Palestinian & Israeli Hip Hop Showcase : Hip Hop Sulha

Saz (Sameh Zakout) was born and raised in the lost Palestinian princess city called Ramle in a poor and rough neighborhood .the relationship of hip hop and Sameh started when the teacher of Arabic language in third grade examine Sameh to read a story, then he started to rhyme the words on the beat that his classmates made by clapping their hands and since that day he fell in love with hip hop. At first Sameh rhymed at school parties, birthdays and small shows. During his singing career some people were not encouraging him to continue in this kind of music but Sameh didn’t lost his faith to succeed in life.

Sameh studied in the Tera-Santa church, although the poverty and the difficulties Palestinian Arabs faced in Israel Sameh decided to fight thru music and the hip hop beats. At the age of 16 he began performing in small clubs, and today he has world tours: France, England, USA, Holland and more. The international media is very interested in his work, he had an article in the Rolling Stone, and he also had articles on CNN, French and Dutch television. Despite his young age a documentary film was made about him and his family, the film was broadcasted in more than 5 countries. Sameh has daily fights regarding his Palestinian identity, therefore his songs deal with political, social and personal issues.

Through his songs he tells the story of the Palestinian tragedy. His own grandfather was exiled from the village of Sdud in 1948. Sameh and his family live today in Ramleh, a city where Jews and Arabs live together in Israel. Other parts of his family ran away to Gaza and the West Bank.

Sameh was raised on values of equality and brotherhood between nations. His father and grandfather are communists who are not interested in religion and nationalism. They encouraged him to take part in joint activities of Arabs and Jews.

Sameh was very much involved in the Jewish society. He had many Jewish friends and used to go out with Jewish girls. But three years ago, since the Intifada started, Sameh began to ask himself questions about his Identity. Like what does it mean to be an Arab –Israeli in Israel?

Since crashing into the Israeli hip-hop scene with his 2000 debut (Recorded between 1993-1999), Israeli Hip Hop pioneer Sagol 59 (born Khen Rotem) has built a formidable reputation as an honest, unflinching, clever, articulate and highly original MC. boasting 4 Albums to date, plenty of musical collaborations with diverse artists and many live shows in Israel and overseas, Sagol has anticipated Israel’s current Rap boom and cemented his position as one of its most outspoken and talented leaders. Sagol has recorded the first-ever collaboration of Israeli and Arab MC’s (“Summit Meeting” featuring Tamer Naffar & Shaanan Streett, released 2001). He also hosts the monthly Corner Prophets/Old Jeruz Cipher Hip Hop events, taking place in Jerusalem and showcasing both established and up-and-coming artists. Within the last 6 years, sagol has performed alongside many well known artists, both local and international (Matisyahu, Kenny Mohammed The Human Orchestra, Remedy, Killah Priest, Sole of Anticon, Spearhead’s Michael Franti, Y-Love, Skinnyman, Taskforce and many others).