Yassin Alsalman, better known by his stage name Narcy (formerly The Narcicyst), is an

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

i-Canadian

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

, university instructor and

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. He currently resides in

Montreal, Quebec Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. He is the founder of Wearethemedium and the co-founder of Montreal’s Old Port cultural hub Maktaba Bookshop, alongside Sundus Abdul-Hadi.

Biography

Alsalman's parents are originally from

Basra Basra () is a port city in Iraq, southern Iraq. It is the capital of the eponymous Basra Governorate, as well as the List of largest cities of Iraq, third largest city in Iraq overall, behind Baghdad and Mosul. Located near the Iran–Iraq bor ...

, but emigrated to the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

(UAE) in the 1970s. Yassin was born in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

in 1982. In 1987, at the age of five, he and his family moved to

. Yassin spent much of his youth moving back and forth between Canada and the UAE, spending his high school years receiving an education in Dubai.

Career

Music

In 2000 Yassin moved back to Montreal and started working on his music production in a local recording studio. He has released ten albums and EPs as a solo artist and collaborated with Mashrou' Leila,

A Tribe Called Red The Halluci Nation, formerly known as A Tribe Called Red (a name inspired by hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest), is a Canadian electronic music group who blend instrumental hip hop, reggae, moombahton and dubstep-influenced dance music with ...

Yasiin Bey Yasiin Bey ( ; born Dante Terrell Smith; December 11, 1973), formerly known as Mos Def ( ), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. A prominent figure in Political hip-hop, conscious hip hop, he is recognized for his use of wordplay and comme ...

. Released in November 2024, NARCY's newest project, ''To Be An (Arab)'' (TBA(A)), explores identity, storytelling, and medium. The double LP follows an emotional man in artificial times, guided by an AI therapy bot (DJ Nooriyah). It was produced by Alsalman, Thanks Joey, Sandhill, Nicholas Craven, and more. Narcy's album, 2020's Love & Chaos, was made over a five-week period during the coronavirus pandemic. During a performance at 2019's Sole DXB Festival in Dubai, where he performed alongside Blackstar and Wu-Tang, Narcy stated that there "are not many people from Iraq in the rap game in North America, so I take my space with a great sense of responsibility." On Sept. 8, 2020, musician

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the bands Nazz and Utopia. He is known for his sophistica ...

released his new single, "Espionage," a collaboration with Narcy that features his lead vocals. Narcy's performances and lyrics are often political. In 2017, he joined Jeremy Scahill, Desmond Cole and Naomi Klein for a taping of The Intercept podcast, during which he performed a spoken word poem. He has also directed many of his own music videos, and those of frequent collaborators. His video for A Tribe Called Red ft Yaasiin Bey's R.E.D. won the 2017 "Video of the Year" at the

Juno awards The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's music industry. The Grammy Awards are the United S ...

Acting

As an actor, he appeared in the movie '' City of Life'' which revolves around life in

in 2009. In the movie, he played the role of Khalfan, a conflicted yet loyal Emirati teenager caught in a class struggle with his best friends. He has also starred in short

Gemini Gemini most often refers to: * Gemini (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac * Gemini (astrology), an astrological sign Gemini may also refer to: Science and technology Space * Gemini in Chinese astronomy, the Gemini constellat ...

-nominated series ''Verte'', a musical short on the Green Line in Montreal's Metro system, directed by his sister Hala Al-Salman. He also is known to act in his music videos, both as Jamal in self-written ''RISE'' as well as Jassem in his latest release "Makoo", off ''World War Free Now!''. He also voiced the playable character of

Darius I Darius I ( ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his death in 486 BCE. He ruled the empire at its territorial peak, when it included much of West A ...

, who speaks

Aramaic Aramaic (; ) is a Northwest Semitic language that originated in the ancient region of Syria and quickly spread to Mesopotamia, the southern Levant, Sinai, southeastern Anatolia, and Eastern Arabia, where it has been continually written a ...

, in the video game ''

Sid Meier's Civilization V ''Sid Meier's Civilization V'' is a 4X turn-based strategy video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K (company), 2K. It is the sequel to Civilization IV, ''Civilization IV'', and was released for Microsoft Windows, Windows in Sep ...

''.

Academic

Since 2011, Alsalman has taught a course at

Concordia University Concordia University () is a Public university, public English-language research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College (Montreal), Loyola College and Sir George Williams Universit ...

, in conjunction with Marc Peters, titled "Hip Hop: Past, Present, and Future". He has also taught a course on seeing current events through the lens of cultural frameworks. These classes are recorded as part of We Are The Medium's flagship podcast and have included guests such as Mochilla,

Chance The Rapper Chancelor Johnathan Bennett (born April 16, 1993), known professionally as Chance the Rapper, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, he released his debut mixtape '' 10 Day'' (2012) during one of his high school suspension ...

Lowkey Kareem Dennis (born 23 May 1986), better known by his stage name Lowkey, is a British rapper and activist from London. He first became known through a series of mixtapes he released before he was 18, before taking a hiatus from the music busi ...

, Dounia, Mashrou' Leila and many more.

Literature

Narcy had released ''Diatribe of a Dying Tribe'' in 2011'','' a book about the role of hip hop as a voice for Arab youth. It explored the chaotic reality of life in North America, the clash of cultures, the rise of immigrant identity, and the powerful art born from struggle and oppression. It serves as Alsalman’s personal reflection on his first decade as an Iraqi MC in North America. This one-of-a-kind book is a collector’s item, paired with the free collaborative album ''Fear of an Arab Planet'' by NARCY, Offendum, Ragtop, and Excentrik. In October 2020, Alsalman released his first multi-genre collection titled ''Text Messages or How I Found Myself Time Traveling'', published by

Haymarket Books Haymarket Books is an American non-profit, independent book publisher based in Chicago and emphasizing works on left-wing politics. History Haymarket Books was founded in 2001 by Anthony Arnove, Ahmed Shawki and Julie Fain, all of whom had ...

. It has been called "an ambitious and bold time capsule capturing the insane times we're living through" by

Hasan Minhaj Hasan Minhaj ( ; born September 23, 1985) is an American comedian, writer, producer, actor, and television host. Much of his comedy involves Culture of India, Indian culture and the modern American political landscape through the use of satire, ...

and "a necessary read" by

Talib Kweli Talib Kweli Greene (; born October 3, 1975) is an American rapper. He first earned recognition through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def (now known as Yasiin Bey) in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's music ...

. In 2015 Alsalman collaborated with renowned artist Ashraf Ghori to create a groundbreaking mixed-media project called World War Free Now which combined music, video, and comics together. A limited edition comic was released as a companion piece to Narcy's album.

Discography

Albums

Euphrates * ''A Bend In The River'' (2003) * ''Stereotypes Incorporated'' (2004) The Narcicyst *''Fear of an Arab Planet'' (2007) *''The Narcicyst'' (2009) *''Mr. Asthmatic'' (2010) *''Warchestra'' (2010) (a Sundus Abdul Hadi album in collaboration with The Narcicyst) Narcy * ''Leap Of Faith'' EP (2013) * ''El Nargisee Project'' (2014) - All Arabic project * ''WeAreTheMedium'' EP (2014) *''World War Free Now!'' (2015) *''SPACETIME'' (2018) * ''Love & Chaos'' (SpaceTime Vol 2) (2020) * To Be An (Arab) - TBA(A) (2024)

Singles

*"#Jan25" (2011) – Produced by Sami Matar, this song features Syrian MC

Omar Offendum Omar Offendum is a Syrian American hip-hop artist, designer, poet and peace activist. He was born in Saudi Arabia, raised in Washington, DC, and now lives in Los Angeles, California. He tours the world performing internationally at music festivals, ...

, The Narcicyst, Freeway, Amir Sulaiman & Ayah. The hashtag is an ode to Twitter, which has been credited by many as playing an influential role in the Egyptian revolution. *"Fly Over Egypt" (2012) *"Leap of Faith" (EP, 2012) *"Fake News" (2017) *"Chobi Bryant" (2017) *"Time" (2018) *"Space" (2018) *"Superhero" (2018) *"Thoughts and Prayers" (2018)

Filmography

Film

* ''City Of Life'' (2009) * ''Verte'' * ''PHATWA'' * ''RISE'' * "Makoo" (Music video)

Voice Over

* ''

Civilization V ''Sid Meier's Civilization V'' is a 4X turn-based strategy video game developed by Firaxis Games and published by 2K (company), 2K. It is the sequel to Civilization IV, ''Civilization IV'', and was released for Microsoft Windows, Windows in Sep ...

'' - King Darius * ''

The Secret World ''The Secret World'' is a massively multiplayer online role-playing video game with a dark urban fantasy theme, in which players play characters defending the world from occult threats. Overview Ragnar Tørnquist led development of the initi ...

'' - Black Pharaoh Zombies

Publications

* ''Diatribes of a Dying Tribe.'' Write or Wrong/Paranoid Arab Boy, 2011. . * ''World War Free Now.'' Self published, 2015. * ''Text Messages or How I Found Myself Time Traveling.'' Haymarket Books, 2020.

References

Bitch (magazine) ''Bitch'' was an independent, quarterly alternative magazine published in Portland, Oregon. Its tagline described it as a "feminist response to pop culture", and it was described in 2008 by the ''Columbia Journalism Review'' as "a respected jou ...

'' published May 21, 2009
Arab Hip-Hop and Revolution: The Narcicyst on Music, Politics, and the Art of Resistance

Iraqi-Canadian Hip-Hop Artist The Narcicyst
{{DEFAULTSORT:Narcicyst, The 1982 births Living people Iraqi emigrants to Canada Canadian male rappers Iraqi expatriates in the United Arab Emirates Iraqi hip-hop musicians Iraqi rappers Musicians from Dubai Musicians from Montreal Emirati rappers English-language singers from Iraq English-language singers from the United Arab Emirates 21st-century Canadian rappers 21st-century Canadian male musicians