12-year-old Gaza boy is being hailed as Palestinian Eminem.
In between all the current news about the Palestine and Israel conflict, one 12-year-old boy from Gaza is taking the internet by storm with his raps and being hailed as Palestinian Eminem. The boy named Abdel-Rahman Al-Shantti is going viral on social media for his rhymes on war and hardship in Palestine, as he raps over the instrumental of Eminem’s “Cleanin Out My Closet“.
“Palestine’s been occupied for decades, but a home for centuries. This land has for generations been all my family’s memories,” he raps in a clip that garnered over 4 million views on Instagram. “It’s not easy to put this into words, I am Looking at man baby sister, is this something she deserves? Growing up in a world where she is not treated the same. Denied the right to live free because of where she came.”
The short video is also getting the attention of a lot of popular international artists, including actor Tyrese Gibson, Fat Joe, and producer DJ Khaled. “Bless up the young world @mca.rap. Praying for Love and peace to the world and Unity! Praying for love and peace 🇵🇸 and the whole world everyone love and peace. LOVE IS THE ANSWER,” says Khaled in his caption.
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Last year, another video of Abdel-Rahman rapping outside his school in Gaza has gained thousands of views on the internet. “I am here to tell you our lives are hard. We got broken streets and bombs in the yard,” reads the lyrics of his song “Gaza Messanger”.
“I started rapping two years ago and I realized I was talented so I kept practicing. I kept practicing to reach this level and I still want to continue and improve and learn to write more original lyrics,” he told Reuters.
“My message talks about peace and I want to convey it to the largest number of people and I want to show what life in Gaza is like to the outside. I want to show them how we are children [and we’re] supposed to be like the other children from the outside, from America.”
“I want to be like Eminem – not to copy his style, I have my own style. But he is my favorite rapper, my idol,” he told Reuters.
Meet Gaza’s 11-year-old rapper who hopes to become the ‘Palestinian Eminem’ https://t.co/SdU1A9Vp8p pic.twitter.com/zVauyM0Iwr
— Reuters India (@ReutersIndia) August 18, 2020
