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Growing up in Tripoli isn’t easy.
It’s a city divided by religion, where neighbour is pitted against neighbour.
The hilltop district of Jabal Mohsen and Bab el Tabbaneh is one of the most volatile sectarian fault lines in Lebanon, where conflict is handed down from generation to generation.
Children are often drawn into the fighting. Some even use weapons in street battles and many have been killed.
“We show people wherever they are the art of Tripoli, the art that’s never been a bullet, killing, blood or war. Art is art.”
Abrahim Abdul-Aal, or Bob, lives in the Bab el Tabbaneh region. He’s Sunni and has only known violence; he was born into it.
"People who die they have nothing to do with weapons or wars or killing. We are worried yes we are worried, from one minute to the next," he told SBS Dateline reporter Yaara Bou Melhem.
Just a few hundred metres away in the rival Alawite neighbourhood of Jabal Mohsen, lives Youssef Ibrahim, or Asso as he is also known.
It’s hard for these boys to escape the conflict, but they’re part of a new generation fighting against the sectarian violence and negative perceptions of their home city.
Listen to one of Asso’s songs
The two boys, Bob and Asso, are part of 'Cross Arts' an anti-sectarian youth performing arts crew with members of all religions and ethnicities.
And their mutual love of hip hop and music has led them to form an unlikely friendship.
"We show people wherever they are the art of Tripoli, the art that’s never been a bullet, killing, blood or war. Art is art," said Bob.
But not everyone is supportive.
"Many people don’t accept these ideas and it depends on their views. They were not brought up with such a thing, they don’t like it," said Asso, who is Shia.
It's this divisive view that Asso finds problematic, and it takes centre stage in much of his music.
In one of his songs, Asso raps: "There’s nothing in Tripoli that shows you what is right. Our children carrying weapons… This is wrong. We are showing them what is wrong. That is the only reason we are passing this message through Tripoli Hip Hop Revolution. This is our message."
On tonight’s Dateline, reporter Yaara Bou Melhem tells the story of an unlikely friendship between two boys from warring neighbourhoods in Lebanon’s troubled north. Catch the full story at 9.30pm on SBS ONE.
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