Born in Iraq and raised in the UK and Canada, Yassin Alsalman, a.k.a. The Narcicyst (or "Narcy") first started out his hip hop career with Euphrates, one of the first of many outspoken Arabic artists in the 1990s. The pair released two internationally praised albums, A Bend in the River (2003) and Stereotypes Incorporated (2004). A graduate of Political Science, Narcy garnered more praise for his Master thesis on hip hop prose and politics, with a special focus on Arabic hip hop, entitled Fear of an Arab Planet, which also spawned an album of the same name by the collective The Arab Summit, featuring The Narcicyst, in 2005. The Narcicyst's politically charged but always peaceful views are made evident throughout his various projects and albums, including the recent release The Narcicyst (2009).