PARK CITY, Utah (AFP) — Palestinian hip hop group DAM, which has spawned a cult following and a small army of imitators, was featured here in a new film at the Sundance Film Festival on the emerging Middle East music scene.
"Slingshot Hip Hop" by director Jackie Salloum offers a peek into contemporary life in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, as well as the Middle East hip hop culture inspired by the political rants of US rappers such as Public Enemy, Tupac Shakur and Eminem.
Rapper Mahmoud Shalabi from the village Akka, is featured in the documentary, as is female hip hop duo Arapeyat. The movie also highlights the work of the group Palestinian Rapperz (PR) among others.
Critics said Palestinian rap groups offer an alternative form of resistance against "Israeli occupiers," reinforcing entrenched Palestinian views of pre-1948 history.
Their message has left audiences and critics wondering if the new music might not simply reinforce longstanding cultural differences.
But Salloum offers a different take.
"Palestinians are steadfast and a very proud people," she said in an interview with AFP.
"When I visit my family in the West Bank, the situation just gets worse and worse. But these rappers gave me hope," she said.
The filmmaker said the rap groups often bring positive messages to youths, encouraging them to express their anger through rhymes, not violence.
And although they are not topping the charts in Israel, they have attracted a small, leftist Jewish fan base. "It’s still underground, but it’s getting through," said Salloum.
"Palestine’s First Lady of R & B" Abeer, who is also in the film, established herself in hip hop singing on the song "Born Here" with DAM. She has collaborated recently with Los Angeles-based Palestinian-American rap crew The Philistines, and also is working on a solo album.
DAM meanwhile, recently launched a small record label to distribute Arab and Palestinian music.
Salloum first heard Palestinian hip hop on the radio — the song "Meen Erhabi" ("Who’s the Terrorist?") by DAM — which launched the group’s stardom in the region.
She decided first to make a music video for the song, later to make her documentary "Slingshot Hip Hop," which shows scenes of rappers Tamer, Suhell and Mahmoud in their early, awkward recording attempts and their politicization during the Second Intifada.
By embracing rap "a form of music that is among the most popular around the world — the music of the oppressed and the marginalized — it’s easier to sell their message to young Palestinians," Salloum said.
"It’s having a huge effect on the new generation," she said.
Salloum added, however, that some Palestinians do not agree with the music.
"There might be a tiny few who don’t like it. Some say, ‘Why are you dressed that way? You shouldn’t wear baggy clothes.’ At one show, some kids protested (on religious grounds)."
At one point in the film, a female rapper’s family is threatened against appearing on stage again.
In the movie, the rap artists encounter crushing poverty, difficult cultural boundaries, daily border checkpoints, and other obstacles.
"They’re also always broke," Salloum said. "It took them five years to make an album, they’re struggling financially, and there is no music infrastructure available to them," she said.
"Hopefully, that will change."
The 10-day Sundance independent film festival opened Thursday and closes on January 27.