ABSTRACT
“Where were you? We arranged a meeting for one o'clock! And now it's fifteen minutes past!” Rapper Wael Kodeih from the duo Aks'ser, known as Rayess Bek, is in a bad mood. My mood is not too good either. the date for this interview was set at least ten times, but Wael kept postponing it. He had no time—at least he said so. to be fifteen minutes late in Beirut normally means perfect timing. Not for Wael. “We arranged the meeting at one,” he repeats. “I train my friends and colleagues to be on time. They know that I hate them for being late”. What a good start, I think. I knew him differently. We met in 2001 when I was in Beirut to find artists for the festival Musik der Welt in Basel. And we met in 2003 when Wael performed in Switzerland, invited by Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia. My Swiss colleagues from the arts field just loved this smart and intelligent rapper. In Lebanon, even the musicians do not complain about him. “He is serious,” “he knows his stuff,” “he helps some of the younger rappers,” they say. Normally, everybody complains about everybody here.
