Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Tonight our final Round Trip Wednesday with Lizz Kalo takes a trip to Palestine and explores the songs of a talented, resilient people who've seemed to make a lovely home wherever they go in the world except their homeland.
"The Drop with Danno" on GFN 광주영어방송 98.7FM in Gwangju & 93.7FM in Yeosu, Korea. An eclectic radio curation of all things musical spanning the spectrum every week. Broadcasting 8-10pm KST nightly.
Mar 16, 2022
The Drop with Danno
Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell – Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
DAM – I Don’t Have Freedom
47 SOUL – Gamar (Live on KEXP)
Hello Psychealeppo – Qalby
Walla’at – Love At The Checkpoint
Amal Markus – Memories of a Palestinian Wound
Faraj Suleiman – Questions On My Mind
Shadi Al-Assi feat Suhell – We Will Come Back
Emsallam feat Narcy – Galby Dalili
Sabreen – On Man
James Organ – Muuden (Sama Abdulhadi remix)
I.
It is 20 hours past midnight, flight TD 066 sits calmly out on the tarmac awaiting its passengers, and we hope you are ready to both keep an open mind and take a trip this evening to places unknown to most here in Korea. We take off tonight for a country that is still merely an occupied territory in Palestine. Lizz Kalo’s final destination in her last two seasons of doing this segment is a doozy, but we’re highlighting places that are going through rough times for our last two trips and that is a crazy understatement for the Palestinian people living both in their homeland and scattered all over the world in a massive diaspora. Now, we won’t get into the politics of it or anything, but we’re definitely highlighting some of the amazing music Palestinians near and far have been making for the next two hours, and that will include naturally a few songs of protest. That disclaimer out of the way, we open tonight with what many call the perfect pop song, and we’ll highlight Tammi after she does her thing with the Prince of Soul. This is The Drop.
Marvin Gaye & Tammi Tarrell – Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
The Drop has boarded the bus tonight so we are on our way to Incheon for this week’s Round Trip, Lizz Kalo’s final appearance on the show after 2 seasons with us. What’s happening tonight, Drop Gangsters (Korean)? Danno on the mic here in studio 2, GFN HQ, downtown Gwangju and it’s tough to let Lizz go but she’s been holding it down with a crazy busy schedule over the past year, so she needs more time as she’s also persuing a master’s. So, our final flight together here on the air takes us to Paletine on flight TD066 tonight, and we wish her the best, of course.
Now as to the history, we just opened with a Motown classic and an absolute gem in the pop rubric, that was Ain’t No Mountain High Enough by Tammi Terrell and Marvin Gaye. Often cited as the diamond of perfection pop song, it’s unfortunate to note if you’re not familiar with the history that it was on this date that the very young and barely touching the surface of her absolutely infinite potential Tammi Terrell passed away from a brain tumor just 24 years old in 1970.
She had suffered from recurring and debilitating headaches for many years by this time, and many had thought it was the fault of her long-time boyfriend David Ruffin striking her on the head several times in their absolutely torrid relationship. Some were rumor, and other incidents were confirmed, but it turned out later she had a malignant tumor and she passed away.
However, that wasn’t prior to an absolutely scorching decade of music with Motown, making classic after classic, many of which still get sampled and covered to this very day almost six decades later.
Tammi Terrell, rest in power. Her voice still echoes to this day.
#9870, @gfnthedrop, podcast details, etc.
Next block, commence with the Palestinian showcase for tonight as we have already boarded the bus to ICN. Up next we have a hip-hop crew called Dam (spelling), then it’s 47 SOUL along with Hello Psychaleppo, all of which we’ll discuss further side opposite the righteous indignation. This is The Drop on your Round Trip Wednesday night to East Jerusalem.
_________
The Drop returns to the mic this evening as we are just about to disembark the bus at the ICN terminal for check-in. We are off to the Palestinian Territories this evening with Lizz Kalo on her final show with us, and we just started the highlight of the tunes right there to begin the voyage properly for this week tonight. Let’s get to the notes on the notes for now, then…
DAM – I Don’t Have Freedom (…this is a famed hip-hop trio from Palestine and the moniker means everlasting in Arabic. The group in the 1990’s were the first Palestinian hip-hop crew and amongst the first ever in the world to rap in Arabic, so huge trailblazers in a genre that is now setting the world on fire. This was featured on a compilation from 2009 called Checkpoint Rock if you wanna hear more, and indeed we will here in hour 1 from the Canciones Desde Palestina, as the subtitle of the album says.)
47 SOUL – Gamar (…another trail-blazing Palestinian group we’ll hear more from in hour 2, with their main thing being taking traditional dabke music and updating it into an electronic format, very interesting meld of old & new there. The title here by the way means “moon,” or so the internet tells me, and was released on the Balfron Promise in 2018.)
Hello Psychaleppo – Qalby (…now, not totally sure of the Palestinian connection here, although the artist does hail from the famed ancient city in Syria, home to many of the diaspora. The solo project of Zimo Eldahr, he now lives in the US, still doing I got mad interesting stuff with the traditional and future, with this tune meaning My heart in Arabic.)
Alright, so the bus is about to pull up to the terminal at ICN so we gotta get ourselves together. We’ll finish part 1 with a long player called Love At The Checkpoint by Walla’at. This is a band formed in 2002 by the poet Khayr Foudi, and the moniker translates as I Got Mad, which is understandable to say the very least of it. THIS is The Drop, we’ll be back for more checkpoint love in part 2 coming up shortly.
Walla’at – Love At The Checkpoint
II.
The Drop is back after the first checkpoint of the evening, and it is our Round Trip Wednesday night. Lizz Kalo makes her final appearance on the gig tonight, which we’re sorry to see happen, but the poor girl only has 24 hours in a given day, people. Her last year on the show has been brilliant, and she’ll be in for the last hour tonight. To the recap for now, that was some more checkpoint love from Palestine…
Amal Markus – Memories of a Palestinian Wound (…another gem from the 2009 sound track of Checkpoint Rock: Canciones Desde Palestine or Songs About Palestine. Great record if you haven’t listened in full or seen the film. Amal Markus is a veteran singer-songwriter from Palestine who made her debut in 1998.)
Faraj Suleiman – Questions On My Mind (…another veteran Palestinian musician right here, and one who will bat leadoff in hour 2 tonight with Lizz Kalo’s selection. For now we’ll just say this cut dropped in 2020 on the artist’s album called Better Than Berlin.)
Moving along SM, #9870, podcast let us know …
Next block we’ll continue to highlight some of these amazing Palestinian artists, and up next we have Shadi Al-Assi to be followed by Emsallam and Sabreen. We’ll talk about the major points after they’ve floated around in space, but for now THIS is The Drop on your final Wednesday night Round Trip with the lovely Lizz Kalo.
_________
The Drop has arrived at the gate here at ICN, ready to fly for Palestine, which I guess takes us to Jerusalem or Amman first, not totally sure. Showing some of the amazing musicians from the still territories of Palestine which is absurdism defined, but for now let’s keep it with the music...
Shadi Al-Assi feat Suhell – We Will Come Back (…this was another gem on the Checkpoint Rock soundtrack from 2009, and in fact was an original for just that OST. Al-Assi is a pretty obscure phenomenon with not too much of a following nowadays and it seems he had a short ride in the game, so not much info out there on him.)
Emsallam feat Narcy – Galby Dalili (…now, we learned that qalbi means my heart in Arabic in part 1, and this title means my heart is my guide, which dropped last year as a standalone single. Very interesting & talented young man right here that we’ll give some more airtime in hour 2 this evening.)
Sabreen – On Man (…this is a pioneering modern music group in Palestine, founded in 1980 by Said Murad. They wanted to develop Palestinian songwriting in the modern context which also reflected their daily reality in political and socioeconomic terms, and the group had a very successful 2 decade run until disbanding in 2002.)
Now we’re pretty close to takeoff, and we gotta get back to the tunes ASAP if we’re planning on catching this flight. We’ll end by putting the spotlight on Sama Abdulhadi, who is a female techno pioneer in Palestine, and this is her remix of James Organ’s Muuden to close. Do check her on the decks for Boiler Room Palestine, the lady has skills. THIS is The Drop as the engines fire up on flight TD066 bound for Palestine.
James Organ – Muuden (Sama Abdulhadi remix)
III & IV Round Trip
Faraj Suleiman – Mountain St.
Bigsam – Tawareekh
Nai Barghouti - Rajeen
Emsallam – Aref Innak
Rasha Nahas - Desert
Ruba Shamshoum – Sununu
Daboor – Sheikh Jarrah
Sech & DJ Khaled – Borracho
47 Soul – Dabke System
Shafeq Kabaha – Jafra
YU SEUNGWOO – Always
Coffeeboy – Is This Love
Faraj Suleiman - Mountain St.
• Acclaimed Jazz pianist and composer Faraj Suleiman brings tango infused rhythms into his compositions.
• His latest collaborative album with author, activist and lyricist Majd Kayyal called Better Than Berlin addresses the ongoing gentrification of Haifa and the monsters of globalisation that loom around Palestinian cities.
Bigsam – Tawareekh
- Not to be confused with the New Orleans trombonist or Big Sam Allardyce of football mismanagement in the UK, this artist is out of Syria and a leading proponent in the Palestinian hip-hop movement.
- This tune came out last year as a single, and he is a regular featuring artist in the charts in Syria and all over the Middle East and North Africa, which has gained him a devoted I know you are following all over the region. This song means histories in Arabic, by the way.
Nai Barghouti - Raj’een
- Singer, composer and ney player Nai Barhgouti remains firmly rooted within the Arabic modal system and music.
- Her latest release Raj'een (meaning “We are returning”) is dedicated to all the Palestinians who have experienced the Nakba (Catastrophe or exodus and dispossession of the Palestinian people in 1948) and are returning to their land.
Emsallam – Aref Innak
- This song’s title means I know you are, and was released in 2020 on the artist’s Dyslexia LP, and this song in Arabic means I know about you.
- The artist hails from Amman, the capital of Jordan, and is the son of Palestinian refugees. He is now based in Moscow where he is working on his musicianship while also continuing to work as an actor.
Rasha Nashas - Desert
• She is a guitarist, singer and composer.
• She released her highly anticipated debut album Desert last year.
• Rasha Nahas offers beautiful theatrical avant-garde vibes, with hints of pop, indie rock, jazz, rockabilly, surrealism, punk and spoken-word.
Ruba Shamshoum – Sununu
- This artist is now based in London, and this tune was the upbeat lead single to her sophomore album Risha, which came out last year.
- Shamshoum was born in Nazareth, which I’m sure most people can name another person who was from there, kind of a famous guy, but it seems she’s hitting her stride in the UK far from home after studying music in Ireland previous to this.
Deboor - Sheikh Jarrah
• He is the latest Palestian sensation
• He is part of a rap and hip-hop crew who are mainly based in Jerusalem
• They reacted to the Israeli violations of the city’s holy sites and its people’s rights by releasing a song called Sheikh Jarrah.
Sech & DJ Khaled – Borracho
- I didn’t know this, but world-famous DJ Khaled is Palestian-American, having been born Khaled Khaled in New Orleans to Palestinian refugee parents.
- Interesting to note that I have talked to several people who’ve worked with him and know him, and aside from his bragadoccious style and swerve that he presents in his music, to a man they all say he’s one of the nicest, most humble people they’ve ever met.
47 SOUL - Dabke System
• Is a band that now consists of three members; Walaa Sbeit, Tareq Abu Kwaik (aka El Far3i) and Ramzi Suleiman (aka Z the People) was only able to grow and get together in
• They moved to London due to the restrictions imposed by Israel on travel.
Shafeq Kabaha – Jafra
- This is a very famous tune from 2005 in the Arab & especially Palestinian music world.
- The artist was an Arab-Israeli citizen but tragically was gunned down in a drive-by shooting back in 2013 on his way home just outside of Haifa, the sister city to Tel Aviv.
- Kabha had worked as a singer for over 30 years of his life by this point, he was only 53, may he rest in power. Police later said he was killed for refusing to sing at a wedding the year before.
Yu Seungwoo - Always
• He is a singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is signed to Starship Entertainment's subsidiary label Highline Entertainment.
• He released this song in 2019 and continues to gain popularity among the younger girls
• He made his tv debut In 2012 he competed in Mnet’s Superstar, where he finished in the top six.
Coffeeboy – Is This Love
- This is a tune from 2012, and the artist who’s now 40 seems to have gotten a late start in the music game and life, but he’s still active and quite successful having been featured in a variety of OST’s for film & TV.
- Now, by late in life, I mean that the 40 year old singer just got married three years ago as well, having married former J Rabbit singer Jung Hye-sun just in 2019.