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Saint Levant

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Saint Levant
Abdelhamid in 2024
Abdelhamid in 2024
Background information
Birth nameMarwan Abdelhamid
Born (2000-10-06) 6 October 2000 (age 24)
Jerusalem
OriginAmman, Jordan
Genres
Occupation(s)Rapper, singer, songwriter
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
Years active2020–present
Labels

Marwan Abdelhamid (Arabic: مروان عبد الحميد; born 6 October 2000),[1] known as Saint Levant, is a Palestinian rapper.[2] A multilingual rapper, he is known for his song "Very Few Friends". He is also Dior's first fragrance ambassador in the Middle East.[3]

Early life and education

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Abdelhamid was born on 6 October 2000, in Jerusalem to a half-Algerian, half-French mother and a half-Palestinian, half-Serbian father during the Second Intifada. Abdelhamid's childhood was spent primarily in the Gaza Strip in the Palestinian territories until the 2007 Battle of Gaza after which his family relocated to Amman,[1] Jordan.[2] Growing up, he communicated in English at school, French at home, and Arabic at the Palestinian refugee camp where he played football after school.[citation needed]

In 2022, Abdelhamid received a bachelor's degree in international relations from the University of California, Santa Barbara.[4]

Career and activism

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Before taking on the name Saint Levant, Abdelhamid wrote "Jerusalem Freestyles" and "Nirvana in Gaza", both of which discussed political issues. Around the same time, Abdelhamid began posting videos on TikTok in which he discussed Palestinian history, as well as commentary on toxic masculinity in Arab culture. Shortly after, he co-founded GrowHome, which connects Palestinian entrepreneurs with individuals who can help fund their projects.[5]

In November 2022, Saint Levant released his trilingual rap track "Very Few Friends", which was streamed approximately 2 million YouTube views in one month.[2] The song soon became popular on TikTok and Instagram.[4]

In 2023, Saint Levant released "From Gaza with Love". In 2024, he signed with Universal Arabic Music (UAM) and released, together with MC Abdul, "Deira". The song is in the Chaabi musical style of Algiers, Algeria. He explained that "Deira" was the name of the 22-room beachfront hotel that his father Rashid, designed and his parents built in 2000 when they moved to Gaza and which the Israeli military destroyed by bombing in 2023 during Israel's war on Gaza.[6][7]

He tells Arab News in an interview, "I grew up in a hotel built with my father's architectural brain. And, to me, it was like the best years of my life".[8]

Saint Levant is outspoken on the struggle in Palestine, telling Harper's Bazaar:[9]

"Everything I do is focused and based on the Palestinian cause and struggle, doing a lot of contextualizing... I came to America... and... people think... the... conflict (is)... between these two equal(s)... (who) just hate each other for some reason, (that) Palestinians just hate Israelis. (In reality) it's 80 years of occupation and oppression and displacement and ethnic cleansing so I think it's very important to just push that forward always and I try to do it through the music; I try to do it through my actions, and everything that I do".

Saint Levant performed at Coachella in 2024.[10] He used his performance to bring awareness to the ongoing conflict taking place in Gaza.[11]

Personal life

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Abdelhamid lives in Los Angeles, though he regularly returns to Amman.[2]

Discography

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EPs and albums

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  • From Gaza, with Love (EP) (2023)
  • DEIRA (Album) (2024)

Singles

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  • "Jerusalem Freestyle" (2020)
  • "Nirvana in Gaza" (2020)
  • "7ajir" (2021)
  • "Haifa in a Tesla" (2021)
  • "Desert Rose" (2021)
  • "Sahrawi" (2021)
  • "1001 Nights" (2021)
  • "Nasser" (2022)
  • "Caged Birds Sing" (2022)
  • "Mandela" (2022)
  • "Tête-à-Tête" (2022)
  • "By the Sea" (2022)
  • "One More Time / Baby" (2022)
  • "Mistakes" (2022)
  • "Here and There" (2022)
  • "Very Few Friends" (2022)
  • "I Guess" (2022)
  • "Facetime" (2023)
  • "Nails" (2023)
  • "Deira" featuring MC Abdul (2024)
  • "5am in Paris" (2024)
  • "Galbi" (2024)

References

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  1. ^ a b "Saint Levant Represents Palestine, Raps in 3 Languages & is Thankful for His TikTok Success". YouTube. Harper's Bazaar. May 2, 2023. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d Babar, Laiba (January 30, 2023). "Who is Saint Levant? Everything We Know About the Viral Arab Rapper". GQ Middle East. Archived from the original on January 31, 2023. Retrieved January 31, 2024.
  3. ^ Anwar, Shaheera (May 5, 2023). "Dior makes history with Saint Levant, the first Middle East fragrance ambassador". Archived from the original on November 2, 2023. Retrieved November 2, 2023.
  4. ^ a b Chokrayne, Boutayna (December 21, 2022). "Saint Levant on Shattering Arab Stereotypes and Why He's Keeping the Mustache". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on November 2, 2023. Retrieved January 31, 2024.
  5. ^ Caramanica, Jon (March 6, 2023). "For Saint Levant, Sexy Music Is Personal, and Political". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 2, 2023. Retrieved January 31, 2024.
  6. ^ Aswad, Jem (February 23, 2024). "Palestinian-Algerian Rapper Saint Levant Drops 'Deira' Single With MC Abdul, Paying Tribute to Gaza". Variety. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  7. ^ Bain, Katie (February 24, 2024). "Saint Levant & Gazan Rapper MC Abdul Celebrate the Culture of Palestine in 'Deira' Video". Billboard. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  8. ^ "Palestinian artist Saint Levant to make Coachella debut". Arab News. January 19, 2024. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
  9. ^ "Saint Levant Represents Palestine, Raps in 3 Languages & is Thankful for His TikTok Success". YouTube. Harper's Bazaar. May 2, 2023. Retrieved March 11, 2024. Everything I do is focused and based on the Palestinian cause and struggle, doing a lot of contextualizing of the Palestinian struggle… because I came to America… and… people think that the Palestinian conflict was… between these two equal(s)… they just hate each other for some reason, Palestinians just hate Israelis. What people don't understand is that it's 80 years of occupation and oppression and displacement and ethnic cleansing so I think it's very important to uh just push that forward always and I try to do it through the music I try to do it through my actions and everything that I do
  10. ^ "Saint Levant at Coachella is Finally Happening – GQ Middle East". GQ Middle East. January 18, 2024. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  11. ^ "Saint Levant addresses Gaza war on stage at Coachella music festival". Arab News. April 14, 2024. Retrieved April 17, 2024.
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