Debke On The Moon/Nudbok Al Amar

DAM, Dabke on the Moon: Nudbok Al Amar (DAM, 2012)
Reviewed by Abu Ramses – Warning: TRACK 11 IS NOT FCC CLEAN

DAM, led by Tamer Nafar, is the first Palestinian-Israeli Hip hop crew & the leading Arab practitioner of the genre. They hail from Lydda, a crime & drug center like the South Bronx & South Central LA. DAM fuses political lyrics & many musical genres: rap, rai, blues, modern oud instrumentals, Arabic folk (dabke is an Arab folk dance). The conditions of Palestinian citizens of Israel produce a sound akin to blues. Contributions by Rachid Taha, Le Trio Joubran Amal Murkus & Bachar Khalifé (son of Marcel) show they’ve “arrived.” Musical fusion, English titles (but only 10 in English) & album title indicate determination to break out of the constraints of their lives & participate in world culture. Nafar says: “We write for the victim… I want to build my society. I don’t care what other people think.” At http://www.jadaliyya.com/pages/index/9118/dam-explores-the-unmapped-in-their-new-album-dabke

My picks: 2, 4, 7, 8, 10

Tracks
1. Street Poetry – Feat. Jamil Nafar. “We came from the hood. Straight to the stage. Artists over politicians. Arabic pop & a bit of street sound. - 3:05
2. I'm Not a Traitor – Recites names of Palestinian Arab villages & towns in Israel to assert that those who remained behind in 1948 are not traitors, but part of the Palestinian people. - 4:01
3. The Hob – Traditional rap sound with electronica & girl chorus - 4:25
4. If I Could Go Back in Time – Feat. beautiful voice of Amal Murkus. A young woman refuses an arranged marriage & is murdered by her father & brother. The music video single produced by Jackie Salloum (of “Slingshot Hip Hop”) aroused a storm of controversy. - 4:07
5. Why? – Oud, rap, & rai-style electronica; asks hard questions about the Arab condition - 3:41
6. Dabke on the Moon – Very danceable. They are in a spaceship. It won’t fly due to the weight. Ejecting political leaders & dictators lightens the load. They reach the moon & dance - 3:44
7. Tell Him it's Your Classmate – Muna Hawa instructs a girlfriend “When you talk to your boyfriend on the phone & your dad asks who it is, tell him it’s a girl from your class. Don’t think twice, lie.” - 3:58
8. A Letter from Prison – Three fictional prison stories based on real characters. Feat. oudists, Le Trio Joubran, piano by Bachar Khalifé - 4:26
9. Been Around the World - Feat. Rachid Taha, Arab percussion, North African style accordion on breaks - 3:12
10. Mama I Fell in Love With a Jew – a mostly western sound satirizing the claim that Arabs & Jews “coexist” in Israel - 3:58
11. Handcuff Them War Criminals – Scratches, rap, some English - 3:49