Urban Fen: the first Tunisian reality show for street arts
In August 2011, during Ramadan, Hannibal TV aired Urban Fen, a talent show built around rap and the street arts. Karim Gharbi, known as K2Rhym, co-produced the programme and presented it. It is described as the first Tunisian reality show dedicated to the street arts.
A stage for young rappers
The idea was simple: give young artists from working-class neighbourhoods the national television exposure that Karim himself never got when he started out in Ksar Said, when a radio station left his first band waiting all evening without inviting them to perform.
Candidates came through auditions, then competed on stage week after week. The winner was Jackou, a rapper from Djebel Jelloud in Tunis. His prize was a music video shot in Dubai and a first record with a label affiliated to Virgin Records Middle East, the label K2Rhym had worked with.
Why it mattered
Until then, Tunisian rap lived mostly underground. Urban Fen brought it to prime time during the most watched month of the year, and showed that a music born in the neighbourhoods could become a profession.