Welcome to The Safe House Travel Diary, a diary of my global exploration of hip hop in misunderstood places. If you are interested in music, adventure, or learning about the world, The Safe House is a must-listen.Inspired by Kendrick Lamar's lyric about “venting in the safe house,” I started The Safe House to have honest conversations with hip hop artists in their safe houses about life in the misunderstood corners of the world. Season one is called “Three Nights in Beirut.” It kicks off in Lebanon, where I immerse myself in the local hip hop scene and explore the rise and impact of Lebanese rap.The song featured in this episode is called Mar Mkhael by the 20-year old Lebanese rapper, Nuj from his EP titled عاصفة الأفكار ('Aasifat Afkaar) and was produced by Nagib Saab. Every episode of The Safe House has a playlist for your listening pleasure <3. To listen to it and more Lebanese rap from across the decades, check out the official playlist. I am kicking off the season with a playlist highlighting the spectrum of Lebanese rappers that have published content on Spotify. Many many manyyyy songs are on YouTube exclusively, and I will do a round up of the lost tapes eventually. for now, check out the official playlist on Spotify. You don't need an account or to download the app, just click the link to launch the Spotify web player.