Beirut-based Band Mashrou' Leila Courts Controversy

Soundcheck | Nov 20, 2017

Watch via Facebook Live: 

Beirut-based indie-rock band Mashrou’ Leila tackles taboo topics - political corruption, LGBT rights, religion, and Middle Eastern feminism. Their catchy and danceable Arabic pop songs are full of guitars, drum machines, samples, violin and frontman Hamed Sinno’s sensual voice. In the years since they first formed in 2008, they’ve become both enormously popular and enormously controversial, even banned in some countries. Mashrou’ Leila’s latest record, Ibn el Leil - means ‘son of the night.’ And they’re here to play some of it live in the studio. 

WNYC is funded by sponsors and member donations

Top Stories

MTA plans to beat the heat at sweltering subway stations with heat capture technology

The solution would store heat for wintertime use, and could roll out as soon as 2027.
Gothamist |

How Socialist Is the D.S.A.? Megan Romer Explains

Romer, a co-chair of the Democratic Socialists of America, defends some of the D.S.A.’s controversial positions: “I think people like us being rather bold. . . . People want a fighter.”
The New Yorker Radio Hour |

The Story Behind Trump’s Terrible Approval Rating

Plus, the origins of Trump’s media watchdog.
On the Media |

A Poet is Rediscovered in 'Late Fame'

All Of It with Alison Stewart |
YOU ARE ONLINE