Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as, “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems.
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