Emsallam’s 3rd album ‘Dyslexia’ is produced by his long-time partner, The Archiducer (Ayman Al Salhi), and is the first album with the Jordanian music label Keife Records.
For people familiar with Emsallam’s work, it is not surprising to be taken on a journey through contradictory realities and values that Emsallam himself often struggles to reconcile yet embodies in his music, vocals and lyrics.

In Dyslexia, the sound has gone considerably more minimal and crisp, while maintaining some signature elements from his earlier works. This album continues to reveal Emsallam’s uniquely theatrical and emotionally charged performances and songwriting amongst the region’s Hip-Hop/Rap and Trap scenes.

The dichotomy of Emsallam’s core beliefs and interests date back to his formative years as a student of a rundown public schooling system in Jordan. Having spent many of his pre-teen summer breaks lounging in the neighborhood mosque, he struggled to comprehend the dogmatic culture of fear and guilt preachers were spreading. Emsallam’s earlier work would often antagonize religion and express abhorrence towards Middle Eastern societies’ hypocrisy, patriarchy, sexual repression, the state of politics and identity. His transition towards a less confrontational position is clearly felt and heard over the past few years. While topics such as identity, culture and society continue to interest him deeply; a spiritual awakening is in the making and shines throughout much of this latest album.

The album name “Dyslexia” encapsulates a coming of age for Emsallam symbolically, but also quite literally. Born to a traditional and conservative family that was exiled from Palestine to Jordan in 1967 with full belief of returning home within months as most exiled families did, Emsallam’s family never acknowledged, or was willing to investigate his believed Dyslexia and dismissed it all along. “To them, poor reading skills were simply the result of not reading enough books, It wasn’t until I left Jordan to Moscow to complete my scholarship (Master’s in Ceramics) in 2018 that I was finally officially diagnosed with dyslexia. This answered so many questions I had, including falling behind so badly in Russian language classes”, The artist explains.

Despite Emsallam’s work being rap and trap centric, his strongest influences originate from the region’s most-acclaimed performers and composers in theater and music predominantly between the 1950s and 1970s. The album closes with an outro celebrating Saeed Saleh, an iconic actor most famous for his role in the legendary comic play Madreset El Moshaghbeen (1973). Saleh has been consistently sampled in Emsallam’s album closing tracks and holds a very special place in the artist’s heart. In this album’s impassioned Outro ‘Ana Ili Kan Ma’aya’, he narrates how Saleh was jailed for insulting the President with his comedy.

The album opens with ‘Ferdy’, which samples the 1980s British/German cartoon series ‘Ferdy The Ant’, which was popularized on Jordan’s national TV station during the late 90s. This emotionally charged (Rated-R) trap anthem celebrates the strength, resilience and nobility of ants with subtle irony and sarcasm over a bombastic 12 bar rhyming rap flow. Inspiration for this track came from a verse in the Quran (27.18) “Until, when they came upon the valley of the ants, an ant, O ants, enter your homes so that you do not be crushed by Solomon and his soldiers while they do not feel it."

While top US producers and artists like Kanye and Jay-Z consistently sample the greats such as Nina Simone, the Arab region has not witnessed as strong a trend into popular culture and music. Emsallam’s deep longing and appreciation for many of the region’s oldest virtuosos calls him to frequently sample their work into modern day genres, specifically Trap. In doing so, he strives to bring these legends back to the forefront using today’s most relevant and dominant genres as a vessel to remind and inspire the new generation about the high art and culture of the Arab world. The delicate choice, and the harmony in mix and arrangement of such samples is testament to his genuine understanding and research of the region’s legends.

In his critique of patriarchy, sexism and tribalism, Emsallam samples Abdel Halim Hafez’s “Na’am ya Habibi” into the high-powered and snappy electro trap track ‘PMWL’. Here, Emsallam surrenders to his undeniable material (and often) self-indulgent vices as he highlights four pillars of the region’s tribal societies; land, territory, honor and child-rearing, in the track’s provocative and R-rated hook.

In ‘Aref Enak’, Emsallam samples Fareed Al Atrache’s ‘Malish Ghairak’ and features Ramallah-based up and coming vocalist Aden Wakeen. The duo join forces for the track’s addictive hook blending their vocals for what is arguably his smoothest track to date. The track also plays on the theme of ‘identity crisis’ as Adan's verse refers to Rick and Morty's dimension 137 C of the multiverse, stating that her national identity cannot be found there. While the lyrics may allude to narcotics to many, watch out for the upcoming music video, which paints a surreal alternative scenario.

In ‘Dasher Hosromna’, a track based on Al Jobi traditional Iraqi rythm and dance, Emsallam creates what is essentially also a ‘Zaffeh’ song. ‘Zaffeh’ in Arabic refers to the most dramatic and iconic part of almost any Arabic wedding. The track name references Levantine village lingo; Hosrom - is an unripe grape found in villages and farmland in the Levant region where it is often used as an alternative to lemon in cooking. The song captures some outdated, but mostly charming traditions of the region in Levant folk style vocals. Capturing issues from dowry, tribalism and nostalgia to the homeland, this track will resonate with baby boomers and millennials alike.
The video opens with a Russian ‘ghost’ sort of character telling Emsallam that if he does not get married today, the world will end. Emsallam concedes and starts his celebrations preparing for marriage with some hesitance, as Jordanian youtube star Naj Elqaq makes an appearance in the video pitching Emsallam as an eligible bachelor to women in the streets of Amman.

Crank up your headphones or car speakers for this low-fi punchy trap anthem ‘Seaweed’. The unflattering insinuations regarding government offices, from law-enforcement to customs are subtle yet on point. The music video will take you on a different journey far from such provocations.

The track ‘La Malama’, meaning no blame or judgement, is more revealing of the artist’s personal experiences not excluding intimate relationships. While quite experimental musically with unexpected shifts in rhythm, it will capture your attention and the hook or piano melody may occupy your headspace later in the day.

Emsallam teams up with Tamer Naffar, the godfather of Palestinian hip-hop for the track ‘Wala Khatar A bali’. Here, Emsallam gives an emotional ode to icon Fairuz following the intro, then honors legendary Egyptian guitarist and composer Omar Khorsheed in the track’s verse. Naffar’s gritty and often sarcastic sense and flow add a groovy flavor as he inevitably goes political. This is a collaboration spanning Palestine, Jordan, Egypt and Russia. Music composition and production is by NGM, a Cairo based producer, while mixing and mastering is by the one and only Archiducer. Combining trap with processed live instruments, this track culminates in an almost euphoric psych-rock trappy outro.

‘Made in Mama’, set in soothing and ambient drum and bass, celebrates mothers for the miracle of life. Emsallam’s emotions run high and take an unexpected turn as he presents the issue of identity alluding to the Arab’s (understandable) fixation with it, when he says “I empathize more with someone orphaned from his mother than from his land, for if you know your mother, you know where your real roots lie”.

In his most spiritual track yet, ‘Ya alem el Hal’, the chorus is a reharmonization of a common lamentation Muslims chant during El Hajj pilgrimage, particularly during circumambulation. The verse takes the format of a prayer, surrendering to the Almighty. The synthesizer used is reminiscent of the 90s West Coast hip-hop era giving the track a somewhat peculiar feeling of spiritual yet nostalgic sound and feel.