east west

Forever Massari!

My Iraqis absolutely love this singer from Lebanon named Massari….he's kind of an R&B/hip hop guy, and last night they had me watch his music videos for two hours straight. It's not that he has so much music - it's just that there are so many different videos for the same song - this time he's at a glitzy pool party, the next time he's with a girl in some chic apartment, maybe another time he's driving motorcycle down some Lebanese highway.

Massari sings most of his songs in English, so after every sentence, they'd stop the video and ask me what he said. Some of it was kitschy and trite: "Girl, I can't live this way forever", or "You don't know anything about love", both of which were easy enough to relate. My students were hanging on every word, memorizing them so they could sing along with his songs later; maybe they would impress their friends back in Iraq because they know what the words really mean. The whole feeling in the room was so serious, as if I was describing in detail how the world will end. But nothing in my teaching experience thus far has equipped me to adequately describe, "Shake it baby girl, I like the way you work that body" to a roomful of solemn Iraqis as they nod their heads and try to understand.

posted by jessica @ 12:34 PM