Beirut Never Dies

March 14, 2007

Lebanon

"We have the bombs," jokes hip-hop MC and occasional graffiti artist RGB, aka Rajab Abdul Rahman (RGB refers to the root letters of his first name). He shakes the plastic bag he is holding in his hands so the spray cans inside clang and echo hollowly in an otherwise empty parking lot. RGB and his colleagues - 6K, Fish and Rat - empty the contents of the bag on the ground, distribute the cans, pull their scarves up to mask their faces and begin. Bands of silver and black paint spread across a bullet-scarred wall. Hours later, they step back to survey the night's labor. Boldly emblazoned across the wall are graffiti letters taller than their creators, proclaiming in capital letters: "Beirut Never Dies."