Palestinian Hip-Hop Rocks Hampshire College

By Cameron Lawrence Merker

While on their North American tour, Palestinian rap group DAM (Da Arabian MC’s) rocked a large crowd at Hampshire College on April 6 after the student group Students for Justice in Palestine sent them an invitation. The night was co-sponsored by Hampshire’s Hip Hop Collective and featured a whole night of events that included a screening of the documentary Slingshot Hip Hop directed by Jackie Reem Salloum, which tells the story of DAM and several Palestinian hip hop crews inside Israel and the occupied territories of Gaza and the West Bank.

The concert kicked off with slam poet Remi Kanazi who hosted the night’s event by reciting several of his poems that dealt with the Israeli occupation, Palestinian-American identity, and the US occupation of Iraq. The show quickly moved into an eclectic performance by Albany’s Broadcast Live whose blend of hip hop, folk and rock mixed with social justice worked to remind Hampshire students that they are not alone in their commitment to activism. Their seven-song set flowed like a waterfall of social demands attacking the rocks with jam after jam critiquing the actions of the right. The MC’s discussed everything from the rejection of Mumia’s appeal, to Justice for Jason, to the Occupation of Palestine. During their second song they criticized the music industry repeating at the end “They watered down jazz and now they’re strangling hip-hop.” The Albany hip-hop crew finished their set with “Boomerang Metropolis” a schizophrenic song that started off with a fusion of rap and rock and ended with dirty-south beats.

Not long after, DAM took the stage by storm with a sound that uniquely contrasted with BL, but complimented well with the night of politically active hip-hop. Based out of the slums of Lod, a city 20 km from Jerusalem, DAM’s three MC’s (Suhell Nafar, Mahmood Jrere, Tamer Nafar) commanded the mics with intelligent insights and aggressive flows over bouncing beats layered with Eastern and Western melodies. DAM started their ten-song set with fast-paced rhythms and furious rhymes in Arabic that was mixed with interactions in English in between each song. One of the highlights of the night was the performance of the song “Inkilab (Revolution)” from their album Dedication. Before playing the song, which they described as Arab reggae, they stated, “We will not coexist until we exist,” directly referring to the UN denounced Israeli Occupation that continues to dehumanize Palestinians through oppressive tactics. “Inkilab” featured a sample of Bob Marley’s “Revolution” with the MC’s singing “It takes a revolution, to find a solution.” As the evening progressed closer to midnight, the crowd in SAGA danced harder and shouted along when DAM gave them brief lessons in Arabic. DAM closed the show with their famous anthem “Min Irhabi (Who’s the Terrorist?),” where a surprisingly large number of Hampshire students had already known the chorus.

The successful turnout for both the show and film screening affirms that the fight for justice in Palestine at Hampshire College is far from over despite the administration’s efforts to undermine Hampshire’s successful divestment from Israel’s occupation of Palestine.

To hear samples, check out their sites at:
DAM: http://www.myspace.com/damrap
Broadcast Live: http://www.myspace.com/broadcastlive