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The Sham MCs would be taking the Syrian hip-hop scene by storm -- if they weren't creating the genre as they go.

The group is all about crossing barriers -- rapping in both English and Arabic and mixing hip-hop with the sounds of traditional Arabic music, while avoiding the lyrical clichés of both genres.

The nine-member crew is a mix of Syrian Christians, Muslims and followers of new age spirituality. They're taking advantage of more accessible recording technology, and the social media tools that have fueled uprisings in other Middle Eastern countries, to spread their music to a Syrian audience they say is hungry for hip-hop.

MC Mic Son, who learned English from an online Ebonics course, took us into the studio during a recording session for the Sham MC's second album.