In Lid, I encounter a phenomenon present in almost every Arab-inhabited area of Israel: segregated neighbourhoods affected by neglectful municipalities and socio-economic anguish, leaving no room for integration. These are among the injustices that DAM confronts onstage, with brutal honesty.
In 1999, Mahmoud contacted the Nafars in search of collaboration. They performed locally, and in 2000 mixed Shakur’s Hail Mary, which became Mahmoud’s first studio recording.
DAM’s turning point came in October 2000, when 13 Israeli-Palestinian civilians were killed during the onset of the second intifada [uprising]. This drove the MCs to develop a political stance against the accelerating level of racism in Israel, a subject previously untouched.“It wasn’t as magnified as the lies spread about Palestinian children being used in terrorist attacks,” recall the MCs.
In 2001, DAM recorded four tracks that turned into internet epics. Meen Irhabi [Who is the Terrorist?] is their most popular single to date, generating so much enthusiasm that it was downloaded more than a million times that year.
DAM means immortal in Arabic and blood in Hebrew. What is striking about their lyrics is the political awareness and resistance to the systematic denial of a Palestinian identity. According to the trio, it is an urban myth that Israeli Palestinians experience democracy, since all Arabs are confronted with various dimensions of discrimination.
“In Israel, we deal with different forms of oppression,” says Mahmoud. Our problem is with the police, not with soldiers. We don’t have a military-imposed curfew like in the West Bank.” Suhell adds: “But there’s the presence of a physical versus a mental occupation. Drugs, poverty, constantly getting stopped for ID checks on the street, humiliation at the workplace…”
How does this define the relationship between different Palestinian rappers? Mahmoud explains that regional dialects determine their flavours, affecting the slang and street codes. “Hip hop from Gaza and the West Bank differ from the Bedouin dialect and the northern accents. Our sound is unique because it’s a mix between two cultures: hip hop and traditional Arabic beats.”
We leave their flat and drive past the Mahata neighborhood, where the video clip Born Here was shot in 2004 by acclaimed Israeli-Palestinian director Juliano Khamis. Suhell explains that this ghetto, surrounded by a fence with a train track running right through, had a checkpoint until just a few years ago which, ironically, is still the only entrance to the neighborhood.
DAM collaborated with rappers from Morocco and Egypt to protest the Gulf War, and were invited to perform gigs in the West Bank, at European music festivals and in the US, where they were received by enthusiastic pan-Arab audiences. In New York, Chuck D of Public Enemy, one of their biggest musical influences, invited them for an interview on his radio show.
They have rejected recording deals in the process. DAM initially wanted to record Ihda’ in Britain, but settled for studios in Nazareth, Tel Aviv and Haifa. When asked why it took almost five years to release their debut, Tamer replies: “The deals offered weren't good. Arab producers in the Middle East are hesitant to collaborate because we carry Israeli citizenship, which has been imposed on us.”
Suhell adds: “Israeli producers don’t want to sign a record deal because we rap in Arabic, which is unprofitable, although we also speak Hebrew.”
Mastered and released by UK label Red Circle Music, Ihda’ contains 15 songs and launched last November. It includes collaborations with Palestinian singers, French band La Coccion and Sameh Zaqout, a rapper from Ramleh. Ala Azaam, a lute player from Haifa, offers the song of praise Mali Horiah [I Am Not Free] while the Nafars’ eight-year-old neighbour reads a poem by Nizar Qabani.
DAM are currently producing the soundtrack to Sling Shot Hip Hop, a documentary by Jayce Salloum portraying Palestinian male and female rappers, in which the trio will be featured. Meanwhile, Suhell is releasing a reggae album, Tamer is recording a CD in Hebrew, and Mahmoud is composing lyrics for an Arabic solo production.
© SharqMagazine.com