Mid Eastern Hip Hop

Let's change the world through Hip Hop, shall we?

I don't know how to express my sorrow and regret towards the current situation in the Middle East, so I'm going to do something fun with it. Let me begin by stating up front that I only know English. So I must rely on other sources for most of the lyrical content in these songs. This post does not claim to be a comprehensive account of Hip Hop in this region by any means, just something to start with.

Israeli Hip Hop artists often take pride in Jewish symbols and a culturally Jewish way of life. For Jews that live in Christian countries (I live in America), this is empowering. However, I can understand why this is taken differently in Israel, where Jews have the power. The beats usually are a mixture between Middle Eastern and Western club beats or the same mixture of instrumentation.

artists: T.A.C.T. Family (led by Subliminal); Hadag Nahash; Shabak Samech (rap metal); Mook E (Reggae rap).

Palestinian Hip Hop generally talks about the realities of life in Palestine. Some artists (Da Arab MCs aka DAM) explain that they rap in English and Hebrew (as well as Arabic), because Arabic-speakers understand the predicament of Palestinian life, so DAM purpose is to educate Israelis and others. A personal criticism of some Palestinian Hip Hop is that some of the lyrics are offensive to Jews who would otherwise be sympathetic to their plight. However, these offensive lyrics are rare, but they do represent the frustrations of the Palestinian people. These lyrics symbolize despair more than they represent hate.

artists: Da Arab MCs (DAM); MWR (I believe they're Palestinian, but they might be Egyptian. Sources are often contradictory).
http://www.dam3rap.com/arabrap/

Both Palestinian and Israeli artists strongly advocate peace in their songs. They seem to disagree on how the peace can/should/will be achieved.

The beats from other Arab countries generally are not as dark as Palestinian beats. Some artists have been born and raised in European countries, some have immigrated to Europe, and others live in Arab countries.

artists
Algeria: Intik
Egypt: Pharosan
Lebanon: Clotaire K

Just outside of the Middle East
Iran: Ali Sufi
Morocco: Salah Edin, Raymzter

If anyone has more information, please share.