MC Abdul: The Palestinian Rapper ‘On a Mission’
MC Abdul is in Cairo on a Monday night when I connect with him over Zoom. “I just got my family out of Gaza three days ago,” the Palestinian rapper says. “It’s the first time that I reunited with them in five months.”
Abdul, whose real name is Abdulrahman Al-Shantti, is only 15. As the eldest of five, his upbringing in Gaza was defined by looking after his siblings while navigating life under Israeli occupation. By his thirteenth birthday, he had lived through four major bombardments on his homeland. Last year, after overcoming three years of visa hurdles, he moved to L.A. with his father, motivated to chase his dreams and finally focus on himself. But not long after they arrived, war broke out again back 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 just so happy,” he says, still smiling. “I was a bit nervous even though there wasn’t anything to be nervous about, you get that feeling of ‘Oh wow, this is actually happening,’ because I’ve waited for so long.”
During those trying months, he turned to music as a lifeline. Born out of necessity and nurtured by passion, it’s been his refuge since he can remember. In December, he released “Let It Rain,” a track that cuts deep. There’s a rawness to lines like “I want to call my momma, I hope she charged her phone/Hope my brother’s not alone,” set against the melody from the Fugees’ “Ready or Not.” There’s gravity in phrases like “I can calculate the distance of the airplane engine.” There’s anger when he declares, “You think you’re from the trenches? Nah, these the trenches.”
Despite the staggering loss of as many as 81 family members back home, Abdul considers himself blessed to be together with his mother and siblings again. His focus is now firmly set on his music; a few weeks after we talk, he’ll take the stage at Rolling Loud California — a dream he’s literally been praying for. “This is what I was born to do,” he says. “I’m on a mission.”
The mission felt within reach when he became a viral sensation in 2021. His debut single, “Palestine,” garnering more than six million Instagram views, was a response to the escalating conflict in East Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. “Hoping it can make a difference ‘cause the same thing happened in ‘48/My grandparents got evicted and forced to move away,” the then-12-year-old rapped over the beat of Eminem’s “Cleanin’ Out My Closet.”
His talent didn’t go unnoticed, with the U.S. label Empire wasting no time in signing him. He went on to release “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 pours out 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 those experiences with the world is important to him. “Through music, it just hits different,” 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, the Sugar Hill Gang, and Boogie Down Productions. Biggie, Tupac, and Eminem taught him how to speak and rap in English. He studied Rakim, Lupe Fiasco, and Kool G Rap — who has referred to the young rhymer as “my protégé from far away.”
Abdul has already gained the support of influential figures like Fat Joe, DJ Khaled, and supermodel Bella Hadid, who have shared his tracks and publicly praised his talent. He’s graced stages from Doha’s Oxygen Park, for the 2022 World Cup, to the United Nations headquarters in New York on International Day to Protect Education from Attack — where he performed his anthem “The Pen & The Sword.” When he plays Rolling Loud, he’ll be this year’s youngest performer.
“I’m a very positive person, and I just don’t give up on myself,” he says. That’s an attribute that he credits to his Palestinian upbringing: “At some point we all felt like there’s no hope, and we just need to give up. But we love life, and that’s what keeps us going. We appreciate everything that God gives us, and we try our best to keep our heads up, stick our chests out, and just move on with life.”
In a place where education isn’t a given, the power of music has a way of shining through, especially with a gift like MC Abdul’s. “I just had my [dad’s] phone and my speaker,” he recalls. Everyday comforts, 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 teaches so much just by being himself.”
Abdul puts his mission into words this way: ”I would like to be a voice — not just for the people and kids of Gaza and Palestine — but to anyone out there who is struggling. Who just wants to break through the window and find the light.”
Before we end our call, Abdul shares how he’s excited for his debut mixtape release in April. I ask him what he has planned after this, and he gestures toward 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.