El Far3i's songs of longing: Tareq Abu Kwaik on 47Soul, Gaza, and the global sound of Palestinian resistance

In a low-lit corner of Holborn Viaduct in central London stands a church with a very Anglican appearance, but inside are signs of Palestine.

Hanging above the nave are domed crevices and arched columns reminiscent of oriental architecture, and a mosaic-laden gold panel behind the altar appears inspired by classical Islamic designs.

Even the church’s name is borrowed from one of the holiest sites in Jerusalem — the Holy Sepulchre — where Jesus is believed to have been crucified.

It is a fitting venue to host Tareq Abu Kwaik, the Palestinian Jordanian musician bringing the sounds of Shamstep to a global audience, who on the night of October 24, went back to his roots and performed as El Far3i for a MARSM-organised event. 

This acoustic-slash-rap solo project began life in Amman in 2008 and has since launched a hugely successful 17-year musical career.

Tareq’s fame has coincided with the catalysation of regional music; his multi-project, collaborative approach has spawned a dynamism that few artists maintain, with the folk acoustics of El Far3i, the more conventional rock of El Morabba3, and, more recently, the phenomenally successful 47Soul all playing a role in this process.

COVID lockdowns, Israel's genocide in Gaza, and life as an émigré in London have all forced Tareq to reflect on this musical journey and the fast-developing events in the region.

There is a sense that El Far3i’s intimate concert is the outcome of these years of probing, but also a homily on the musician’s success and gratitude to all those who helped make it possible, including his school principal mother, who Tareq points out was born in Jenin before the state of Israel came into existence.

"[The past years] slowed down the experimentation but allowed for a formation in consistency. But that said, the Gaza war evolved the sounds on every level, with El-Far3i and 47 Soul, and there is also something that has been in the works for some time," Tareq told The New Arab.

"It’s too early for a teaser, but what I can say now is that I know what I want sound-wise. I know my message, and I have a better understanding of the music business, or game, or whatever you want to call it. So, now I want to try and focus on sustaining my career, and I’m very thankful to be a full-time musician."

Friday night’s performance featured stripped-down acoustic poignancy and contemplative resonance, including a rendition of the ethereal ballad Wallada with Rola Azar, another Palestinian artist in the summer of her career.

Hip Hop and homeland

While in many ways a retrospective of Tareq’s catalogue, it was also an announcement to the congregation of more things to come, including the upcoming album Rap Sharq El-Nahir, a more hip-hop-focused endeavour imbued with a collectivist vigour that has marked El Far3i's music.

As the name suggests, it reflects both his upbringing in Jordan and the pioneers of the Amman rap scene who surrounded him, such as Emsallam, who performs on Rayga Rayga, an experimental hip hop track with pulsating sonic ambience and groove-driven undertones.

It’s a polished and mature response to his now-completed ‘Wooden Trilogy’, giving balance to an archive that includes a harmonic three-rap and three-acoustic albums, a blend of two genres that have been critical to the diversity of El Far3i’s sound.

"Now we’re on the rap side, but the next round won’t be just acoustic, I want to give it more of a band feel, similar to my work with El Morabba3 back in 2012," he said.

"Maybe this type of musical update was needed after all that has happened in the world, and to help me understand better what I’m trying to do, rather than just ‘here’s six albums, now I’m going to do the update.' It doesn’t work like that; you have to go through the barriers that are outside your control."

Gaza is a harrowing outcome of decades of Israeli oppression, and Tareq has assessed these experiences through historical and contemporary enquiry over the years, with 47Soul a raw and shaabi articulation of this reality.

It has also provided a dialectic for those in Europe just becoming aware of the Palestinian cause and anthems of liberation for newer generations of Arab youth.

"I have been singing and writing about Palestine from so many angles, not just the need for freedom and being Palestinian, but also the psychological and social process we go through in the Arab world in relation to this," Tareq explains.

"The Gaza genocide was such a massive event; it was a changing point, and let alone being a full-blown genocide, it also made a lot of people who weren’t in that space contribute to it,” he adds. 

"But it was also disappointing that after all these years, singing about Palestine, things haven’t changed and only got much, much worse. I feel blessed that I stayed in touch with reality for all those years, particularly because the feeling among our generation toward the Arab uprisings was that they had failed, so people thought, 'maybe I should sell out and do some mainstream stuff.' Then Gaza comes along, and we feel like maybe we’ve been chosen to do this all along."

When the genocide started, Tareq felt the need to review his back catalogue, seeing references to Israel’s myriad wars throughout his two decades of writing, and all of it pointing towards a cataclysmic event in the future, as has happened in Gaza.

While London has offered Tareq a place to study the issue of Palestine and Arab freedom from a distance, it has also been an epicentre of a protest movement against the genocide in Gaza, with El Far3i and 47Soul something of cultural ambassadors in this exchange.

"You can’t separate culture from politics. That is one of the reasons we thought London would be a good place to be: aside from the music industry here, it has an obvious pro-Palestine movement. The kid who cares about the world has opted into the issue of Palestine now, I feel it affirms the journey," he said.

"I’m a patient guy, I’m just trying to wait and see where this will take us, because I was dedicated to this from the start. But I’m a musician first, not an activist. I feel you can’t ignore reality, and now it’s so unignorable.”

Tareq Abu Kwaik is part of a long tradition of cultural emigres contributing to the Palestinian art scene from exile (including Naji Al-Ali in London), fitting into a broader dialogue on the issue of freedom.

Perhaps Palestine’s position at a geographical and cultural crossroads, and being home to so many holy sites such as the Holy Sepulchre Church, has tapped into something primordial in the universal human consciousness, bringing us to where we are now.

"When Mahmoud Darwish was saying these things, it was a Palestinian Arab issue. Now, it’s clearly a global issue, so you find South American revolutionaries mentioning Palestine and elsewhere. We now know it’s bigger than our own issue, and it matters to a lot of people," said Tareq. 

"Geography governs a lot of things we think about, and if you think about where (Palestine) sits in the world, this is the only way to walk between Asia and Africa, and to connect to Europe. It is hard to separate the religious imagination from the Abrahamic story — this revolves around Palestine."

Paul McLoughlin is the Head of News at The New Arab 

Follow him on X: @PaullMcLoughlin