Kristen Wagner - arts editor 

A former MacEwan student is attracting attention in the hip hop world with the release of his debut CD.

Omar Mouallem, also known as Assault of Knowledge (A.O.K) is a former Professional Writing student who released his debut rap CD in June. 

The attention-catchingly titled If You Don’t Buy This CD the Terrorists Win has been in production on and off for over three years.

In contrast to many new artists, Mouallem said he isn’t trying to “accomplish” anything with his album. 

“A lot of people, when they put out an album, they say they want to change the way people think about hip-hop, or folk, or country music,” he said. 

“I just wanted to be part of the rap scene.”

Mouallem has always been interested in rap and hip hop music, although his polite and understated style doesn’t fit the typical bling-wearing, ho-slapping rapper stereotype. 

As the son of Lebanese immigrants growing up in the small town of High Prairie, he fell in love with rap as a kid partly in order to cultivate an identity. 

He soon began to emulate his favourite artists. “I did little recordings in my bedroom in high school and stuff, and I made CDs that way, on CD-R,” he said. “They were awful.” 

Living in Vancouver for three years, Mouallem began doing open mike in the city’s thriving hip-hop scene. The connections he made there eventually led to recording opportunities. 

Unlike your average rapper, Mouallem earned the money to produce his album from freelance work by writing a book about… cats. “Amazing cats,” he corrected. The kind that save people from burning houses, learn to play the piano, and finance groundbreaking hip-hop records.

Despite the high quality of the music he produces, Mouallem claims he is not musically talented. “I’m totally tone deaf,” he said. “I couldn’t produce a beat if my life depended on it. If someone walked in here with a gun and was like, ‘You! Make me a beat!’, I’d say, ‘Well, I’ve lived a good life.’”

Having never had formal training, his style has been influenced primarily by the music he listens to, which he said is 90 per cent rap. 

He has also drawn inspiration from the work of Woody Allen, whose “charm and self-deprecating humour” are present in the first half of Buy This CD, the more comedic and satirical half. The second half of the album has a more serious, philosophical and political angle, reminiscent of Nas, Aesop Rock, Brother Ali and Bob Dylan.

The 23-year-old freelance-writer-by-day is also hosting Scribble Jam Canada at The Starlite Room this Saturday. Scribble Jam an opportunity for local emcees and producers to compete. Winners in Edmonton will be entered to win the $10,000 grand prize in Ohio in October. Mouallem will also be performing a set of his own.

If You Don’t Buy This CD the Terrorists Win is available at several independent record stores in the city, as well as on Amazon, or “you can knock on my door and I’ll sell you a copy,” said Mouallem.

When all is said and done, Mouallem does what he does for love of the craft. 

“If I hear a beat and I like it, please let me have it,” he said. “I promise to treat it really well and bring it home before midnight.”