A friend put me onto the BLTNM label about a year ago with the track NKD GLG by Shabjdeed (rap) & Al Nather (rap+beats), still a fav:

this 5 HOUR SPOTIFY PLAYLIST co-curated by two producers in this scene is a perfect primer - literally, just put this on shuffle and you'll have consistently amazing music on.

since the situation escalated so extremely in October I've been checking out the other BLTNM (Al Nather label) releases and amazed by how amazing their entire catalog is.

I mean it makes a lot of sense, hip-hop was born from resistance and especially as a reaction to racism, I was just never aware of much rap in Arabic - I've since also found some overlap w the Egyptian club scene, Aphex Twin-cosigned ZULI (also hip hop + club producer) dropped an insane EP last year featuring Palestinians Dakn and Haykal.

one of the things which impressed me most is how experimental their sound is, Muqata'a who's been given the title of the "godfather" of the Palestinian underground being at it for a decade+ now is also a rapper but a lot of his releases are instrumental FLYING LOTUS type weird wonky electronics, mixed w club, glitch, vaporwave - but all of it w uniquely Arabic flavor (his Boiler Room is one of the best BR's ever imo).

Muqata'a - the godfather and mad wizard

he also mentored Jumud who's maybe the most fascinating artist in the scene to me just for being the most wildly experimental and versatile.

the "star" of the scene is most definitely rapper/producer Al Nather, who works a lot w other prominent rapper Shabjdeed but also produced for Fawzi for example (another of my faves so far)

Al Nather & Shabjdeed - underground superstars

there's so much to dig here! Yesterdy I stumbled on this Spotify playlist which is a pretty great primer, really great selections including all the prominent artists as well as even more underground ppl, linked above.

also big shoutout to Boiler Room (rare W) for doing a whole series as well as documentary on the club and hip-hop scene (there's a lot of overlap between the 2), including many of the most prominent artists from this scene who all deliver amazing sets.

full Boiler Room series
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx3QyNMosJdyi6i1CoAvtHJ-YsB2F7h7t

also highly recommend watching the excellent documentary by Boiler Room on underground music in the West Bank to see the environment this came out of and let them talk about it themselves (focussing more on clubs at first but from 9:40 following the hip-hop scene - highly rec watching the whole thing for context, both scenes very connected too)

@Soupvillain @Yolko @Campari @innuendo @safe @TRiLLA @Drain_Cook @justynbass @kilihn @sentient_sherm_bag @deepsleep @pneumonia @sfsorrow @nosejabs @baella @sasuke @btstuedit @Misfit @ImFrench @DwindlingSun @Notmyfirst @Maartins @lemonadee @worthit @cut @eversince @Sarcophaguspussy @Goo @Papollo @corbin @Vox @Abolishdamonarchy6 @Sig9 @proper @marcusg

holy this is great!

@ing Goo is actually funny as s*** considering that he was in the IDF

Here for it!

he’s also a genocidal racist

Hopefully he gets drafted and lost in Gaza

wwwwwwhat

they probably smoked him there already

What the hell

Was he openly talking about that on here?

In though, s/o @beflygelt the 🐐

This is an aside but why don't you rock with boiler room? I don't keep up with them that much but I've seen cool stuff here and there from them

@fiveprestos

this dope

no like on the one hand they do a lot of good stuff especially w like rly finding talent, giving them a platform, but on the other hand that also has a predatory capitalistic aspect to it.

the whole culture around it is also just pretty cringe, the announcements, the crowds they bring in... that said the Palestinian crowd is pretty wholesome. but ya most artists aren't massive fans of BR lol

along w Hör they just established a bit of a de facto monopoly on making it big as a DJ, which obviously is a big problematic. it's just like the McDonalds of club a bit

Hör also got Israeli owners btw and caught a lot of s*** for censoring Palestinian voices, why a lot of artists cancelled their sets there or even asked for them to be removed. and this is more hearsay but someone told me Boiler Room owner comes from a family of plantation owners lol

lol welp 😬

?????

Word, thanks for breaking this all down in detail, I hear you 100 % now

Never heard of Hör but s/o everyone that's dropped them despite it being a big opportunity

You got anything else on that plantation rumor? Never heard anything on that and want to see if I can dig anything up

Better @ me next time you post some cool s*** nigga

Bump

Muqata'a also collaborated w Moor Mother on the latest 700 Bliss btw. his boiler room is complete madness

Good thread, I didn’t know this was a thing

I just watched the half hour Boiler Room documentary they made on the music scene in Palestine, really great.

it's so crushing to hear how hard they make it for artists from different areas to connect, it's really as much a war on their culture as on their lives

from 9:40 about the hip-hop scene, all of it worth watching though

My favorite Palestinian adjacent music, electronic/ ambient by Muslimgauze. Lots of albums, Elucid from Armand Hammer put me on with a tweet

I will look into this, thanks for the thread

Will peep later