Do you have ten minutes to spare? I certainly hope so, because I'm imploring you to watch this incredible piece The Wall Street Journal produced on Iraq War Veteran Ian Welch, who was diagnosed with PTSD and traumatic brain injury after his convoy was attacked. The video was filmed by Brandon Thibodeaux. It's an intimate look over a two month period of the problems Ian deals with and the effects on his relationship with his girlfriend and caretaker Katie Brickman. This is kind of the unknown told story of the Iraq [...]

Come see us this Thurday August 11, 2011 at 9pm! We know this is a music blog, but we can't not cram in a little something we have been working on. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Kuwait is glad to invite you to its first ever celebration of International Youth Day. In a bid to further expand its youth programme, UNDP Kuwait is throwing the world-renowned PechaKucha night for youth to attend. Comedienne Hoda Marafie will be the hostess for the evening. The event will also have an exhibition with corporate and organization booths that cater to [...]

Sincere Vega - Big Mac Sincere Vega - You Feel Me feat Minnie Ripperton His sound is hip hop. His sound is electronica. His sound is R&B. His sound is experimental. His sound is his own, and it is unique. Sincere Vega is sometimes raw and edgy, and he is sometimes refined and sophisticated. He craftily fuses his real life experiences with his boundless imagination to create a brand of music that is both credible and accessible. He is a brilliant lyricist and an amazing producer whose [...]

"Go to sleep, I wake you up, What what, What what..." 'Pone & Nore aka the anti-shiny suit movement. Capone-N-Noreaga Feat. Castro, Mendosa, Musolini & Troy Outlaw - "Iraq (See The World)"
In a country that boasts of our first amendment, we've taken our liberties to speak, shred, and blast beat out - in the name of anti-clerical, anarchic causes, and pure metal blasphemy. This expression, anti-clerical, is far from confined to the states; we get such doses from the finest black metal bands of Finland, to ...

In a conference inside Baghdad's Green Zone, the United Nations Children's Fund named the Iraqi singer, Kazem El Saher as a Goodwill Ambassador, during his first trip to his homeland in 14 years. UNICEF stated that Kazem El Saher will focus on raising awareness and support the needs of the deprived and vulnerable 15 million children in Iraq. Kazem El Saher released his new song called " Ma3an Men Ajel Atfal Al Iraq " (Together for the Children) during his first visit to Iraq. The song calls the Iraqi society to unite their forces to help future generations. [...]

Ras Kass weighs in on the post Bin Laden era over a JUDAH produced backdrop. Download Ras Kass - "Hello Iraq (Bin Laden Post Mortem)" (Prod. by JUDAH) Free Download Link (bandcamp) via EMBC: Ras Kass - "Hello Iraq (Bin Laden Post Mortem)" (Prod. by JUDAH) Read More about Hip Hop & Street Art at Flawless Hustle.

HELLO IRAQ (Bin Laden Post Mortem) by Ras Kass New track from Ras Kass "Hello Iraq" (Bin Laden Post Mortem) produced by Judah aka Mr. In High Demand. Endangered Lyricist Vol 3 coming soon! Now that Bin Laden dead, can we get our civil liberties back, that George Bush stole with the Patriot Act?

A Generation without a voice Look for yourself. How can we sit without sadness? How do we allow ourselves to forget? So many voices, day by day, year by year, receding into an abyssal horizon bathed in shadows of faulty recollection. Thousands of books discarded, burned, damaged by the flood. We are a generation without a voice, a ship without a captain; guided by such a gentle breeze without a shore to wash upon, no rocks to smash against the bow that would arise within us that fire of youth which dwindles. [...]
Filed under: News , Exclusive , New Releases Vice Records | Christie Goodwin, Getty Images Leave it to Black Lips to take a shining to records with subliminal messages and decide to whip up their very own exercise in mind control. Don't believe us? Wait until you hear the song 'Mad Dog' featured on their upcoming album, 'Arabia Mountain.' "'Mad Dog' is about playing records backwards, like in the '80s, [...]

Bjork is not one to stay to one or two genres for her releases, but this time around her pick for a collaborator is an unlikely musician from this part of the world. The Icelandic singer has opted to work with Syrian singer Omar Souleyman , Pitchfork has confirmed. Apparently, this will be "the first ever major Western pop release to feature Syrian dabke and Iraqi choubi music." We are equally surprised and excited about this news. We can't see how it will [...]
How about some reader-submitted photos for some mid-day chuckles? First up we have a photo submitted by Samuel Wilson, pictured inside this tank flipping the bird, taken during his tour of duty in Iraq. Nothing strikes fear in the heart of the enemy [or innocent Iraqi civilians] quite like Slayer! After the jump, let's see [...]
Remembering The Man Malachi Ritscher's Mission Statement read by Brent Kado. (podcast) One of our finer artisitc moments. Hard to beleive its been 4 years.
If you can see this, then you might need a Flash Player upgrade or you need to install Flash Player if it's missing. Get Flash Player from Adobe. We don't get too political here at 1league but this is just in case you missed it a couple days ago. Im sure we were all happy about this no matter which party we rock with.
Sep 1, 2010, 5:25pm
Fmly

Yesterday Obama officially announced the end of the Iraq war with drawing all but 50,000 troops. Now this may seem pretty ridiculous but we currently have over 60,000 troops in Germany. Obama said we need to focus our energy on the problems at home. Maybe it's time to stop trying to run an empire at the same time and bring home all of the troops stationed in countries we don't need to be in. He does deserve some credit though. Maybe this is the beginning of the Obama we elected. Ana Caravelle - Where Have [...]
Earlier this month, I caught up with DJ Art Beatz who is on the rise in the Massachusetts club scene, while also producing his unique mixes for various DJ remix websites. DJ Art Beatz is defined by his originality that fuses sounds from his homeland of Iraq with House, Techno, Rap, [...]
Acrassicauda Only The Dead See The End Of The War EP VICE Records 15 March 2010 by Tom Dare No band better embodies the spirit of metal than Iraq's Acrassicauda. They had their rehearsal studio bombed, their lives were threatened because of their music and they had to flee their country and become refugees. After surviving life under [...]

Wikileaks has obtained sickening video of a US Apache helicopter killing a bunch of unarmed men and then wounding children in a van in Baghdad in the summer of 2007. The children were denied care at US military hospitals and taken instead to an Iraqi hospital. Some quotes from the men on the radio: Look at those dead bastards. Nice. And, when Saeed, the Reuters journalist, is wounded, struggling to get up off the curb [...]