Nadine El Roubi Takes on Double Standards in ‘Freestyle Pt. 2’

US-based Sudanese rapper Nadine El Roubi’s reputation continues to gain credit in the regional rap scene with her confrontational style and soulful hip hop vocals, coming out swinging with her latest single ‘Calm Down’ from her highly-anticipated album ‘Freestyle Pt. 2’.

Produced by Shepard, the track begins with Jack Nicholson’s famed and passionate exclamation from ‘A Few Good Men’, one that is instantly recognizable and on brand for El Roubi’s bold words: “You can’t handle the truth.” Serving as both a disclaimer and an appetizer for what El Roubi expertly dishes out later on, this sentence prefaces the sonic main course in ‘Calm Down’, setting the tone for her “don’t hold back any punches” approach to music, especially when it comes to lyrics.

Tackling an array of controversial issues, one right after the other like a successive firing of shots, El Roubi manages to lyrically go head to head with divisive topics such as colonialism, double standards and even the music industry itself. As she does in most of her work, El Roubi tips her musical hat to her Arabic heritage by sprinkling her banger with verses such as “You on your deen? Mash’allah. Keep that with you and Allah.”

Listen to Nadine El Roubi’s ‘Calm Down’ here: