Hassan bin Rashid: new album "MY 21 GRAMS" Out Now

Hassan bin Rashid has released his new, unique east-meets-west rock album “My 21 Grams”. A beguiling, heartfelt, thought-provoking marriage of the Western rock loved by one who has lived in Florida, the Netherlands and New Zealand to the Arabic sounds of his upbringing, "My 21 Grams" is Hassan Bin Rashid's fifth studio album.

Listen "My 21 Grams" HERE

About the album’s title, Hassan says: “A scientist did some research on the weight of the soul. He estimated it at 21 Grams, so My 21 Grams is the weight of my soul. These are songs which come from my soul.”

As a record, it evokes the dense, layered, emotional music of Pearl Jam, the thought-provoking adventurism of Pink Floyd and Radiohead and the story-telling, web-spinning of Dave Matthews, Bob Dylan and Bob Marley. Hassan wrote and recorded in Dubai, while the musicians – many of whom he has yet to meet – received demos and, in much the same way as Pearl Jam recorded Gigaton, collaborated digitally as the area locked down.

The Middle Eastern undertow is provided by a smorgasbord of musicians from across the region, led by Hassan’s long-time friend Ahmed Ghannoum.

Alongside Ghannoum, there’s a Lebanese guitarist who lives in Egypt, while the rhythm section on the album, including the first single 'Refugee', is a pair of Syrian refugees living in Lebanon. “They have no passports. They play weddings to get a little money. I only know them as the bassist and drummer. How nuts is that?”

On the east-meets-west nature of the album, Hassan says: “What we’ve created is a product of listening to rock, but playing it with the rhythm of our Arabic background.

There are so many bridges between East and West. Despite what you might see on Fox News, there’s a cultural awakening in the Middle East. It’s an explosion, and it’s something I’ve been waiting for, just as I’ve been waiting 25 years for some of these songs to appear.”