Head on over to this year’s Coachella lineup, and you’ll see that there’s more to the musical expectations than just the beef between Billie Eilish and Ye. In amongst a truly star-studded alphabetized list of artists from all over the world, you’ll find Ramallah’s very own Sama Abdulhadi, a female Palestinian DJ credited with bringing techno music to the West Bank – and then from taking her sound from the West Bank to the world.
Sama’s Background
Sama’s grandmother was a leading women’s rights activist in Palestine in the 1960s, which led to her family’s exile by the Israeli government. They lived in Jordan until the early ’90s, when she was born, and returned to Palestine as part of a peace deal. Her father is an events manager; her mother runs a forum for businesswomen, so she was quick to learn from her parents about planning her gigs and the importance of female empowerment.
Notoriously, together with her grandmother, she campaigned at school to establish an all-girls soccer team. She also organized dancing competitions such as hip-hop battles and break-dancing shows. Her career could have even taken her in a different direction as she would later play for the national soccer team.
Her father’s sound equipment meant that she had the means to play music for her friends at parties as a teenager, but the music was more of a hobby at this stage of her life. She would leave Palestine to study sound design in Amman and then London, returning to throw parties in the West Bank on holiday. She then worked as a sound engineer in Cairo and then Paris.
Sama’s Destiny
Ramallah is the administrative hub of the occupied West Bank. It is a small, mountainous city often associated with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It was here that Sama was drawn to perform as a DJ, pioneering the sound of techno music at a time when the conflict was escalating, and the area was anything but safe.
Things started to blow up for her (not in the literal sense, thankfully) with a Boiler Room set of her performing in Ramallah. Boiler Room is an online music broadcasting platform. It does a great job of demonstrating in the video just how passionate Palestinians are about their music and are as a people.
This was in 2018, and by then, Sama’s sound was catching on, and she had taken other aspiring DJs under her wing and built up quite a fanbase. You can marvel at how, during her Boiler Room set, she not only mixes like the Queen of Palestinian Techno that she is but how many people she seems to know and greets during her set. It’s wild.
With people flying in from all over the world to attend her parties, Sama knew that she was onto something and fulfilling her destiny. Destiny can be divisive, though, as she was to learn when she threw a party next to a mosque in Nabi Musa.
Sama’s Storm
In December 2020, Sama was arrested for a party that she’d organized and performed at in a religious area where some believe Moses was buried. At this stage of her career, Sama had dealt with being seen as a ‘Palestinian’ musician and by virtue of her nationality, she had learned to wear her heritage as a badge of honor wherever she performed. She assumed that people in Palestine knew who she was by now.
“I always thought that you know, I’m doing something for Palestine. But apparently, Palestine didn’t know.”
Her set was interrupted by religious Palestinians who saw her music as an attack on Islam. Nabi Musa, where the gig took place, is a cultural center that now operates as an event space, hostel, and tourist site. It was also once upon a time a drug rehabilitation center.
All of which speaks to the complexities surrounding Palestinian identity and how one finds ways in which to respect the religiosity and cultural significance of the past and move forward into a future that allows talented Palestinian artists like Sama to shine.
Sama’s Time To Shine
Undaunted by being jailed, Sama was quick to garner 10 000 signatories and receive her ‘Get Out Of Jail Free’ card for the confusion. Thankfully, it’s hard to keep a star like Sama Abdulhadi from shining. Her inclusion in the lineup for this year’s Coachella Festival proves that her sound, identity, and passion for music and Palestine are all inextricably linked. The world is listening to the sound of Sama – and liking what they hear.
The Delia Arts Center in Gaza, Palestine, supports the music and work of Sama Abdulhadi. Through the work of Delia Arts Foundation, we aim to help up-and-coming musicians in Palestine with the infrastructure to turn their musical dreams into a reality.
