El Rass Drops Awe-Inspiring Album Sikket El Rouh

Every Arab country and subregion has its edge in the cultural world – and Lebanon has long held command over political and social commentary, intellectualism, and the deconstruction of identity. If you’ve followed Arab world news in recent years, you’ll know the appetite is whetted and the plate is overflowing with developments, wars, and seismic shifts demanding to be deconstructed, analyzed, and understood.

It only makes sense, then, that Lebanese rap’s most defining voice, El Rass, has been busy. His new album, Sikket El Rouh, marks his third major release this year, following 6 October and Mania. Yet Sikket El Rouh stands apart – not only the longest of the three, but also the grandest. It recalls the scale and ambition of classic rap sagas like Jay-Z and Ye’s Watch the Throne: expensive, expansive, and exquisite.

Across the album’s two sides, El Rass offers everything a rap record should: hard-hitting boom-bap beats, political bars sharp enough to cut steel, and fluid transitions between nasheed-like cadences and raw rap delivery. Tracks like “Adam” showcase a production that feels truly larger than life.

Despite its monumental scope, Sikket El Rouh remains remarkably restrained in its collaborations, featuring only one guest – Syria’s Bu Kolthoum on “Kaf Noun.” But with its constant shifts in tone, tempo, and style across eleven tracks, the album needs little else to feel complete.