Aisha Ditta | School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (original) (raw)
Postgraduate in: MA Media and the Middle East.Graduate in: BJTC-Accredited BA Journalism and Media.Strong interest in the Middle East and the politics of narrative within the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Supervisors: Dina Matar
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Palestinian hip hop emerged when three Arab-Israeli Palestinian hip hop rappers began rapping us... more Palestinian hip hop emerged when three Arab-Israeli Palestinian hip hop rappers began rapping using the Arabic language for the first time, in a country of predominantly Hebrew speakers. Tamer Nafar, alongside his younger brother Suheil Nafar, and their friend Mahmoud Jreri, formed the first Arab rap group, DAM (Da Arabian MCs) in 1999 (Lovatt 2011: 14). Based in Al--Llyd, also known as Lod, a mixed city of Arab and Israeli citizens, DAM were inspired by American rap to speak against years of oppression, inequality and social injustice. Palestinian hip-hop can be situated within a longer history of hip hop music, originating from the United States. The hip hop movement can be traced back to 1979, when studio recorded hip hop music was first created for circulation beyond the underground (Watkins 2006: 10). Rappers from the Bronx identified hip hop’s commercial potential and became pioneers of the hip- hop movement that “would make it a cultural and economic juggernaut” (Watkins 2006: 10). The relationship between music and resistance has been fundamental to cultural studies especially in the case of Palestinian popular culture.
This paper seeks to explore hip hop as a specific area of cultural production that disseminated the idea of resistance in the Palestinian context. Using key theories surrounding culture and resistance, songs from two artists with similar expressions will be analysed, focusing on a politically charged cultural form in the Palestinian community: hip hop music.
Palestinian hip hop emerged when three Arab-Israeli Palestinian hip hop rappers began rapping us... more Palestinian hip hop emerged when three Arab-Israeli Palestinian hip hop rappers began rapping using the Arabic language for the first time, in a country of predominantly Hebrew speakers. Tamer Nafar, alongside his younger brother Suheil Nafar, and their friend Mahmoud Jreri, formed the first Arab rap group, DAM (Da Arabian MCs) in 1999 (Lovatt 2011: 14). Based in Al--Llyd, also known as Lod, a mixed city of Arab and Israeli citizens, DAM were inspired by American rap to speak against years of oppression, inequality and social injustice. Palestinian hip-hop can be situated within a longer history of hip hop music, originating from the United States. The hip hop movement can be traced back to 1979, when studio recorded hip hop music was first created for circulation beyond the underground (Watkins 2006: 10). Rappers from the Bronx identified hip hop’s commercial potential and became pioneers of the hip- hop movement that “would make it a cultural and economic juggernaut” (Watkins 2006: 10). The relationship between music and resistance has been fundamental to cultural studies especially in the case of Palestinian popular culture.
This paper seeks to explore hip hop as a specific area of cultural production that disseminated the idea of resistance in the Palestinian context. Using key theories surrounding culture and resistance, songs from two artists with similar expressions will be analysed, focusing on a politically charged cultural form in the Palestinian community: hip hop music.