Sporting a huge, billowing afro and a T-shirt with an anti-Iraq war slogan, Erykah Badu expressed her support of black leader Louis Farrakhan and the Palestinian cause Thursday before a crowd of Israeli fans and journalists in Tel Aviv.

The Grammy-award winning neo-soul vocalist, 36, is in Tel Aviv to perform on Saturday night. She has also won acclaim for her acting roles in “Cider House Rules” and “House of D.” “I come from across the water bringing light and hope,” said Badu in her deep, languid voice. (more…)

They sing about God - not drugs and gang warfare. “It’s a positive message and Islam is a positive way of life,” says Mohammad Yahya, the elder of the duo known as Blind Alphabetz.

The group chose their name because they say so many people are blind to the topics they sing about. Mohammad and Abdul Rahman are a little nervous about what to expect when they first turn up at Southfields Primary School in West London for a workshop with two classes. (more…)

On a damp, dark Gaza City street, not far from a Hamas checkpoint on the edge of the looted beachside compound that was once the southern headquarters for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, a small group of young Palestinian rappers is tenuously trying to keep its musical culture alive.

It has been more than two years since these hip-hop artists performed on this stage and, in that time, the Palestinian landscape has again shifted. The last time the rappers came here, Israel had just cleared out of the Gaza Strip after nearly 40 years of military occupation, and there was a renewed sense of optimism. (more…)

Samekh Zakout and Chen Rotem couldn’t have had more dissimilar backgrounds. Zakout, an Israeli Arab, grew up in the rough and tumble working class Tel Aviv suburb of Ramle. Rotem, an Israeli Jew, was raised on a kibbutz - Ein Hahoresh - considered an ideal setting for children.

But today, Zakout, now known as SAZ, and Rotem, who goes by the moniker Sagol 59, have found common ground between them. They use the modern sounds, rhymes and rhythms of hip hop to espouse their frustrations with society and their hopes for future peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians. (more…)

With the recent escalation of fighting between Israel and Arab militants, I started thinking about hip-hop on that side of the world. I regularly read articles about hip-hop in Israel, and from what I can tell, it has a pretty big following. I’m sure you’ll find the same in many Arab countries.

With my interest in politically conscious rap, I started to wonder what, if anything, these Israeli or Arab rappers might say about their region’s ongoing conflict. (more…)