Kachf el Mahjoub / Unveiling the Hidden [10th Anniversary Reissue], by El Rass & Munma

Kachf el Mahjoub / Unveiling the Hidden [10th Anniversary Reissue]

by El Rass & Munma

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Lord Dubious I can’t speak to the lyrical content, but this stuff is all sorts of interesting and funky! Favorite track: Nou7 / The Noah.

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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

+ previously unreleased bonus digital track "Fi Qala'at Trablus" [In the Fort of Tripoli]', recorded during the same album sessions.

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Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Limited edition of 300 copies with download code, including bonus digital track. No reprint.
140gsm vinyl pressed at Mothertongue (Italy), comes in a 350gsm jacket with a 3.5mm spine and a black paper inner dust sleeve.
Illustrations and calligraphy by Ali Rafei.
Design and layout by Maya Chami, based on an original idea by Youmna Habbouche.

Also available from Cargo Records UK: bit.ly/3G7Pa6g

Also available from Forced Exposure:
www.forcedexposure.com/Catalog/el-rass-munma-unveiling-the-hidden-kachf-el-mahjoub-lp/RPTD.008LP.html

Includes unlimited streaming of Kachf el Mahjoub / Unveiling the Hidden [10th Anniversary Reissue] via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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edition of 300

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Full Digital Discography

65

releases

Get all 65 Ruptured Records releases available on Bandcamp and save 60%.

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Modern Individual, Transient Organ, Wishah وِشاح, Hometown [Original Score], Kaput, Enfin La Nuit, Marjaa: The Battle Of The Hotels, Low Toms Bright Bells and Darkest Spells, and 57 more. , and , .

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1.	Fout 3a rassi / Enter the head 02:19	buy track
2.	Tkhayal / Conceive 04:16	buy track
3.	Borkan Beirut 03:31	buy track
4.	Rissala / Sub-litteral 03:01	buy track
5.	3echq / Islamology 07:35	buy track
6.	Sanadet / Treasury Bonds 03:25	buy track
7.	Nou7 / The Noah 03:12	buy track
8.	Yoga 04:08	buy track
9.	7issar / Trojan 01:30	buy track
10.	Min Tha2er / Les Justes 03:15	buy track
11.	Majnoun Leila / Mad is Laila 03:43	buy track
12.	Fee Qala'at Tarablus / In the Fort of Tripoli (Digital Bonus Track) 05:41	buy track
13.	Tkhayal [Sary Moussa Remix] (Digital Bonus Track) 04:17	buy track

about

Mazen El Sayed and Jawad Nawfal, better known by their stage names of EL RASS and MUNMA, met for the first time in Beirut during the summer of 2011. A common friend told Jawad wonders about an MC who rapped and slammed in the classical Arabic language, rather than the vernacular Lebanese dialect. The two musicians met in a small café in Beirut’s Hamra neighborhood, spoke of music, argued about politics... and decided to collaborate at once. They began working on tracks the following day. A month later, they had already produced a dozen sketches, instrumental beds and vocal accapella tracks.

These demos eventually landed in the hands of Ruptured's Ziad Nawfal and Fadi Tabbal, who set out to bring to life the duo’s first recorded album. “Kachf el Mahjoub” (the title is from a Sufi master-work penned some 900 years ago) was eventually released as a limited edition of 500 CD’s, in a launch event at then-budding alternative venue Metro al Madina in Hamra, on the 22nd of February 2012. The 500 CD’s went out of print almost immediately, as can be expected, and the album’s mythical status became reinforced over time – El Rass & Munma collaborated sporadically during the next ten years, but never fully attained the same level of musical intensity and explosive tension experienced on this first outing.

“Kachf el Mahjoub” is a landmark album in Lebanon’s alternative music scene, and the MENA region’s hip-hop and indie scenes writ large. At the time of their collaboration, El Sayed was a prolific writer and musician, at ease with a variety of instruments, notorious for his masterful flow in written Arabic, with lyrics tackling both social and political sensitive subjects; Nawfal has previously released an impressive number of albums and EPs, exploring downtempo electronica and ambient dubstep, for a number of Lebanese and international labels.

The collision of the former’s brazen, slammed vocals and the latter’s harsh beats works wonders on “Kachf el Mahjoub”, Munma’s sound-world perfectly fitting El Rass’s agitated discourse, alternating between broken beats, elaborate percussion, and ambient layers of synths. At times reminiscent of mutant hip-hop outfit Shabazz Palaces, at others of the collaboration between dubstep producer Kode9 and the late vocalist The SpaceApe, this album is an uncanny meeting of Arabic hip-hop and electronica, an exceptional event in the realm of contemporary Lebanese alternative music.

It has been a longstanding dream of ours at Ruptured, to produce a vinyl version of this album, and we are thrilled to see this moment finally come. Artist Ali Rafei's original artworks have been painstakingly reproduced by Maya Chami, the music has been dutifully remastered for vinyl by Cedrik Fermont at Syrphe, and the records were pressed by our friends at Mother Tongue in Verona. We added bonus track "Fi Kala'at Tarablus" to this 10th anniversary reissue for good measure – recorded during the same sessions that yielded “Kachf el Mahjoub”, it appears on the digital version of the album.

"An unexpected collaboration between El Rass and Munma results in one of those rare moments of unspoilt creativity. A master of the spoken word, Mazen El Sayed picked up the pen at 11 and has been scribbling out poetics since; rather unusually, rapping in classical Arabic. The words flow from his mouth with eloquence as he takes on religion, war and the greedy. Shaping his words like an angry poet, confidence spits from his mouth – you can feel the saliva hit your face with each asserted syllable – but there’s an anxiousness there too. Nawfal’s rhythmic synth layers and broken beats provide the perfect dreamy backdrop, nudging El Rass along in a downtempo, dubby whirlpool, as electronica melts the bluntness of El Rass’ words. With its teasing moodiness, 'Kachf el Mahjoub' shows that when hip hop and electronica collide, the results can be outstanding."
- Time Out Beirut, March 2012

Read the Los Angeles review:
www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-xpm-2013-mar-30-la-et-cm-hip-hop-lebanon-el-rass-20130331-story.html

credits

released April 1, 2022

Vinyl 10th anniversary reissue of Lebanese duo El Rass & Munma's classic debut album "Kachf el Mahjoub / Unveiling the Hidden", with music by Jawad Nawfal and lyrics/rapping/singing by Mazen El Sayed, originally released by Ruptured on CD in 2012.
Digital version features bonus track "Fi Kala'at Tarablus" recorded during the same sessions.

All texts written and performed by Mazen El Sayed [El Rass]
All music composed and performed by Jawad Nawfal [Munma]
Except for Track 12, composed and produced by Sary Moussa [radiokvm]

Mixed by Jawad Nawfal, except for tracks 5, 8 & 10, mixed by Cedrik Fermont.
All tracks mastered by Cedrik Fermont at Syrphe, Berlin, Germany.
Originally produced by Jawad Nawfal and Mazen el-Sayed in Beirut, January 2012.

This vinyl reissue was produced by Ruptured in Fall 2021, with additional remastering by Cedrik Fermont and supervision from Jawad Nawfal.

Illustrations and calligraphy by Ali Rafei.
Design and layout by Maya Chami, from an original idea by Youmna Habbouche.

RPTD 008 LP

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about

Ruptured Records Beirut, Lebanon

Ruptured Records was founded in 2008 by DJ and radio host Ziad Nawfal and sound engineer & studio owner Fadi Tabbal, as an outlet for their activities as producers and promoters in Beirut. Ruptured releases music by artists from Lebanon and the MENA region in a variety of formats - with a strong focus on experimental rock and leftfield electronic music. ... more

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