I’m pretty excited about this week’s guest on the show - Tamer Nafar!
Widely regarded as the first rapper in Arabic - Tamer is famous for so many things in Israel, where do I even start? He's the lead singer of one of the most popular hip hop bands in the region and the world, DAM, he’s also got an amazing solo career going on, and to top it off - he's an actor and screenwriter, most notably starring in the award winning film Junction 48.
He says whatever is on his mind, knowing it will piss off a lot of people, and he’s never scared of the backlash he knows he’s going to get. He’s critical of Israel and its policies towards Palestinians, of course, but also has critique for Arab society and specifically - the male gender.
A lot of Israelis who aren’t hip hop fans also know him well because his name pops up in the news every once in a while - probably the most famous story happened a few years ago at the Israeli version of the Oscars, the Ophir prize, when Culture Minister Miri Regev walked out of the room because Tamer read a poem by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. That of course made a lot of noise.
So, this episode is going to be different - because Tamer had the great idea to base the discussion on his music - so, we’ll be hearing some of the songs, too - quite the feat for a technophobe like me!
We talk about how he got into hip hop, starting first in English and Hebrew before moving to Arabic; growing up alongside the violence in Lyd, his dream for what this region should look like, singing about politics and social issues, his acting career, and a whole lot more.
I really hope you enjoy this one.