M7DH0N©: Shaking up Beirut’s Sonic Underground

M7DH0N© isn’t so much a group as a rupture in Beirut’s musical landscape where noise, persona, and honesty collide. Formed in 2023 by producer-artists BILLY TSTRK and WAJA33, alongside videographer-DJ ALBR1T, as well as BeirutClubMafia, the collective emerged out of a shared frustration: nothing in the region sounded like the world they were living in. So they built their own.

“There was not a lot of new music coming out of the region that resonated with our idea of art, so we had to do it ourselves,” the collective tells Dazed MENA. This refusal to wait for permission – from institutions, from the local scene, from the expectations placed on Arab artists – is at the core of M7DH0N©’s ethos. Its work is raw, intentionally unpolished, and driven by a desire to carve out a sonic and visual language that mirrors the chaos of our world. 

The collective’s universe is held together not by genres, trends, or the NGO-friendly narratives that dominate so much of cultural production, but a commitment to truth as atmosphere. In their world, distortion is not an aesthetic but the emotional register of the present. Fragmentation is a mode of expression. And honesty is the only politics that matters.

If there was a moment that defined M7DH0N©’s trajectory, it wasn’t a streaming milestone or social-media virality, but its first live show in Beirut. “It was the first time we actually saw the impact we’d been building,” shares the team. The months of slowly building a dedicated following, coupled with the raw energy of their work, exploded in a room where nothing felt mediated. “Seeing that kind of enthusiasm live really confirmed that we were on a path towards something special.” That energy intensified with the fervent reception to BILLY TSTRK’s debut LP 7ASHARA, which further solidified that the collective wasn’t simply disrupting the scene as much as dictating its future.

At the heart of M7DH0N©’s process is also a radical vulnerability. “What fuels our creative work is a deep eagerness to express ourselves in the most honest way possible,” the collective explains. It’s a sentiment both rebellious and noble within a landscape often policed by censorship, taboos, and trends that reward conformity. But none of that matters because M7DH0N© isn’t seeking approval. It’s seeking truth, even when it’s messy.

Looking ahead, the team hopes for the SWANA creative landscape to mirror those driving their own work. “Better infrastructure and less censorship, more freedom,” they agree. A space where artists can actually create without limits, not just aesthetically but also politically, emotionally, and formally. And they’re not slowing down. M7DH0N© remains dedicated to forging a movement rooted in honesty, risk, and the right to create art that doesn’t apologise for its roots.