Oakland, California and Lod, Israel two cities separated by
7,405 miles that share a surprising connection. Tupac Shakur a rapper from Oakland, California
is considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. During the early
1990’s his music could be heard on radio stations all across America. He rapped
about the struggles of living in an inner city, the effects of drugs on poor
neighborhoods, and a system of racism that divided that kept African Americans
from becoming successful. A young Tamer Nafar in the small city of Lod, Israel,
heard this message and was inspired to rap. Lod is similar to Oakland in many
ways, about 15 minutes from Tel Aviv, it is a poor town filled mainly with
people of Palestinians, outsiders in their own country. Tamer learned English
by memorizing Tupac’s songs and translating them to English.
Tamer
decided that his town needed a similar voice and began rapping in 1998
recording an EP “Stop Selling Drugs.” He joined up with his younger brother
Suhell Nafer and childhood friend Mahmoud Jreri and the group DAM was born.
DAM, meaning “blood” in Hebrew, began preforming in clubs around Tel Aviv. They
originally rapped in Hebrew and wrote songs about violence and drugs in the
city they grew up in.
Their
music took a sudden shift in 2000 during the Second Intifada. DAM saw the
violence around them and decided to lend their voice to the Palestinian
resistance. They wrote their first political song over a beat from their hero
Tupac Shakur. They released the song “Innocent Criminals” a song about the struggles
of Palestinians living in Israel and the hypocrisy of the Israeli government.
The song became a huge hit with Palestinians and gained a large amount of
attention all over Israel.
DAM
went on to release many hits including “Who is the Terrorist?” “Born Here” and “Dedication.”
They are credited with the rise of Palestinian Hip-Hop and lending a powerful,
young voice to the struggle of young Palestinians. In a way they became the
Tupac of the Arab world. Born into an oppressive system that kept them confined
to a poor city, filled with violence and drugs using rap as a method of
expression and protest to raise awareness about a struggle that many people
would not think about if not for the music that defines it.
They have a fire soundcloud for anyone interested: https://soundcloud.com/damrap
References:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DAM_(band)
-Cameron Cook
