Meet the Arab hip-hop cash king of the future

When the industry's 'Hip-Hop Cash Kings' can pull in $150 million (Dh551m) a year, can the Middle East's own rappers be far behind? The performance of Saudi pioneer Qusai, whose debut solo album hit number one on some music store charts in its first week of release, shows the region might finally be ready to move beyond bubblegum Arabic pop.

"There is definitely a future for Arab hip-hop in the Middle East, and it will make it globally because it's already off to a good start," Qusai tells Emirates Business.

Worldwide, hip-hop certainly is big business. Pocketing that $150m in earnings is 50 Cent, who occupies the top spot on Forbes.com's new list of 2008's Hip-Hop Cash Kings.

Unlike traditional music genres such as pop and rock – where artists generally make the bulk of their money by touring, selling albums and merchandise – hip-hop has spawned an extraordinary cadre of musicians-cum-entrepreneurs who have parlayed their fame into lucrative entertainment empires through million-dollar endorsement deals.

However, turn the spotlight East and Arab hip-hop artists have always gotten the short end of the stick. Their climb to success has been thwarted by business-minded pop artists such as Amr Diab, Elissa, Nancy Ajram and Tamer Hosney – all of whom have topped the music charts and bagged the endorsement contracts.

Expecting a change in this pop music monopoly would have been laughed at a few months ago, but Qusai looks set to change all that.

The rapper, also known as Don Legend The Kamelion from the group Jeddah Legends, has struck gold with the release of his first solo CD, hitting the number one spot at some music store charts in its first week of release.

"It's an honour and a blessing to have signed a record deal in the Middle East," says Qusai. "They wanted to try out a new idea, and believed in me. The future of hip-hop is definitely looking promising."

Indeed, it looks like the face of Arabic music is about to get a much welcome makeover. In fact, insiders even go so far as to say Qusai has put Arabic hip-hop on the map.

In just 30 years hip-hop has gone from local to international in the West. Kool Herc, a Jamaican immigrant living in New York's Bronx borough in the 1970s, was credited with being the first to become creative with turntables, and was supposedly also the first to rap over the top of music.

So popular was this genre that it was not long before fans lined up to get a piece of this new breed of music. As the frenzy caught on, so did some of the industry's brightest stars, who began to cash in on the craze by associating their names with products other than their albums and merchandise. Endorsements became the name of the game, and from beverages to restaurants and from computers to cars, anything went.

Once upon a time, big-ticket endorsement deals with top-end brands were the exclusive domain of the pop industry's biggest names: Michael Jackson and Madonna. But hip-hop's maestros – including Jay-Z and 50 Cent – are now giving them a run for their money.

50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, already has a diverse portfolio of business ventures linked to his name, including vitamin water, apparel, video games and even a line of fiction.

He told Forbes: "I'm creating a foundation that will be around for a long time, because fame can come and go or get lost in the lifestyle and the splurging. I never got into it for the music. I got into it for the business."

Quiz Qusai about his motives to enter the music business, and the Godfather of Saudi Hip-Hop (as he's known in his home country) says it is all about passion. The artist started DJ-ing professionally at the age of 16. Now 31, he has finally found the means to make it big following underground collaborations in the region, as well as in the United States.

Born in Riyadh and brought up in Jeddah, he moved to the US to study in 1996. "And it was there that I worked in everything in the industry, from promotions to production. There is so much talent in Orlando, Florida, but it is all underground," Qusai says.

When Qusai returned to Saudi Arabia in 2005, little did he know that the genre was about to explode here in the region. Last year, prior to the launch of MTV Arabia, Qusai teamed up with Arab-American super producer Farid "Fredwreck" Nassar to present the channel's flagship show, Hip Hopna, which aimed at showcasing the region's hip-hop talents.

"Hip Hopna is why people know about Arab hip-hop; the programme has definitely raised the genre's profile," he says. "Arab hip-hop is the voice of the youth and the youngsters want to be heard. This generation and the next have a lot to say and express, and hip-hop is their outlet.

"It was amazing hearing all these talented individuals who just needed a platform to be heard."

After the channel's launch, and during the time the programme was being aired, one of Qusai's tracks, The Wedding, leaked onto the internet with its accompanying video. The track – which features Qusai narrating a traditional Saudi wedding verse using both Arabic and English – generated a huge buzz among fans, with campuses across the region looking to find out more about the Saudi musician.

"The worst thing that could happen to an artist is have his material leak onto the internet, but in a way, everything happens for a reason, and it turned out for the best," says Qusai. "The track became so popular, and although it was originally called The Altar, we renamed it The Wedding, because that was what everybody was calling it."

And in one of those unreal moments that is the stuff legends are born of, MBC's new record company, Platinum, was so excited by the track, they rang Qusai up at once. "They apparently liked what I did, and signed me up."

That fairytale twist makes it sound like things were easy for our lad – but he insists many record companies wouldn't accept him on their roster purely due to his style of music.

"It has been a real journey, because although many record companies liked my music, they couldn't sign me on, saying they wouldn't know what to do with me. The Arab music industry favours stereotypical pop artists because their albums sell. We aren't diverse enough.

"What's great about Platinum is that they're setting out to promote new and diverse talents, and they're not restricting distribution to specific music channels like other companies do. Platinum's music will be seen and heard everywhere," he says.

So far, not only have the company's artists been heard on sister radio station MBC FM, and seen on channels such as MBC 1 and Wanasah, but its videos are aired on a variety of channels, from Egypt's OTV to Middle Eastern music channels Melody Arabia and Melody Hits.

Hip-hop's popularity has certainly been on the rise since the beginning of the year, and requests for music videos by Arab artists, such as Arabian Knightz, Jaxxma and Kaz Money, are increasing by the day, say insiders. This is something Qusai is distinctly proud of, and he was so keen to retain his Arabic roots with his album that he only collaborated with artists of Arab origin.

"It was important to be authentic," he says. "I'm proud to be an Arab, and I'm proud to introduce and expose artists from the Middle East."

So will we be seeing our very own "hip-hopreneurs" to rival the likes of Fiddy and Diddy soon?

"Artists such as 50 Cent are a representation of commercial hip-hop for this generation; they're not the whole art, but just part of the culture. Here in the Middle East, artists just have to present what they are about – be true and keep it real. Do that, and Arab artists can also make it in business." says Qusai.

Finally, he says he doesn't think this diversification is a form of selling out.

"Hip-hop is a way of life and a form of expression. It's a culture of its own, and for that reason it grows and changes throughout time due to its surroundings. I won't say it sold out, but I would say people who are involved with this art have taken advantage of it to make a living and to keep up with the changes they see.

"I'm for it, and am supporting this movement because hip-hop is not only about the music. Music is just the voice of hip-hop and the entertainment representation of it."

Looks like we've found our very first ambassador.