Omar Offendum is a Syrian American hip-hop artist, designer, poet and peace activist. He was born in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

, raised in

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

, and now lives in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. He tours the world performing internationally at music festivals, lecturing at major academic institutions and fundraising for humanitarian relief organizations. Most recently Offendum has been involved in creating several critically acclaimed songs about the popular democratic uprisings throughout the Middle East & North Africa. He is also working on several new collaborative projects while touring to promote his solo work.

Biography

Omar Offendum was born in Saudi Arabia and raised in Washington, D.C. where he attended the

Islamic Saudi Academy The Islamic Saudi Academy of Washington ( ar, الاكاديمية الاسلامية السعودية) was an International Baccalaureate (IB) World university preparatory school in Northern Virginia, accredited with the Southern Association ...

. He graduated as valedictorian of his class in 1999 and went on to attend the

University of Virginia School of Architecture The University of Virginia School of Architecture is the graduate school of architecture at the University of Virginia, a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. The school offers master's, doctoral and limited bachelor's program ...

. After graduating on the Dean's list in 2003, he moved to

where he worked at an architecture firm for 10 years while simultaneously establishing his musical career.

Early career

It was at UVA that Offendum began his career as part of The N.O.M.A.D.S duo, with Sudanese-American rapper Mr Tibbz. After moving to Los Angeles, Offendum started collaborating with the Palestinian-Filipino hip-hop trio The Phillistines. They worked to creat
Free the P
�
a compilation of hip-hop and spoken word
dedicated to the youth of Palestine featuring artists from all over the world – which was the first Arab American rap record to receive national distribution (Ryko Warner). Offendum then began working with Iraqi-Canadian rapper Narcy and co-produced th
''Arab Summit'' album
He also co-authored th
Brooklyn Beats to Beirut Streets
performance lecture with HBO Def poe
Mark Gonzalez

Solo career

Omar Offendum's song ''#Jan25'', inspired by the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring ( ar, الربيع العربي) was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began in T ...

uprisings in Egypt, became popular in 2011. It went viral via the internet, which Offendum sees as a key factor in the spread of international hip-hop. It was released in February 2011, shortly before the resignation of Egyptian president

Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in t ...

. Omar Offendum has often collaborated with Yassin Alsalman also known as Narcy and

Shadia Mansour Shadia Mansour ( ar, شادية منصور , born 1985), also known as "the first lady of Arabic hip hop" See also is a British-Palestinian rapper who performs in Arabic and English. Much of her music revolves around Middle Eastern politics ...

, "the first lady of

Arabic hip hop Arabic hip-hop is a segment of hip hop music performed in the Arabic-speaking world. Due to variety of dialects and local genres which exist in the localities, Arabic hip-hop music may appear very diverse depending on the country of the song. L ...

Discography

His first solo album, ''SyrianamericanA'' was released in 2011. Offendum released "Close My Eyes" , a reflection on fatherhood and immigration

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Offendum, Omar Hip hop activists Syrian emigrants to the United States 1981 births Living people University of Virginia School of Architecture alumni