Shadia Mansour

Shadia Mansour شادية منصور
Also known as	First Lady of Arabic Hip Hop
Born	1985 (age 31–32) London
Origin	London, England
Genres	Hip hop
Years active	2003–present
Associated acts	Lowkey, Anita Tijoux, Logic, SAZ, DAM, Omar Offendum

Shadia Mansour (Arabic: شادية منصور‎‎ Shādiyah Manṣūr, born 1985), also known as "the first lady of Arabic hip hop" is a British Palestinian singer and MC who sings and raps in Arabic and English. Much of her music focuses on Middle East politics.

Mansour was born in London in 1985. Her parents are Christian Palestinians originally from Haifa and Nazareth. She grew up in the UK and spent summers visiting relatives in Haifa and Nazareth, including the Israeli/Palestinian actor, writer, director and activist Juliano Mer-Khamis, who was her cousin. Influenced by Arabic performers such as Fairouz, Umm Kulthum and Mohammed Abdel Wahab, Mansour began singing at Palestinian protest rallies as a child and she became known in London’s Palestinian community for performing classical Arab songs of protest at an early age. She went on to study performing arts before beginning her career as an MC.

Mansour began rapping in 2003 and has gained recognition in the Middle East, Europe and the United States for her own songs and collaborations with other artists. She performs wearing a traditional Palestinian thawb and has said that she considers herself to be part of a "musical " against the occupation of Palestine, conservatism and oppression of women. Mansour's first single, "Al Kufiya Arabiya" (The Kufiya is Arab), featured rapper M-1 of dead prez and lyrics emphasizing the kufiya's role as a symbol of Arab nationalism. The song was written when Mansour discovered an American made blue-and-white colored Arab scarf with Stars of David on it. Mansour introduced her song on stage in New York: "You can take my falafel and hummus, but don’t fucking touch my keffiyeh".

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