Listen! New music from Palestinian hip hop legends DAM as they kick off US tour

Mahmoud Jrere, a member of legendary Palestinian hip hop trio DAM, has released a new track, “Marrat,” produced by Marwan Asad.

Jrere told The Electronic Intifada that the song, featuring Mohamad Mansour singing the hook, had an uplifting message in a time of adversity – one lyric is “don’t let problems cage you between four walls, because outside there are still stars.”

“It’s a song that people will understand in different ways depending on where they are in their lives,” Jrere said. “I wrote it as much for myself as for other people.”

Dabke on the Moon, the US tour

Jrere’s song was released on the eve of his arrival along with Suhel Nafar and Tamar Nafar, the other members of DAM, for a US tour which runs 31 March to 7 April, launching the group’s second album Dabke on the Moon.

“To develop our previous album we worked solely with local rap producers,” DAM said in a press release. “For Dabke on the Moon we had a particular sound in mind and worked with a much broader and diverse group that included pop, Arabic, Rai and classical music producers” helping the group achieve “something we believe is really fresh – new melodies and rhythms that in our minds go beyond what is expected of traditional hip-hop.”

You can listen to sounds from the album and an interview with Tamer Nafar on a recent Electronic Intifada podcast.