Abdel-Rahman Al-Shantti (; born September 14, 2008) known professionally as MC Abdul or MCA Abdul is a Palestinian rapper from

Gaza, Palestine The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

. He gained popularity when he sang a rap about freedom in front of his school in Gaza which garnered hundreds of thousands of views on social media. As of July 2025, his videos for "Shouting At The Wall" and "Palestine" have received more than 3 million views and 1.8 million views, respectively, on YouTube.

Early life

Abdel-Rahman Al-Shantti was born in Gaza, Palestine. His mother had surgery to treat CNV bleeding in Egypt around 2007, but Al-Shantti said his mother was not able to maintain the surgery due to the blockade of Gaza by Israel. He started rapping and writing songs at age nine. He began recording cover versions of his favorite tracks and sharing them with friends and online. His family exposed him to artists such as

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...

and fellow Palestinian

DJ Khaled Khaled Mohammed Khaled (; born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ and record producer. Originally a Miami-based radio personality, Khaled has since become known for enlisting high-profile music industry ar ...

, the former of which Abdul considers to be one of his four favourites; the others are NF,

Tupac Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...

and

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

. He said he would like to go on ''

Arab Idol ''Arab Idol'' is an Arabic television show, based on the popular British show ''Pop Idol'' created by Simon Fuller's 19 Entertainment and developed by Fremantle Media and recorded in Beirut, Lebanon. The first season premiered on 9 December 201 ...

'' like fellow Palestinian

Mohammed Assaf Mohammed Jaber Abdul Rahman Assaf (; born 1 September 1990) is a Palestinian pop singer well known for being the winner of the second season of ''Arab Idol'', broadcast by the MBC network. His victory received worldwide coverage from the media a ...

. At the start of the 2023

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

, Al-Shantti is living in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, although his family, including his younger siblings, are still living in Gaza.

Career

In 2020, Al-Shantti advocated on behalf of Palestinian families in Gaza who were bombed by releasing the song "Shouting at the Wall". Following the release, he caught the attention of the record label

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

. MC Abdul spoke about the importance of rapping as a tool for coping with challenging times saying “The power that I have in my pen when I'm writing, I am unstoppable. The microphone is the only escape possible”. In 2022, he performs his first concert as part of the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

festivities in

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

. In 2024, MC Abdul featured on Saint Levant's single "Deira" (about the destruction of

Al Deira Hotel The Al Deira Hotel () was a beach hotel located in Gaza, Palestine. It was built in 2000 and had 22 rooms which featured high, domed ceilings and views of the Mediterranean. The hotel was regularly used by foreign journalists covering Gaza. A b ...

in an Israeli bombing), which has over 2.5 million streams on Spotify and over 2.9 million views on the music video on YouTube. The track is included in Saint Levant's debut album ''

Deira Deira ( ; Old Welsh/ or ; or ) was an area of Post-Roman Britain, and a later Anglian kingdom. Etymology The name of the kingdom is of Brythonic origin, and is derived from the Proto-Celtic , meaning 'oak' ( in modern Welsh), in which case ...

''.

Singles

As lead artist

* ''Shouting At The Wall'' (2021) * ''Palestine reeverse' (2021) * ''Can I Live'' (2022) * ''It's All Good'' (2023) * ''Killing The Game'' (2023) * ''The Pen & The Sword'' (2023)

As featured artist

References

{{reflist

External links

MC Abdul's YouTube channel
2008 births Living people Palestinian rappers People from Gaza City 21st-century Palestinian people