Almuarri is a rapper from the town of
Maarrat al-Numan, in the
Idlib Governorate, an opposition-held area that suffered several bombing campaigns during the Syrian civil
uprising and
war. He gained worldwide recognition after the release of his latest composition "On all fronts", receiving coverage by Arabic and international media, where he rages against all those involved in the fighting and repression of the population. The music video was filmed entirely in Idlib between August and September 2019, while the Governorate faced shelling by the
Syrian regime and Russia. It features 62 civilians defying reprisals from local and external authorities. Almuarri cites American rappers
Wu-Tang Clan and
Tupac as his main musical influences, and the poetry of his fellow country man
Abu al-ʿAlaʾ al-Maʿarri as his literary inspiration. He follows the trend of Syrian rappers that deal with "issues such as identity, oppression and culture (...) and have contributed toward the advancement of the hip hop scene and given it a flavor of its own, quite distinct from American hip hop." == References ==