UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: American Hip Hop artists Missy Elliott and Busta Rhymes to perform in Dubai, their first ever Middle Eastern date

After Destiny's Child, 50 Cent and Alecia Keys, residents of Dubai and the Gulf region at large are now being treated to Hip Hop delights Missy Elliott and Busta Rhymes. The pair gave a press conference in The Murooj Rotana Hotel a few hours before the show on Thursday (December01, 2005). Despite the popularity of Hip Hop music in the Arab World, Hip Hop shows are still rare in the region. Somewhat subdued at the press conference, Missy Elliott was conserving her energy for the performance later in the evening. "We've been travelling on tour and taking planes and jumping off and doing shows. Missy's voice is a little tired, so she wants to rest her voice a little bit so that she's 150% this evening," explained Mona Scott, the duo's tour manager. "Busta, with or without flights is gonna roar like a dungeon dragon," she added, as Busta Rhymes let out a low growl, laughing. Busta Rhymes has been off the Hip Hop Radar for a few years now, but announced the upcoming arrival of his 7th solo LP, titled "The Big Bang". He says the album is almost finished and name-checked producers like Dr Dre, Pharell of The Neptunes, Timbaland and Scott Storch as some of the featured producers on the much anticipated album. "As far as cameos I got Stevie Wonder on the album, Eminem on the album, I got Dr Dre himself on the album, I have Flipmode on the album, I got Raekwon from Wu Tang Clan, I got the late great ODB on the album, the late great Rick James on the album, got the late great Notorious BIG on the album," he said. Missy Elliott's music is known for its eccentricity and sampling of various ethnic musical sounds from the Arab world and the Sub continent. She also has a penchant for Arabic writing, as she confessed to getting tattoos in Arabic. "I got Arabic like writings and we still don't know what they mean, but they look good. I love the writing, the script is beautiful," she said. The Dubai show was the first first Middle East performance for both Elliott and Rhymes. "We don't get many dates for the Middle East I'll be honest with you, that's why this Dubai date was such a treat for us because we've heard all kinds of things about you know your incredible city here and we've all wanted to come," said. Dubai is becoming an increasingly popular Middle Eastern destination for renowned Hip Hop and R&B artists to perform in.

ITN Source | December 7, 2005

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