I travel to a different country each season exploring hip hop in the misunderstood corners of the world. If you are interested in music, adventure, or learning about the world, The Safe House is a must-listen. I take you with with me as I explore the rise and impact of local rap, and what it says about life in that particular place. I'm Soha. I’m a mama, immigrant, and most of all, I'm curious. I grew up in LA, surrounded by hip hop culture during the era of Snoop, Dre, and Pac. That's where I experienced the ability of rap music to reflect, transmit, and shape culture. The Safe House is a personal journey that explores my curiosity about misunderstood places, starting in the Middle East/North Africa. I'm exploring where I'm from, what the music tells us about it, and where I fit into her story. Inspired by Kendrick Lamar’s lyric about “venting in the safe house,” I started The Safe House to have honest conversations with artists about their inner and outer worlds and understand what the music says about life where they're from. My journey starts in a place I have always struggled to understand, a place that’s going through an unprecedented crisis: the motherland, Lebanon. In a lot of ways, this season is about the adventure of going home.   You'll hear the sounds and conversations I recorded during my time in Lebanon, in places ranging from night clubs to refugee camps and everything in between. I pull back the curtain on the everyday lives of hip hop artists so you can see for yourself what life was like in Lebanon in the Summer 2022; two years after Covid, the Lebanese banking crisis, and the Beirut port explosion. You can listen to Season One of The Safe House for free on all the major platforms or at safehousepod.com. Episodes range from only about 8-12 minutes and will be released weekly starting this summer 2023. And you don't need to know Arabic; I translate everything that's important. In upcoming seasons I will expand my exploration to cities across the Middle East, North Africa, and the rest of the world. That’s where your support comes in: subscribe to The Safe House today and get ready to see the world together!