Madi K, the "DJ of the revolution". Photo DR
By last Saturday, the third day of the popular uprising that has spread across Lebanon, Tripoli was already a hotbed of protests. In the old city, street vendors rolled up their sleeves and replaced their usual cries for customers with revolutionary slogans. In al-Nour Square, elders danced alongside young people to an Arabic version of Bella Ciao, and women took center stage.
A few hours later, al-Nour Square vibrated as people danced in harmony to music blaring from DJ Mad K’s turntables, set up on a balcony overlooking the square.
A spontaneous decision
"The music has transformed Tripoli," DJ Madi K says. His decision to play in al-Nour Square (also known as Abdel Hamid Karameh Square) was as spontaneous as the impulse that drove hundreds of thousands of Lebanese to take to the streets and make their voices heard.
“During the day on Saturday, I posted a video on Instagram of my latest performance at the Festival of Colors in Tripoli, and I asked the followers whether they would like to join me at al-Nour Square,” DJ Madi K says, reflecting on the few hours that preceded his performance. He did not expect the overwhelming positive response he received from the audience following his Instagram and WhatsApp accounts. Messages poured in encouraging him to carry out his idea, and that’s exactly what he did.
"At al-Nour Square, the atmosphere was spectacular. The people of Tripoli, who usually look tired, desperate and depressed, were all happy, smiling and hopeful," DJ Madi K remembers.
At first, he stood next to the enormous metal sculpture of the word “Allah” in the middle of the square and checked out his surroundings. There was a house with a balcony and people sitting on it right above Bashir ice cream parlor with a direct view overlooking the square.
DJ Madi K asked the people in the house if he could install his turntables on their balcony. The man, who turned out to be a friend of his father’s, readily agreed. Later on, DJ Madi K spotted another old and abandoned building overlooking the square––the Ghandour building––and decided to settle there. Since that moment, the Ghandour building has become the main spot from where the revolution in Tripoli is being led.
"The DJ of the revolution"
When performing under normal circumstances, it takes DJ Madi K hours to set up his turntables and speakers and to prepare his playlist. On that first Saturday, though, it only took him one hour to get ready.
Karimeh, before he was DJ Madi K, studied computer science, and then went on to make a name for himself playing in clubs in Lebanon and abroad, in Africa and Jordan. He started his own business: E-North Gaming Lounge, an internet cafe where customers can play video games online that has locations in three different regions of north Lebanon.
"From an early age, I used to buy all kinds of music gadgets, from Walkman to Discman to MP3 gadgets, up until the invention of the iPod. I have never, ever deleted a single song. This is why I have such an extensive archive,” DJ Madi K explains. But his archives did not include patriotic or revolutionary songs. "The first night, I had to download the national anthem on the spot," he says.
Now that the national anthem has found its place in his playlist, the "DJ of the revolution" has revisited it by mixing it with techno music and other hits, giving it a new beat to allow the crowds that are craving to build a new Lebanon to keep on dreaming.
But not everyone is happy to see the Lebanese people "partying in the midst of a revolution.” DJ Madi K says that he totally agrees with the comments made by people who are worried about the future of this uprising and who wish to preserve its character as a protest movement. But he maintains that he is looking at the festive mood of the "revolution of the Tripolitans” from a different angle.
"First of all, this particular mood has revealed to the general public, as well as to the Lebanese media, the true face of Tripoli, a city long labeled as fundamentalist and radical," he says.
Music is the best medium for bringing people together, he continues, adding: "Besides, I was not alone on stage. Next to me there was an orator who was shouting out revolutionary slogans. But music gives the protesters a pleasurable moment in which they can catch a breath.”
For Madi K, the "revolution" is about the people occupying the streets so they can regain control of their cities and their country. “As long as the protesters are in the streets, I will be part of this revolution and will be encouraging it in the best way I know how: by happily spinning my turntables," he says.
