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The Arab League of Hip Hop
Loading ...As the Arab League weighs in on the value of restarting negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, another Arab League has formed and is poised to win more support overseas and in the Middle East, than George Mitchell could ever dream of. I am speaking of the so-called Arab League of Hip Hop, a conglomeration of rappers from across the Middle East, Europe, and the United States, who have joined forces to spread their message and their music to audiences worldwide. While Hamas security forces were shutting down the first hip- hop concert in Gaza, the leaders of the Arab hip-hop movement, namely Shadia Mansour, the group DAM, Lowkey, and The Narcicyst, were preparing for their first performance together, a historic event which would solidify not only their union, but their supremacy as the voice of the Arab hip-hop revolution.
The growing political potency of Arab hip-hop has drawn the attention of the U.S. State Department, which last month sent out Brooklyn-based hip-hop band Chen Lo and the Liberation Family on a tour of North Africa and the Middle East. The group traveled to Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria and performed with some of the best local groups, such as NORES in Salé, Murder Eyez in Aleppo, and DJ Lethal Skillz in Beirut. This was, by far, the most extensive and well-designed tour of its kind and showed a serious commitment by the State Department to expand its use of hip-hop as a cultural diplomacy tool, specifically in its inclusion of prominent local artists. However, the exclusion of the Palestinian territories and Gaza on the tour gave a strong impression that the State Department was playing it safe, while sacrificing its best opportunity for real impact.
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