Shadia Mansour (; born 1985), also known as "the first lady of Arabic hip hop" See also is a British-Palestinian rapper who performs in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and English. Much of her music revolves around

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

ern politics.

Biography

Early life

Mansour was born in London in 1985. Her parents are Christian Palestinians originally from

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

and

Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...

. She grew up in the UK and spent summers visiting relatives in Haifa and Nazareth, including her cousin, Juliano Mer-Khamis. Influenced by other Arabic performers such as Fairouz,

Umm Kulthum Umm Kulthum (; 31 December 1898 – 3 February 1975) was an Egyptians, Egyptian singer and film actress active from the 1920s to the 1970s. She was given the honorific title (). Immensely popular throughout the Middle East and beyond, Umm Kul ...

and Mohammed Abdel Wahab, Mansour began singing at Palestinian protest rallies as a child and she became known in London's Palestinian community for performing classical Arab songs of protest at an early age. She went on to study performing arts before launching her career as an MC.

Career

Mansour began rapping in 2003 and has gained recognition in the Middle East, Europe and the United States for her own songs and collaborations with other artists. She performs wearing a traditional Palestinian thawb and has said that she considers herself to be part of a "musical intifada" against the occupation of Palestine, conservatism and oppression of women. Mansour's first single, "Al Kufiya Arabiya" (The Kufiya is Arab), featured rapper M-1 of dead prez and lyrics emphasizing the kufiya's role as a symbol of Arab nationalism. The song was written when Mansour discovered an “Israeli” made blue-and-white colored Arab scarf with Stars of David on it. Mansour introduced her song on stage in New York: "You can take my falafel and hummus, but don’t fucking touch my keffiyeh". In 2007, Mansour called for Hamas and Fatah to stop fighting. In 2008, Mansour's track "Kulun 'Andun Dababat” (They All Have Tanks) included Tamer and Suhell Nafar from an Israel-based Palestinian hip-hop group DAM; Suhell's lyrics made clear that neither Fatah nor

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

received his support. Mansour has recorded music with producer Johnny "Juice" Rosado, formerly of

Public Enemy Public Enemy is an American Hip-hop, hip hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as Racism in the United States, American r ...

, and was featured on Chuck D's website shemovement.com. She has also collaborated with artists like British Iraqi rapper

Lowkey Kareem Dennis (born 23 May 1986), better known by his stage name Lowkey, is a British rapper and activist from London. He first became known through a series of mixtapes he released before he was 18, before taking a hiatus from the music busi ...

and Narcy. Mansour has toured with Existence is Resistance, an organization supporting hip-hop shows in Palestine, and is part of the "Arab League" of Hip Hop, a collection of performers who share views on the Middle East. In 2014, Mansour collaborated with Ana Tijoux on the song "Somos Sur" ("We are South") about the importance of the global resistance movement. In 2020, Mansour collaborated with Palestinian Jordanian electronic music and shamstep group 47Soul, as well as Fedzilla - a German-Chilean rapper and MC, on the song "Border Ctrl" about the shared experiences of border violence and colonialism in Palestinians and Latin Americans.

Political views

Mansour's political raps have criticized Israel's occupation of Palestine as well as Israel's role in the Gaza War which began in 2008. Mansour said, "My music sometimes sounds hostile. It's my anger coming out and it's resistance. It's non-violent resistance." Mansour's early work emphatically supported the Palestinian resistance movement with what

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

called a "hardcore stance on Palestinian nationalism". Over time her views evolved to appreciate more of the complexity in the region, and her music came to reflect that; Monsour describes that she has become more “realistic” in her lyrics. While challenging Israel's policies, Mansour also takes a stand against gender stereotyping of women both in hip-hop culture and Palestinian society. She has refused to perform to gender-separated audiences. Mansour's music has been challenged by conservatives within Palestine, and Mansour has addressed that opposition to her music in her lyrics.

Style

She initially tried to change her voice to sound more like male MCs, but over time Mansour has developed her own style as a female MC while rejecting the sexualization of women in hip-hop. Mansour typically performs in a traditional Palestinian gown also known as a thobe, that covers most of her body, and notes that she is "kind of old fashioned."

References

External links

Shadia Mansour
on Myspace * – UK Foreign Office short film
Cultures of Resistance documentary
excerpt featuring Shadia {{DEFAULTSORT:Mansour, Shadia 1985 births Living people Palestinian rappers Rappers from London English hip-hop musicians English people of Palestinian descent English women rappers British women hip-hop musicians