Life was very different 11 years ago for Palestinian-Jordanian rapper The Synaptik. Back then, when he first started recording in his bedroom, he was studying to be a medical doctor by day, spending his days at the hospital at a time when Arabic hip-hop wasn’t a part of the mainstream conversation. For him, music was a personal outlet—a way to channel everything he had to keep inside himself during his grueling day job. He never dreamed of what things would become.
In 2023, of course, Arabic hip hop and alternative pop is not only dominating the region, it’s taking over the world. Fellow Palestinian artist Elyanna, born and raised in Nazareth on the West Bank, made history last month as the first artist to perform in Arabic on stage at Coachella, the world’s most culturally significant music festival.
“This was a dream. The horizon was not this wide before, and I’m just very grateful and happy that hip hop here is, and the music that we make, that’s coming from the youth, is taking over. I feel like we’ve been stuck here with the same kind of sounds and classical music for so long. Now that this is the new sound, the young people are taking over. It’s amazing,” The Synaptik, real name Laith Hasan, tells Esquire Middle East.
“Back in the day, it was not realistic to think, ‘I want to be an artist, and do this kind of music and live off it and be big.’ It was very limited. You were stuck in that niche market. It’s amazing to see this, as it makes a lot of people able to pursue this, and do this, and just expand everything that we do. And with that, we can all get to do this more.”
Nearing 30, The Synaptik is something of an elder statesman in the community, and as creatively driven as ever, he’s using his experience and platform to work collaborate with as many artists from across the region as possible, both people he knew back before the scene blew up as well as new artists rising.
“I would love to work with Dafencii from Sudan. I would love to work with Solja. Ziad Zaza from Egypt. I would love to work Kendrick Lamar. [Laughs] You would never know! I also want to work with Katybon from Tunisia. Snor from Morocco. There’s a bunch of people whose sound I like who I would be interested to put our heads together and see what we come up with,” says The Synaptik.
While he lives in Palestine now, dealing with the grim realities of the day by day, he refuses to make his art anything but a joyous personal expression rather than make his music purely a platform to preach about societies ills, if for no other reason than he doesn’t want the political situation to rob him of his individual expression.
“It’s definitely in the details of my music, the lyrics, the context, everything. it’s very present, I just don’t try to brand myself around it. Because me representing myself, and expressing myself, is really important for me, and for my psychological well-being, so I’m that kind of artist. I’m Palestinian, I live there. But if I don’t pay attention, you would not know that from my music.”
Coming off of his electric performance at the first ever BRED Abu Dhabi, Esquire Middle East sat down with The Synaptik for a must read chat, ahead of some yet-to-be announced big moves coming in 2023.
Read our full conversation below.
Esquire Middle East sits down with The Synaptik
How do you feel you’re different from when you first decided to go headfirst into music full-time?
The Synaptik: I’ve been doing this since, like, 2012 and I’ve been doing this making money since 2017. I think now after all the experience I’ve had, I’m definitely more grounded. I know myself as an artist very well. And I feel I now know what I need to do to get things done. I’m more focused, and I know my place ,my strengths, and my weaknesses. Before I was just in the dream, and now I just try really hard to just keep my feet on the ground.
Do you think that growth is reflected in the music?
Yeah, definitely. The lyrics that I write reflects that. I’m much more specific when I make music.
I’m working on new music now, and before I make the song, I know exactly the sound I want it to be. And before it was just like, oh, let’s see what’s going to come out. I have a lot more control over the craft, you know?
Absolutely. And I feel like crowds are really evolving, too, and the Arabic-language hip hop scene with it. It’s really starting to blow up on a global scale, especially after Elyanna, a fellow Palestinian artist, became the first artist to perform in Arabic at Coachella. How did you take in that moment?
I think it’s amazing man. This was a dream. The horizon was not this wide before, and I’m just very grateful and happy that hip hop here is, and the music that we make, that’s coming from the youth, is taking over. I feel like we’ve been stuck here with the same kind of sounds and classical music for so long. Now that this is the new sound, the young people are finally taking over. It’s amazing. And I feel like it just gives a lot of people a lot of power and motivation to actually pursue this.
Back in the day, it was not realistic to think, ‘I want to be an artist, and do this kind of music and live off it and be big.’ It was very limited. You were stuck in that niche market, It’s amazing, as it makes a lot of people able to pursue this, and do this, and just expand everything that we do. And with that, we can all get to do this more.
How do you go about choosing who to collaborate with in this scene? Is it just about the individual or are their other considerations?
It’s all individuals, definitely. I know a lot of artists in the region,even from before we were a ‘community’, before things blew up. They were just people that I click with, and then I feel there’s a certain vibe, and something exciting that can happen when I link up with them. I never really target a certain region or a country I never said, ‘I want to work with artists from that region.’ I don’t do that. It’s all about the energy, and I have to be really comfortable with the people I work with to create music, because my music is very personal. I have to feel comfortable with the person I’m working with.
Do you have names on a list of people you still have yet to work with?
I would love to work with Dafencii from Sudan. I would love to work with Solja. Ziad Zaza from Egypt. I would love to work Kendrick Lamar. [Laughs] You would never know! I work with Katybon from Tunisia. Snor from Morocco.
There’s a bunch of people whose sound I like who I would be interested to put our heads together and see what we come up with.
Are you interested in the music coming out of like the diaspora, like Saint Levant? Is that something that interests you, or do you not vibe with it?
To be honest, I recognize the hard work that the guy does. I’m actually really good friends with his father. His father lives in Palestine, and I live in Palestine. I know that the guy works really hard, his Dad keeps telling me, and I appreciate that. I don’t relate to the content, but I respect what he does.
Living in Palestine, how do you feel your identity as a Palestinian interacts with the way you approach your art?
My music is very personal. There’s my life in Palestine, just like everyday life, just going to places, crossing checkpoints, just dealing with how difficult it is to get things done, and how stagnant life can be there, but the angle that I tackle this is from a very personal point of view. It’s not really direct, you know? I don’t like to feel like I’m preaching something. I’m not that type of artist, because when I go to the studio, and I record, I get something out of my system. It’s therapeutic, because I started making music in my room alone, and it’s really hard for me to be like, ‘I’m going make songs about the occupation.’
It’s definitely in the details of my music, the lyrics, the context, everything. it’s very present, I just don’t try to brand myself around it. Because me representing myself, and expressing myself, is really important for me, and for my psychological well-being, so I’m that kind of artist. I’m Palestinian, I live there. But if I don’t pay attention, you would not know that from my music.
That’s the thing. I have many friends in your position, and they often feel they’re never allowed to just be themselves, because they always feel pressure to use every moment they have in their art for a specific cause, robbing of them of their individuality.
Yeah, it’s not that I don’t care about the details of my life in Palestine, it just makes me want to just express myself more, and just be myself more. I’m happy that I’ve been doing this for a while, and I built my fan base, before this whole thing became so big. This gives me good base to actually be able to be in my domain without having use this new formula of how to do music and blow up. I can just do me and build through my fan base, and hope that I get where I want to get.
When I go to the studio, and I make a song, I still feel the same way after I finish it as I did I started, because this is why I make music in the first place. I’m actually a doctor, I studied medicine. I used to work in a hospital. When I started making music, I just made music because it made me feel good. It lifted me up from a very dark place. And the moment that I lose that. I don’t want to make music anymore. You know what I mean? I just want to keep this as my focal point, and I just want to focus on that, and just stay positive that I can get there in my own way, and not succumb to the pressure of everything that’s happening around me right now. I respect people’s hard work and all the new people coming up, but I do this for different reasons.
I think your art is getting better and better man, and people are responding to it more and more the more you stay true to your vision. It’s great to see.
Thank you, man. We’ve been through a lot of bad things and hard situations when we were coming up, so everything right now is better. There’s always this appreciation.
Find more from The Synaptik here.