Baghdad (CNN) -- Wearing hooded sweatshirts, baseball hats and sports gear, the five young men alternated between nodding their heads to the rhythm and taking hold of the microphone to pour out their anger, their insights, their pain. "No matter if you're Muslim, no matter if you're Christian, no matter the religion, we all are human," intones DK. The scene and sounds wouldn't be unusual in many U.S. cities, where rap has been part of urban culture for decades. But this is Baghdad. Members of the Smashing Hits, as the quintet calls itself, are aware that their music may seem out of place in Iraq. Traditionally, the Middle Eastern country is better known for sounds emanating from instruments like the oud and rebab, rather than from a microphone or turntable.
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Smashing Hits is an English-language rap group based in Baghdad
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Its five members rap about life in Iraq, aiming to send "a message to the West"
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One member says some of his lyrics are inspired by the deadly October 31 church siege
Beyond speaking @placeholder, they feel that rap offers them an authentic, powerful medium to express what they see and how they feel.