DAM () is a Palestinian hip-hop group. DAM was founded in 1999 by brothers Tamer and Suhell Nafar and their friend Mahmoud Jreri. Their songs are largely about racism, freedom, Israeli occupation and poverty . DAM raps primarily in Arabic, but also in English. DAM has released more than 100 singles and three albums—Dedication, Dabke on the Moon and Ben Haana Wa Maana—as well as an EP—Street Poetry. DAM's lyrics are largely protest-driven, and their songs were centering around fighting against oppression, Israeli occupation, racism, poverty, drugs, and for women's rights. In January 2017, they signed with the London-based independent record label publishing and services, Cooking Vinyl. For their UK and EU touring schedule, the band is represented by X-Ray Touring. Etymology The group's name is the Arabic verb for "to last forever/eternity" (دام), but can also be an acronym for "Da Arabian MCs." The Arabic word for "blood" (دم) is spelled similarly, but without an alif. History (1979–1999) Beginning and Tamer’s solo career Tamer Nafar, Suhell Nafar and Mahmoud Jreri were born and raised in Israel. Tamer and Suhel were born to Fayez Nafar and Nadia Awadi. Fayez had been disabled for most of Tamer and Suhel's lives due to a car accident. Mahmood Jreri was born to Ibrahim Jreri and Shadia Hassuneh. Tamer, Suhel, and Mahmoud all grew up in poverty, neighborhoods they call "ghettos" in their music, that were full of drive-by's and drug dealing. In 1996, when he was 17 years old, Tamer discovered Hip Hop through Tupac Amaru Shakur's songs, and started to learn English while memorizing Tupac's lyrics and translating them into Arabic using an English-Arabic dictionary. Tamer recorded his first single, "Untouchable," a reference to "The Untouchables” movie. In 1998, Tamer released his first EP, "Stop Selling Drugs," featuring his younger brother, Suhell Nafar. The two met Mahmoud at a private show that they organized, and together they decided to form DAM in late 1999. (1999–2000) Formation and development DAM started recording songs on their home computer, and most of their songs back then were recorded over known Hip Hop instrumentals. At the time, the Hip-Hop scene in Palestine was developing largely, and DAM in particular, got their start performing in Jerusalem the capital of Palestine . As a result, most of their earlier music was performed in Arabic. At the beginning of the group's history, DAM's music and lyrics focused mostly around