A writer turned poet turned emcee turned musician. This is the story of Kansas City Hip-Hop artist H.A. Kareem. But he’s not your typical rapper. In fact, he doesn’t really fit on either side of the spectrum. He’s somewhere in the middle, in his own world. He’s not a drug-dealing, gang-banging, ghetto-dwelling thug who speaks on the hardships of growing up and living at the bottom of the totem pole. Nor does he carry the preachy, self-righteous stigma that many socially-conscious lyricists possess. He’s created his own lane and only aims to tell his perspective of life through his music. Through nobody else’s lens but his own.
Born in Al-Fashir, Sudan, the capital of North Darfur, H.A. Kareem moved with his family to the Kansas City area when he was one years old. “My father emigrated from Sudan to the United States in order to study here and work as well. He just wanted to provide a better life for us in general. The kind of life we were almost certain not to get if we were still living in Sudan,” says Kareem. As it is evident nowadays on the news, Sudan is a poverty-stricken, war-torn country, located at the horn of Africa. Hundreds of his family members have either relocated to neighboring Chad, are living in the many refugee camps, or have passed away at the hands of the government-sponsored Janjaweed militia. “I went back to Sudan for the first time in 2005. You hear about everything going on in the news and from other people, but until you go there for yourself, you won’t truly understand it. It’s a dire and devastating situation”. Kareem tries to shed light on the situation through his music and lyrics. “I feel like I’m one of the only people in this game that can talk about what’s going on in a correct and honest way. There isn’t really anybody in the Hip-Hop game or in music, in general, who can paint a picture of what’s really going on. If Hip-Hop is a nation, I aim to be an ambassador of what I represent to it.”
Growing up right outside of Kansas City, Kareem did not lead the typical life of a suburban resident. “I grew up in this weird duality. I was living in the suburbs, but we were always the odd ones out. I’d be in a class full of the kids of lawyers, doctors, etc., and I’d be the only one living in public housing. In elementary school, I used to have to rock the same outfit two, three days in a row. We really just didn’t have much.” But Kareem preferred it that way. He says it provided him with a more complete view of the world and society in general. “I could relate to the privileged kids that I went to school went and was around a lot and I could relate to the underprivileged kids, like myself, who had to struggle through life. I think that the beauty of the music I make. You can hear it bumping in a car going through Downtown Kansas City and Downtown Lawrence, KS. It’s for everybody.”
His early life also affected his introduction into hip-hop. “I didn’t have cable television or the internet growing up. So living here in the Mid-West, the only exposure to hip-hop I had was the pop radio. So, whatever pop radio was playing, as far as hip-hop is concerned, is what I was feeling at the time. So early on, I was listening to Biggie’s last singles before he passed, Ma$e, Diddy, the whole Bad Boy “Shiny Suit” era, Will Smith, Jay-Z, Eminem, DMX, Dr. Dre, and so on.” This continued until he got into junior high school, where he met other peers who were into hip-hop, with more knowledge, who schooled him on more underground, conscious emcee’s like Mos Def, Common, The Roots, and Talib Kweli. “I remember in 7th Grade, I borrowed a copy of “Quality” [Talib Kweli] and “Train Of Thought” [Reflection Eternal] from my friend, and when I went home and bumped it, it was like hearing hip-hop for the first time all over again. From those albums, I would look at the features to check out other artists. So I wound up getting a hold of “Black On Both Sides” [Mos Def], the Black Star album, “Like Water For Chocolate” [Common], and so on. I would just keep building and building, learning about more and more artists in that same vein. That’s when I realized I had to be a part of this. I wanted to have the same effect on other people like these artists had on me. But with that said, I still didn’t abandon the radio, commercial stuff totally. I always maintained a balance. I might bump Pharoahe Monch, then turn around and listen to 50 Cent. I might listen to a Nas album, then bump “400 Degreez” [Juvenile]. I appreciated any music that was good and told a story, but the "conscious" music held a special place in my heart.”
Soon, Kareem linked up with another Sudanese emcee with similar musical tastes by the name of Ramey “The Show” Dawoud. They both had a love for hip-hop and when they found out of each others aspirations to participate in the art form, they decided to form a group. They named their group “The Ambassadors”. “We just thought the name fit us perfectly. Like what I said earlier about being an ambassador of where we came from and what we represent; we represent a small group of people who have a voice in Hip-Hop. So we got to make sure create quality, honest music with a message. Don’t get me wrong, we are not some radical, activist music group, whose sole purpose in music in giving information. We are versatile artists. But it would be irresponsible of us to keep quiet and not say a word. That’s not going to happen any time soon,” says Kareem.
Kareem released his debut project, “Embassy Music EP”, to great critical acclaim. "'Embassy Music EP’ was a very dense, dark, heavy project. I think I only had hooks on like two or three songs; very lyrically intense. It was a collection of records with similar themes and concepts. It was just something that I put out as an introduction piece. The next project will balance out the first project, in terms of displaying the spectrum of my work. To get you ready for the official introduction, my debut album. Show and I are also working on the next Ambassadors project too, so expect a lot of good music to come out from The Ambassadors camp.”
Another incredible fact is that Kareem produces all of his music himself. “I really started doing it out of necessity, because I didn’t know anybody personally who made beats where I lived. So I would listen to hundreds of instrumentals from the likes of Hi-Tek, Dr. Dre, DJ Premier, Pete Rock, The Neptunes, Kanye West, Timbaland, and just study the components of the tracks, in order to get a grasp of what I had to do. Once I got the equipment, it took me a little before I got the hang of it, but once I did, it was a beautiful thing. It allows me now to express myself in my music not only lyrically, but also melodically, rhythmically, through the samples I select, etc. It adds another dimension to my music as a whole,” says Kareem.
Kareem feels as though this is his true calling and what he was born to do. “You got to understand, with my music, I’m don’t rhyme just to rhyme words in a clever way. Like, if you pay attention, everything I say makes sense and touches on a specific thing. I have this line in this new song I’m working that goes ‘I lend this knowledge for you to borrow the clues/ To keep afloat those who drown their sorrows in booze/ To inform those who choose not to follow the news/ Because if we lose this today, then tomorrow is doomed’. You see what I’m saying? Every bar, verse I write is just the facts. Plain and simple. When you add the flow and the word play and all the other intricacies, it just makes more a more vivid experience. Call it ‘creative broadcasting’ if you will.”
____________________________________________
The ..::H.A. Kareem::.. BlogTwitterMySpace..::H.A. Kareem::.. T.V.
