Straight Out of Palestine; Female Artists are Keeping the Heritage Alive
By Banah Khamis
There are more than enough ways to resist the Israeli occupation and preserve the Palestinian culture, rich history, and magical art. Music happens to be one of those ways; to actually produce music and art that promotes and is in alignment with the Palestinian identity is absolutely marvelous. We happened to find a few female artists who’re doing groundbreaking work in the music industry to sustain the Palestinian identity; scroll down to check them out.
Sanaa Mousa
Over the past 15 years, Sanaa has become a household name for folkloric Palestinian songs. In her music, she relies on her solo vocals and a background of musical instruments, yet still manages to make breathtaking tracks. Even though many of her tracks are renditions of widely-known folk songs, her music attracts a diverse audience from all over the Arab world and attracting all age groups.
Maysa Daw
Maysa Daw is a singer, songwriter, and rapper from Haifa, Palestine. She’s also the third member of DAM, the first Palestinian hip-hop group. The tracks she’s produced over the span of her career have tackled topics like love, identity, death, and politics. Her tracks are always reminiscent of who she is, as a Palestinian woman moving through the world.
In her track titled ‘Enough’, Maysa describes the state of distraught she is in as she ponders the countless deaths of her community as the calamities occupation strike. In another track, ‘Come With Me’, Maysa tells the story of two lovers who kept apart by the wall separating them. Despite the fact that Maysa’s music is a bit different from the traditional approach as she always intertwines the reality of many Palestinians in her songs brilliantly.
Shadia Mansour
Shadia Mansour, AKA “the first lady of Arabic hip hop” is a British-Palestinian singer and rapper whose music mainly focuses on her Arab identity and Middle Eastern politics. Mansour has been making music since 2003 and has pioneered a whole movement of conscious music that is often politically charged.
In her song titled ‘Al Kufiyyeh 3arabeyyeh’, Shadia rocks her signature look, the traditional Palestinian thobe. In this 2011 track, Shadia raps and sings about the gentrification of the Palestinian Kuffiyyeh; a symbol for Palestinian resistance and resilience appropriated by people who do not realize its true meaning.
Elyanna
The 18-year-old singer-songwriter from Palestinian and Chilean descent, Elyanna, started putting out music a year ago, and now she’s on the rise. Elyanna started with a few short covers of artists like Abdelhalim Hafiz and Nancy Ajram. Her raw voice has allowed her to reach thousands of people who dubbed her as the ‘Arab Rihanna’.
Her recent music release titled ‘Ana Lahale’ that featured the Lebanese-Canadian rapper Massari -who is mentoring the rising star. Also, she has another song titled ‘Oululee Leh’, Elyanna shows off how proud she is of her Arab roots as she wears a Palestinian keffiyeh-inspired outfit. Even though Elyanna has made it mainstream, you can see how she flaunts her Arab heritage unapologetically, making us all extremely proud!
