DAM aka Da Arabian MC’s play at Fabric Club in Gastown, Vancouver

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DAM aka Da Arabian MC’s play at Fabric Club in Gastown, Vancouver

April 26, 2009 ahamedia Leave a comment Go to comments

In this video, DAM ( aka Da Arabian MC’s ) perform a song at Slingshots Hip Hop at Fabric Club in Gastown, Vancouver .

DAM are the pioneers of Palestinian Hip Hop

——–This was filmed by April Smith of AHA MEDIA on a Nokia N95 mobile cameraphone. April is passionate and skilled in making Nokia films by exploring mobile media production through the camera lens of a cellphone. For a better quality version of this video, please DM April Smith @AprilFilms on Twitter.

Da Arabian MC’s
Suhell Nafar, Tamer Nafar, Mahmoud Jreri

DAM is the first and leading Palestinian Rap Group. It is composed of Tamer Nafar, 27, his younger brother Suhell, 23, and Mahmoud Jreri, 24. The group has been performing together since the late 90s. Tamer, who had been performing Rap since 1998 with his brother, was first contacted by Mahmoud Jreri. Mahmoud was writing his own lyrics so they quickly decided to join forces and the group was born in 1999. All three members of the group were born and grew up in the slums of Lod, a mixed town of Arabs and Jews, 20 km from Jerusalem.

DAM’s music is a unique fusion of East and West, combining Arabic percussion rhythms, Middle Eastern melodies and urban Hip Hop.

The lyrics of DAM are influenced by the continuing Israeli – Palestinian conflict as well as by the Palestinian struggle for freedom and equality. DAM also draw their influence from such controversial issues as terrorism, drugs and women’s rights.

Musically they take their inspiration from both Hip Hop artists (Nas, 2Pac, Mos Def, IAM, NTM, Saian Supa Crew, MBS etc.) and Arabic music (Marcel Khalifa,Kazem Saher,George Wassouf, Majda al Romi etc.)

The songs, lyrics and music, are written and arranged by all members of the group and musically produced by them and other known producers.

DAM are now gaining increased international popularity around the world through their unique message and ground-breaking live shows.

DAM’s debut album “Stop Selling Drugs” was released locally in 1998, followed by the second album called “Min Irhabi” (“who’s the terrorist?”) which was released in 2001. The controversial title track of this album was released on the net and more than 1 million people downloaded it within one month from the website ArabRap.Net. The song was also distributed free with Rolling Stone magazine in France and became a “street” anthem. It was also featured in a compilation in France with Manu Chao, Zebda, Noir Desir and many other top artists.

Furthermore, the lyrics of the song were taught in some Universities around the world because of their deep meaning, and were also used in pro-Palestinian demonstrations around the world.

http://www.dampalestine.com