With a gay frontman and anti-establishment lyrics, the Beirut-based band is out to stir a musical rebellion in the Middle East. The multifaceted appeal of Mashrou’ Leila’s ‘Roman’ has been creating a lot traction by smashing the stereotypes of Muslim women

Text Credits: Shibul Pavithran 

Mashrou’ Leila, the biggest Indie rock band in the Middle East, was formed nearly a decade ago by Lebanese students at the American University of Beirut. The quintet’s frontman, Hamed Sinno, is openly gay—a rarity in Arab pop culture even in more liberal Beirut. This Lebanese band is successfully changing the face and tune of Arab politics. In spite of the attraction they garner, it comes with a huge cost of controversies and aggressive rebellion from some narrowminded Arab’s.

Mashrou’ Leila has come under fire for the bluntness and openness of their lyrics, sung by frontman Hamed Sinno. Their bold decision to sing about sexuality in a region where this is not readily accepted is unprecedented. They could brutally be punished for what they are doing, but does it stop them???   Not at all!  True to how the saying goes; ‘What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’ – Friedrich Nietzsche, they just go on, only much louder again.

Image Source: Mashrou’ Leila

The band is composed of five members: Hamed Sinno (lead singer), Haig Papazian (violinist), Firas Abou Fakher (guitarist), Carl Gerges (drums) and Ibrahim Badr (bass guitar).

Just as the Arab-world protests show that people will no longer accept the political status quo, Mashrou’ Leila shows there’s also an appetite for music that doesn’t conform to the Arabic pop status quo. Mashrou’ Leila’s song Roman unexpectedly became an anthem for women’s empowerment in the Arab world.

Its opening lyrics are dark: “I don’t intend on swallowing your lies / The words will burn my throat.” Later, lead singer Hamad Sinno cries: “Worms carve my body and the earth embraces my skin / How could you sell me to the Romans?” The music is slow, painful yet beautiful. Its chorus is a rebellion in a single word: “alehum,” which means “Charge” in Arabic. It’s a total shout out to resistance..

Mashrou’ Leila’s video, Roman, explodes Western stereotypes of Muslim women being submissive, stoic and mysterious. The inverts the male gaze and offers lush visuals and expressive choreography.

In the video, a woman in a hijab contorts in a modern dance in an abandoned concrete building. She leads other women, many in brightly colored abayas —the conservative, loose-fitting robe worn by some Muslim women — to a beach. They hold hands and make kaleidoscope patterns through dance. Their expressions are defiant; they radiate self-respect. Later, a covered woman rides a galloping white steed. The song seeks to disturb the dominant global narrative of hyper-secularized (white) feminism, which increasingly positions itself as incompatible with Islam and the Arab world, celebrating the various modalities of Middle Eastern feminism.

Another famous song by Mashrou’ Leila is Fasateen,  which was released in 2009, which had around 4.8  million views on YouTube. This song was about a guy and a girl who agreed to be together just for love’s sake, without any of the traditional trappings of marriage and domesticity, but in the end, she changes her mind and leaves him.