MC Abdul: The Palestinian Rapper 'On A Mission'

MC Abdul is in Cairo on Monday night when I will connect with him via Zoom. “I just got my family out of Gaza three days ago,” says the Palestinian rapper. “It's the first time I've been with them again in five months.”

Abdul, whose real name is Abdulrahman Al-Shantti, is only 15 years old. As the eldest of five, his upbringing in Gaza was defined by taking care of his siblings while experiencing life under Israeli occupation. By his thirteenth birthday, he had lived through four major bombings of his homeland. Last year, after overcoming three years of visa hurdles, he moved to Los Angeles with his father, motivated to pursue his dreams and finally focus on himself. But shortly after their arrival, war broke out again at home, reigniting Abdul's fears for his family's safety. Suddenly, the pain of separation and uncertainty overshadowed any promise of a better life.

“When I saw my brothers, I was so happy,” she says, still smiling. “I was a little nervous, even though there was nothing to be nervous about, you get that 'Oh wow, this is actually happening' feeling because I've been waiting so long.”

During these difficult months, he turned to music as a lifeline. Born of necessity and nurtured by passion, it has been his refuge for as long as he can remember. In December he released “Let it rain”, a piece that cuts deep. There's a rawness to lines like “I wanna call my mom, I hope she charged her phone/I hope my brother ain't alone,” contrasted with the melody from the Fugees' “Ready or Not.” There is weight in phrases like “I can calculate the distance of the airplane engine.” There is anger when he states, “You think you're from the trenches? Nah, these the trenches”.

Despite the staggering loss of those 81 family members back home, Abdul considers himself blessed to be reunited with his mother and siblings. His focus is now firmly on his music. a few weeks after we speak, he'll be hitting the stage at Rolling Loud California — a dream he literally prays for. “This is what I was born to do,” he says. “I'm on a mission.”

The mission became possible when he became a viral sensation in 2021. His debut single, “Palestine”, gathering more than six million views on Instagram, was a response to the escalating conflict in East Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. “Hopefully she can make a difference 'cause the same thing happened in '48/My grandparents got kicked out and had to move away,” the then-12-year-old rapped over the beat of Eminem's “Cleanin' Out My Closet.”

His talent did not go unnoticed, with American label Empire wasting no time in signing him. Keep releasing”Shouting at the Wall”, Abdul's personal favorite and his most viewed video to date. “Last night, I couldn't sleep and when I did, I could hear bombs in my dreams,” he gushes on the track. “There's nothing I can do in this case to stay safe/I'm brave even though this house could be my grave.”

Sharing these experiences with the world is important to him. “Through music, it just hits differently,” says Abdul. His taste in hip-hop is a testament to his old soul. Thanks to his dad, he grew up listening to Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, Sugar Hill Gang and Boogie Down Productions. Biggie, Tupac and Eminem taught him how to speak and rap in English. Studied Rakim, Lupe Fiasco and Kool G Rap – who has refers to the young rhyme as “my protégé from afar.”

Abdul has already won the support of important personalities such as Fat Joe, DJ Khaled, and supermodel Bella Hadid, who have shared his pieces and publicly praised his talent. He has graced stages from Doha's Oxygen Park, for the 2022 World Cup, to the United Nations headquarters in New York, on World Day to Protect Education from Attack — where he performed his anthem.The Pen & The Sword.” When Rolling Loud plays, he will be the youngest performer this year.

“I'm a very positive person and I just don't give up on myself,” she says. This is a trait he credits to his Palestinian upbringing: “At some point we've all felt like there's no hope, and we just have to give up. But we love life, and that's what keeps us going. We appreciate everything God gives us and do our best to keep our heads up, keep our chests out and just get on with life.”

In a place where education is not a given, the power of music has a way of shining through, especially with a gift like MC Abdul's. “I just had mine [dad’s] phone and my speaker,” he recalls. Everyday amenities like therapy and public parks are distant dreams for many, but music is a readily available tool for healing even in the most neglected corners of the world. MC Abdul embodies this truth and resilience, reminding us why we listen to music in the first place and emerging as a torchbearer for the future of the industry.

“He's an apprentice and a mentor,” says his manager, Hamzeh Zahr. “He's learning so much, but at the same time he's teaching so much just by being himself.”

Abdul puts his mission into words like this: “I would like to be a voice — not just for the people and children of Gaza and Palestine — but for anyone out there who is struggling. Who just wants to break the window and find the light.”

Before we end our call, Abdul shares how excited he is for his mixtape debut in April. I ask him what he has planned next and he gestures to his PS5, joking about gaming with Adin Ross. It's a sweet reminder that, even with his fame on the rise, Abdul is, at the end of the day, just a kid.