Haykal Turns Geo-Political Chaos Into Conscious Rap EP ‘Awlawiyyat'

‘Awlawiyyat’, the latest project from Palestinian rapper Haykal and producer Bn Khalti, arrives as a measured, unsparing entry into independent rap. Grounding sprawling geopolitical anxieties in intimate, lived observation, the EP pairs sparse,soulful production with uncompromised writing that directly interrogates a region caught between solidarity with victims of Israeli and US violence and the cynical, state-sanctioned normalisation that enables it.

Musically, the EP avoids percussive clutter in favor of a textured, organic warmth. Bn Khalti constructs a rich sonic architecture built on soulful sampling, acoustic and electric guitars, sweeping strings, and dynamic brass and wind arrangements. Upright basslines and subtle cymbal work push the movement forward rather than heavy drums, lending the project a patient, internal momentum. The record shifts seamlessly across its palette, stepping from near-drumless, riq-accented string backdrops to atmospheric electric piano chords and dusty, filtered grooves.

The opening track, ‘Ana Winta’, sets its scene aboard a Queens-bound train, translating everyday transit into a commentary on wealth disparity and social division. Built over a sparse interplay of riq, guitar, and strings, the track transitions through a beat switch to welcome Mehdi Blackwind, whose feature unfolds as a reflective exchange on the shared political and philosophical grounding between the two artists. That reflective edge turns sharply adversarial on the title track, ‘Awlawiyyat’. Anchored by jazzy horns and upright bass, Haykal maps an impending catastrophe, interrogating how the vocabulary of treason has been diluted into "normalisation," tracing the network of foreign military bases across the world, and exposing how social media algorithms censor political discourse while rewarding vanity and performance.

That critique sharpens further as the record moves into its second half. ‘Hal ‘ad’ injects a driving acoustic drum loop under stretched electric piano chords, giving Haykal space to unpack his background and the origin of his name - balancing underground symbolism with personal history - while effortlessly shifting flows across regional politics. On ‘Innahu’, over a stark foundation of wind bass and subtle ride cymbals, the focus turns directly onto Arab states. The track dismantles the performance of official sympathy during ongoing genocide, pointing directly to US backing, conflicting regional ambitions, and the uncomfortable celebrations of Israeli violence within complicit power structures.

Rounding out the project, ‘Jambi’ opens on an eerie sample before breaking into a full old-school groove, tying together global capitalism, neo-imperialism, and the normalided status quo into an intellectually sharp body of work.