SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Israel continued its military strikes in Lebanon today with airstrikes hitting the capital city of Beirut, where thousands of people are trying to flee the violence. Long before this war and other recent conflicts, Beirut established itself as a cultural capital, one especially known for its vibrant music industry, a city filled with recording artists who set the standard for music across the Arab world. Israel's war against the militant group Hezbollah, though, has forced many Lebanese musicians to shift their priorities and focus on keeping themselves and their loved ones safe. Lebanese music writer Danny Hajjar follows Lebanon's music scene closely and joins me now. Hey, Danny.
DANNY HAJJAR: Thank you so much for having me, Scott.
DETROW: Beirut is this city just teaming with pop culture and music and arts, and it's also a city that regularly finds itself in conflict. And yet again, it is a site of violence and airstrikes and frightening images. And in this moment, you have been talking to musicians who are there. What are they telling you?
HAJJAR: Yeah, I've talked to quite a few Lebanese artists who are there, who have stayed in Lebanon despite multiple crises in the country over the last five years. And they're scared, to be very honest with you. They've kind of put all creativity aside and first and foremost are thinking of their friends, their family, themselves and really trying to just stay alive.
DETROW: Tell me about some of the specific people you've been talking to.
HAJJAR: Sure. There's one artist who I talked to. Her name is Sandy Bou Assy. She performs as Dee. She's an up-and-coming artist who's known for a very booming sort of voice. She does a lot of this sort of pop, R&B mixture.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "2ATE3 RAWABET")
DEE: (Singing in non-English language).
HAJJAR: She lives in Dubai at the moment, but her family lives in Lebanon. And her perspective as someone in the diaspora is fascinating because she's glued to the news, constantly glued to any sort of updates, trying to understand what is happening with her family.
DEE: Oh, it got to a point where I didn't even know if I was able to create music anymore. Like, people say that - use your pain as your muse. But, like, when there are people's lives at stakes, when it's your parents, your family and your country at stake, like, how much can you really express yourself or, you know, get yourself to write about it?
DETROW: Yeah. I know another person you talked to is Blu Fiefer. Let's listen to the music she makes first a little bit.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SINT EL EW")
BLU FIEFER: (Singing in non-English language).
DETROW: Tell us a little bit about Blu Fiefer, and tell us about your conversations.
HAJJAR: Blu is an incredible artist. She's very experimental with her music. She veers toward pop, R&B, a lot of these different pieces. And she's in Lebanon. She's close to Beirut and very - you know, very much not thinking of creativity, not thinking of trying to really pursue music right now. And even from a practical standpoint, she's really just trying to think through what that even looks like if we can ever return to making music.
FIEFER: I'm scared to get into a session and put my headphones on and not be able to hear an explosion that maybe is close to me or put my phone on silent in case there's any news or anything that I need to be aware of. We are just extremely - trying to be extremely vigilant, so the ability to disconnect and go to somewhere vulnerable and creative feels a little bit - feels far away right now.
DETROW: I feel like those little details really bring to life for me what it's like in that particular setting because, you know, you and I just turned our phones on silent to have this conversation, right? For somebody to say that's not an option because I need to know the life or death news that could be coming into my phone - it just brings to life how close and real this violence is.
HAJJAR: Absolutely. And that extends to really every Lebanese person...
DETROW: Yeah.
HAJJAR: ...Right now, I would argue, especially if you're in Lebanon but for diaspora folks as well. We're all pretty sort of terrified and not knowing what's coming next.
DETROW: When you think about music and art in a time of war, there's the instinct that we've been talking about of just pushing it aside. There's no mental space for it. You have to prioritize your safety. You have to prioritize getting your family where they need to be. But there's also the side of it of taking all the very intense emotions that come in a situation like this and, when you can, pouring them into music, creating new art to respond to the circumstances. And on that - and I say that because there was a song that was just released yesterday about this particular moment in Lebanon. Could you tell us about it?
HAJJAR: Yeah, so this song is by an up-and-coming artist. Her name is Talia Lahoud. She recorded the song initially for Palestine and for Palestinians. But as this sort of new phase in Lebanon began, she herself, being Lebanese, really made sure to include that part of it as part of the song as well.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "AALI SAWTAK")
TALIA LAHOUD: (Singing in non-English language).
DETROW: Can you tell us a little bit what she's singing about there?
HAJJAR: Yeah, so essentially there, she's pleading for people to pay attention, to see what's happening to the people. And she says a very specific thing in that lyric where she says, our rights will return, and we will return to our land. Let's everyone raise their voices so that everyone can hear us. And that's a very powerful sentiment right now. It's a rallying cry really for both Lebanese and Palestinians.
DETROW: Music writer Danny Hajjar, thank you so much for coming in to talk to us and bringing this reporting to our attention (ph).
HAJJAR: Thank you so much for having me.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "AALI SAWTAK")
LAHOUD: (Singing in non-English language). Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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