To promote the album of Mashrou' Leila (an independent Lebanese band), we identified an unreleased song, composed 3 years back, about "betrayal"; a song that wasn’t part of their album.

Taking the lyrics of that song, called “Roman”, we gave it a dual meaning - to address the global socio-political trends against Arab feminism.

No one would've imagined a music video showing Arab women, in traditional and religious garbs, dancing. But, Mashrou’ Leila made one happen, creating a conversation driver.

The video purposefully attempts to revert the position of the (male) musicians as the heroes of the narrative, not only by subjecting them to the (female) gaze of the director, but also by representing them as individuals who (literally) take the backseat as the Arab female coalition moves forward.

So, while the lyrics discuss betrayal, struggle, and conflict, the video revolves around the lyrical pivot in the chorus: ‘aleihum (charge!).

The western media’s narrative of feminism and women empowerment, does position itself as incompatible with Islam and the Arab world. And with Islamophobia rising in the Western world, Western media does not fairly showcase the progress by women in the Middle East; instead, exploiting the cultural and religious prejudices that people and governments are using to victimize Arab women.

So, when Mashrou’ Leila wanted to promote their new album, we picked up an unreleased song, tweaked its lyrics to take on the prejudice in Western media, added that song to the album and then released a provocative music video. Earlier, no one would've imagined a music video showing Arab women, in their traditional and religious garbs, dancing. But, Mashrou’ Leila made one happen, creating the ultimate conversation driver.

Hope, Rebellion And Empowerment: The Multifaceted Appeal Of Mashrou' Leila's 'Roman'.

Sometimes musicians write a song for a cause. Sometimes, the cause chooses the song.

When Mashrou' Leila conceived "Roman" over three years ago, the band thought of it as a song about betrayal. 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?"

We gave the lyrics a new meaning, changing them from being about "betrayal" to address the global socio-political trends against Arabs and Arab feminism, making them about "empowerment" and "rebellion".

The music is slow, painful yet beautiful. Its chorus is a rebellion in a single word: "alehum," which means "charge" in Arabic. The beat and track also echoes the slow, beautiful charge.