Myslavelake.com

The other day I was in Alimos Pizzaria and I noticed their was a poster on the wall of a local rapper named Omar Mouallem. Once I got home I went on his web-page and listened to his music. Omar’s music was very good and I am not a fan of rap music. I was expecting his music to sound less professional but I was pleasantly surprised. After hearing Omars story, I new I had to write an article about him. If you are a young person growing up in Slave Lake I hope Omar’s story inspires you to follow your dreams.

Here is Omar telling his story : I  was born in Slave Lake. My Parents moved us to High Prairie very early on for work, but I spent my time between the two towns where most of our extended family still lives. I started rapping as a young boy and tinkered with home computer-studio recordings since I was 14. I never really took rap seriously until I moved to Vancouver.

At 17, I moved to Vancouver for college, discovered the hip-hop scene there and when I was old enough to get in their bars, started engaging with other rap artists . One recording company, Ill-Legitimate Productions took me under their wings based on some open mic performances I did in Vancouver. They started putting me on the bill of their shows and provided me some beats to rap to. Other artists allowed me to record in their studios for free. It’s also where I met Neato!, who produced much of my album and whom I continue to collaborate with.

I moved to Edmonton in 2006 completely by  circumstance. I was going to travel to the Middle East for a while, so I dropped everything in Vancouver, came to Edmonton for my brother’s wedding, and then a few days before my flight to Lebanon the war broke out between Israel and Hezbollah militants. I ended up staying in Edmonton and working as a writer and journalist. I continued rapping here, met some people through the open mic circuit and finished recording the album. It sat on the shelf for a year until I had some extra money from a book I wrote called Amazing Cats (about amazing cats), so I finally put up the money to print 1000 copies in June and its been going well since.

So far it’s received 11 out of 11 positive reviews, including glowing reviews internationally from Exclaim! magazine in Toronto, BeatRoute in Calgary, L’oreille de moscou in France and The Daily Star in Lebanon. The album is very diverse in content. There is a theme to every song. I consider myself a lyrical artist, so I try to be as intricate and exact and careful with my words. There are controversial songs that deal with religious institutions, as well as western and eastern politics. There are some fun songs that are art-school girls, growing up in small towns, space aliens, and being an independent artist. My music is often critical of the current state of rap music which indulges too much in chauvinism, homophobia, and materialism.

You Can go to Omar’s site to find reviews, listen to his music and find more information about him.

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