In a country where music is frowned upon, the members of Saudi rap group Dark2Men have to risk the disapproval of their families and employers
Even before they stepped onstage at the MTV Arabia competition finale, members of the Saudi hip-hop group Dark2Men knew they would not win.
The contestants were to be judged on their lyrics, stage presence and performance, but Dark2Men had never performed in public because of strict social and religious codes in their native Saudi Arabia that ban nightclubs, concerts and theatres. The seven other finalists, from the less-restrictive Arab countries of Egypt, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates, had rapped live for years.
But, backstage before the show, one of the show's co-hosts told the contestants something that made Dark2Men's impending loss seem like victory. "He said no matter what happened in the competition, we would go down in history when they wrote the book about Arab hip-hop," says 27-year-old Hani Zain, who raps in Arabic for the group.
An Egyptian won the competition, which is being broadcast this month, but the three men of Dark2Men said their lives had been transformed by the experience in ways they had not imagined.
"It was an earthquake that shifted the world around us," says Tamer Farhan, 24, who raps in English. "It gave meaning to all the hardships we faced to get here." Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest shrines, follows a stringent form of Islam that prohibits alcohol and the mingling of unrelated men and women. The conservative kingdom does not allow the study of music in schools, and many Saudis consider careers in acting, singing or dancing as shameful.
But the advent of satellite TV channels such as MTV Arabia, launched in the Emirates in November, and social networking websites have made it easier for young people to pursue interests deemed contrary to the country's tradition and culture. The Dark2Men members, for example, met up on a rap website and compose their music using online programs. They have posted several songs on YouTube and have a Facebook profile.
But, even as they rap in praise of Islam and their mothers, and against the war in Iraq and terrorism, their biggest hurdle has been convincing family, friends and Saudi society that they are not simply trying to imitate a decadent Western lifestyle. Since passing the MTV Arabia audition in January, they have struggled with fiancees unhappy about the attention garnered by their TV appearances broadcast across the Arab world, bosses angry about their extended leaves from work, and fathers worried that their sons would leave stable jobs and become entertainers.
"There's this unique feeling you get right before you go onstage that's fear and excitement," says Maan Mansour, 25, who sings in Arabic and English and had never travelled outside of Saudi Arabia. "Then, as soon as you put your foot on that first step, it's as if a cascade of cool water washes over your chest, and it's amazing."
Mansour, an equipment sterilisation technician, and Farhan, a human resources assistant at a hospital, went back to work a few days after they returned to their home town of Jeddah. But Zain resigned from his job as a bank computer programmer in order to concentrate on his rap career. Farhan, who now spends an hour a day answering fan mail, sits with his laptop at a coffee shop during his lunch hour and sighs as he reads a notice from a fellow contestant, Emirati rap group Desert Heat, announcing a performance at a nightclub in Oman, with tickets selling for $26 (€17). "If I could make money rapping like these guys, I would have left my job." But there's nowhere to perform in Saudi Arabia, and leaving his job would mean that Farhan and his family would be without health insurance.
Farhan has had to postpone his wedding because things are still in flux. "When I got engaged I was just a normal guy working at a hospital," he says. "Now I'm succeeding at rap, suddenly everybody knows me. Suddenly I'm always busy." Farhan says his father has made peace with his choice. "He voted for us [ in the competition's people's choice award, conducted by text message] and made his friends vote, too."
But, for Farhan, the most gratifying part of the experience has been inspiring others. "Young guys come up to us and say: 'We thought that pursuing a dream in Saudi Arabia was impossible. You guys made it in hip-hop with everyone against you. That gives us hope that even here, anything is possible.'"