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Rider on the Storm: Legendary Drum & Bass DJ Released from a Dubai Prison


If you know about the British DJ scene or care about drum n bass, you know the name. It's been synonymous with hardcore club music culture in Great Britain since the late '80s. Grooverider (born Raymond Bingham) was released early off his 4-year drug possession sentence. Check the full story here.
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Unknown said…
I got strip searched on a tranfer through Dubai and it really seemed like they were profiling like a mofo... he even sifted through the lint in my pockets. I was treated rudely and aggressively by a corpulent customs agent and made to feel that they didn't 'like my kind' in Dubai. Luckily i had been forewarned and had gone through all my belongings looking for any party residue prior to embarking from nyc. The dude even had the nerve to ask me when the last time was i'd smoked herb.
Dubai: It's a great place to go if you're a material-obsessed clean-cut cornball. But if you have any off-beat style, or if you happen to be an African American that's not in a business suit, expect to be f**ked with in Dubai. They are the worst I've dealt with in 20 years of international travel, and downright nasty about it. Skip Dubai unless you're getting paid (very well) to go there. If you fit the description above, they don't want you there anyhow.
September 5, 2008 at 8:59 AM
Raymond Leon Roker said…
Tunde, man, thanks for posting here.

As for profiling, that's sad, but not a surprise at all. I forget how rampant that is in other countries. Unfortunately, America (and the West) has exported a lot of its culture around the world--and racism is a big part of it.

And I definitely blame a chunk of what these emerging countries do in terms of racism on the example we keep here in the states. If you like Coca-Cola and Apple Pie, try some racism on too.
September 5, 2008 at 9:13 AM
Unknown said…
Indeed, beyond importing certain attitudes about African Americans, the Arabian peninsula has long-standing endemic attitudes towards Africans of all stripe. the Sultan of Zanzibar was exporting slaves to the middle east well into the 20th century, and if not for European colonial and economic pressures, they would probably have continued much longer. In fact, it seems like they wouldn't mind having slaves to this day (not just Africans). Best to remember that these are royalist tribal societies that have modernized only on the surface in many cases. The idea the 'all men are created equal' is definitely not a tenet of a clan-based royalist society. So, as bad as some brothas catch hell here in the states, at least there's a moral, ideological, and legal basis with which to combat institutional racism. No such basis exists in Dubaii, or the rest of the area, for that matter.

Something to remember before you head there to shop till you drop (not much else to do there).
September 9, 2008 at 4:04 PM
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