The Israeli behind a spoof YouTube video showing embattled Libya leader Muammar Gadhafi rapping from his balcony said Thursday he has received requests from Iranians to put together a revolutionary theme song for them too.
Noy Alooshe, a 31-year-old music journalist and producer, re-mixed one of Gadhafi's recent Tripoli speeches with "Hey Baby" by American rappers Pitbull and T-Pain.
"It's amazing to see," says the music producer, who says he has received plenty of positive responses, including by Muslims saying the video and its success proves that "music connects people, even if they are enemies."
Alooshe says he has also received numerous death threats, including messages on his YouTube profile and Facebook and Twitter accounts. The threats run along the lines of "We will come to get you" and "We will come to kill you"; there are curses and anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic remarks as well.
"It's about half and half," Alooshe says about the comments he has received. He maintains he is not worried about the threats, as "at the moment they remain on the internet."
"Also, Gadhafi is not one of the most loved people in the Arab world," he says, "so I try to flow with it."
Since being uploaded on YouTube 10 days ago, the clip has become a worldwide hit, with more than 3 million hits - some 2.5 million for the original, and over 600,000 for a second version made at the request of conservative fans, which does not feature the two scantily-clad dancing girls.
"Shiber shiber, beit beit, dar dar, zenga zenga (inch inch, house house, apartment apartment, alleyway alleyway)," Gaddafi is seen chanting in Alooshe's video, raising his fist rhythmically to the beat as he vows to hunt down the protesters. Alooshe therefore dubbed the remix the "Zenga Zenga Song."
A mobile phone ring tone has also been made out of the mix, which "gets downloaded nicely," he says. T-shirts with Gaddafi's caricature and the slogan "Zenga Zenga" have also been printed.