Mashrou’ Leila and the alternative reality

If you ever ask a Mashrou’ Leila’s fan to describe the band, he would mostly express some sort of uniqueness or identity representation. In other words, the band has another effect than the artistic one; The group expresses the need for a missing movement in the Levantine or even in the MENA. However, how could an independent band create such an effect?

Alternative music or reality?

The band’s music is a part of the so-called ‘Alternative music’, a musical genre that’s taking over the music industry among the youth. We almost ( Based on Statistics and spread ) can say that Mashrou’ Leila is the pioneer of the genre — In the MENA — and the most one to have an effect beyond the ordinary artistic effect.
The alternative music offered a different atmosphere for the youth, it expressed the true — Somehow liberal — Levantine youth ( Or even MENA’s ) far from the profiling of society and politics. Moreover, the band takes them away from the 2 concepts of westernization and traditionalism. the alternative music created an alternative reality, a third way created by the youth for the youth…

But How did this all start?

The band graduated from the AUB ( American University of Beirut ), — The westernization castle of the Levantine since the 19th century — had never been through a musical educational process. Therefore, The band had fewer restrictions but more challenges …
The band’s members were all coming from different ethnic and religious backgrounds. All melt in the American university system, they started opening up to each other while sharing ideas and discussing their realities; The thing that wasn’t happening outside the university. At this point, They realized that they don’t want to be either westernized or traditional. they were something in the middle; they are proud of being Lebanese and of the Lebanese Levantine culture, yet they criticize the social and political scene.
The desire to express their belief in equality, individualism, and human values, led them — along with their passion for music — to play the music that resembles them, to the Lebanese, to the Levantine, or even to the Arabic-speaking youth…

The struggle

Their music targeted subjects that the new generation lives but can’t talk about, such as misogyny, sexism, war, politics, security, materialism, identity crisis, linguistical sexism, immigration, and even gossip.

The youth of the region are struggling with their modern problems, identities, present lives, and futures. Day after day, they become frustrated with the bad performance of the government, the elite, and society. Everyone is blaming the other for ruining the situation but no one is willing to fix it. The youth don’t want to get westernized and leave their countries; The youth want to be a part of the homeland, to live their lives with their own real personalities while prospering in harmony and equality.
It is important to point out that they are not the first to talk about such subjects. However, their talent, self-learning, western and Arab influence created a unique style that appealed to a large wide of young.
Through the previous lines, you might get the feeling that most of the youth feel; Therefore, you can understand why are the youth in a need of someone to express their fury. Thus, we can understand the over-love of a band that did so in such a uniquely artistic way.

The musical scene

The musical scene in the Arabic-speaking countries is heavily owned by commercial monopolies that still support the same old style because of the unartistic ownership of those companies. Hence, the audience became bored with listening to music that they neither like its style nor talk about their problems. For instance, the sole worry of youth nowadays is no more ‘love’. The youth of the region are struggling with tons of other problems…
This fact created much a stronger difference between the traditional songs and Mashrou’ Leila’s music — or Alternative music in general — to the point that it has been given the name of alternative music as another synonym of alternative reality.

Conclusion

Along with the different mixed melodies — Between the western and the middle eastern — and the unfamiliar words — For the Arabic speaking countries — the band created a strong fan base that doesn’t only love the music but defend the band as an intellectual movement that simply recognizes the belonging to the world and the homeland.

MENA: the Middle East and North Africa