Tamer Nafar

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Tamer Nafar and his group, DAM

Tamer Nafar is an Arab Israeli rap artist. He and a former mentor, Israeli rapper Subliminal, are the subjects of the documentary film Channels of Rage.

Tamer was born on June 6, 1979 in Lod, Israel. He began writing and making rap music in 1998, in 2000 his brother Suhell and their friend Mahmoud Jrere joined him to start the first Palestinian Arabian rap group, called DAM. Singing mostly in Arabic but also in Hebrew and English, DAM has become a leading Palestinian rap crew in recent years. The members of DAM compose their lyrics and music by themselves. DAM's work and art are influenced by the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the struggle for equal rights for Arab-Israelis. The group's songs deal with deal with social, political, and personal issues.

DAM initially performed in the Palestinian territories and Israel, winning many fans on both sides, including Arabs and Jews. Since then DAM's music gained the attention of European and the American audiences, and DAM has performed in the United States, England, Germany, Italy and several other countries.

In 2004 DAM released a single called "Bornhere" in the Arabic and Hebrew languages. The song was released with a video clip directed by Juliano Mer-Khamis, and produced by the mixed cities in Israel organization Shatil.

DAM is now working on their first album.

During the past three years DAM took part in the making of "Slingshothiphop," a documentary film in Palestine directed by Jackie Salloum. The film focuses on the daily life of Palestinian rappers living in Gaza, the West Bank and inside Israel. It spotlights alternative voices of resistance within the Palestinian struggle and explores the role that music plays within their social, political and personal lives.