Traditionally, music has aided in the accompaniment of both religious and social customs in the Palestinian society. To these people, music is not only a form of entertainment and pleasure; it is a way of living. Hip hop developed in the United States in the 1970’s by African Americans in the New York area by generating a new cultural illustration of their issues and experiences. “The globalization of the US popular culture and the diffusion of hip hop into the Arab world has been accompanied by the mainstream of hip hop in the United States and its increasing embracement by new groups of young people…who have used it as a medium to express their political and cultural concerns” (Osumare 2007). Whether its conflicts between nations, living conditions, racism, poverty, drugs, or violence, their lyrics were used to verbally express both past and present issues. …show more content…
The political issues of their homeland and its affiliation with Israel and the United States have always molded Palestinian immigrants. The bulk of the migration came before World War I from what is today considered Syria and Lebanon in the early twentieth century (Sunaina). The second wave of migration came after World War II in 1948, which led to the evacuation of more than 700,00 Palestinians (Sunaina). And lastly, the final big wave of Palestinian immigration resulted from the Arab-Israeli wars 1967 and 1973 as well as the U.S. Immigration Act of 1965 (Sunaina). This is resulted in a new youth generation of Palestinian and Arab Americans filled with a whole new idea of music and the messages it can