In 2022, Palestinian-Algerian rapper Saint Levant found success with his trilingual hit “Very Few Friends.,” In the track, the 23-year-old effortlessly wove together lyrics in English, Arabic, and French. The song garnered two million streams on YouTube in less than a month and became a staple sound for TikTok and Instagram reels in the blink of an eye.
Since then, Levant has released a string of singles, signed to Universal Arabic Music in early 2024, and continues to make music that uplifts, educates, and celebrates Palestinian history. In light of his latest album and upcoming tour of the same name, here are seven facts all new and veteran Saint Levant fans should know.
Marwan Abdelhamid — Say It Right
Before he was known as Saint Levant, the multilingual rapper was born Marwan Abdelhami. He grew up in Jerusalem in the Gaza Strip before relocating with his family to Amman, Jordan when he was seven. Levant then moved to the United States when he was 17, which he references in his 2022 single “I Guess.” “I was 17 when I left home, Timbaland to my headphones,” he rapped.
It wasn’t too long after that the young artist became inspired to pursue a music career. His stage name, Saint Levant, combines his French and Palestinian roots, which he further explained in an interview with Harper’s BAZAAR. “Obviously, ‘Saint Levant’ is derivative of Yves Saint Laurent, which is a high fashion brand, but also, the ‘Levant’ is a region of the world that includes Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria — it’s called the Levant,” he stated. “And ‘Levant’ in French means ‘the rising sun,’ it’s a colonial term and I wanted to reclaim that.”
Because he’s already lived through so many experiences in various places, Levant struggles to pinpoint where exactly he calls home. “My whole life has been one big identity crisis where I have to integrate myself into communities because I don’t feel I have one myself,” he told Document Journal in 2022. “On the positive side, though, my music has allowed me to connect with people who share a similar experience of displacement, cultural ambiguity, and eclectic creative output. To put it simply, feeling like I don’t have a home has allowed me to create one wherever I go.”
For many immigrants, migrating to the U.S. may mean giving up some of their identity, including changing their names to sound more “American,” but not Saint Levant. Although the world knows him now by his stage name, the rapper is proud to go by his birth name when he’s just out and about, regardless of societal pressures. “Whenever I go to Starbucks or wherever, I make them do the whole thing,” he said. “Never had a white name.”
How Music Became Saint Levant’s First Love
It’s no secret that for many of us growing up, we inherit so many of our interests from our parents — from food to sports, music, and even specific skill sets. When we hear a song that reminds us of our childhood, it takes us back to a time of wonder and adventure, back when anything was possible. For Saint Levant, it was no different with his father introducing him to many of the musical influences he has now.
“I was sitting in the back of the car with my dad and he was playing some Lenny Kravitz or Wyclef Jean,” he said in an interview with Rolling Stone. “I realized music was for me when I did a talent show — I think I was in third grade and it was a dance recital that I did to a Michael Jackson song, it was “Smooth Criminal.” After hearing the crowd’s roar when he performed Jackson’s iconic anti-gravity lean in the song’s choreography, Levant knew he was on the precipice of something grand and undefinable. “My grandmother was also a pianist, so I grew up playing piano, and, in middle school, picked up the saxophone, as well. Music has been there from the very beginning,” he added.
Aside from Michael Jackson, Lenny Kravitz, and Wyclef Jean, Levant also credits other performers as his influences like Marwan Moussa, Stromae, Timbaland, and MIKA. Like any great artist, he draws inspiration from the world around him, no matter the culture, from Nigeria and Palestine to the U.S. and the UK. While Levant’s music is sonically pleasing to the ear, mixing various genres into a melting pot, it’s also lyrically an eye-opening experience as he uses music as the instrument for his activism.
When he officially began his music career in 2020, Levant took to TikTok to address Palestinian history and toxic masculinity in Arab culture. Almost simultaneously, the rapper released “Jersusalem Freestyles” and “Nirvana in Gaza,” both of which further his outspoken nature when it comes to political issues within his birthplace. “Everything I do is really focused and based on the Palestinian cause and struggle,” he told Harper’s BAZAAR. “What people don’t understand is that it’s 80 years of occupation and oppression and displacement and ethnic cleansing, so I think it’s very important to push that forward, always.”
His Favorite Arabic Word
“Alhamdulillah” is what Saint Levant says when he’s reminded of how many lives he’s been able to touch while making a difference in how Palestinian culture is perceived. In English, the phrase means “Praise be to God,” but it can also be translated as “Thank God” or “Thanks be to the Lord.” Either way, Levant actively shows his gratitude, uttering the word every time he’s about to take the stage and perform in front of growing audiences. “With all the stress that comes with shows and stuff, I think being grateful really grounds all of us, so with the team, we’ll usually get together and just be grateful together,” he told Rolling Stone.
In another interview, Levant discussed how he stays connected to his religion through meditation and music. “I’m very in touch with my own feelings and I meditate every single day. I have so many thoughts about organized religion, but I want to grow a bit more in my career before I really get into that part of life.” Regarding his music being the vessel for carrying out a higher caller, he added, “It’s like a purpose. I don’t believe that any act in life is selfless—at the end of the day, we’re all served, but you have to choose what kind of what you’re trying to serve.”
Coachella Cravings
Performing at Coachella, the world’s largest music festival, is a milestone most artists dream of, pouring out years of dedication and persistence to be included in the iconic desert lineup. Saint Levant, however, did it in only three years. At Coachella 2024, the rapper took the stage where he performed a 40-minute set of some of his popular tracks — and even included songs that had yet to be released on his DEIRA album. With a full band and a few special guests like Playyard and Bayou, Levant also used the time to bring awareness to the ongoing war in Gaza. However, his full set was unfortunately not uploaded on Coachella’s YouTube channel.
Levant’s journey is nothing short of inspirational, as he revealed his first live performance was in front of 50 people in Arizona in 2022. It was also the first time he experienced the crowd singing his songs back to him. A year later, the crowd grew exponentially as he found himself performing for 20,000 in Romania, to now being on the coveted Coachella stage. “I think I like having a lot of people on stage because it feels like the community is with me, and where we come from as Arabs, it’s quite a community-oriented culture,” he shared. “Just having them with me on stage is very comfortable and my musicians really elevate the show.”
For Levant’s next venture, he’s set to perform at Lollapalooza in Chicago this August before heading out on his first world tour in September.
Levant’s Afrofuturism Parallel
The concept behind Saint Levant’s latest album, DEIRA, is a reimagining of a world where Palestine is and always has been free — no occupation, no oppression, no genocide. The album title itself comes from the DEIRA hotel that Levant’s father designed and built in Gaza City, where the rapper spent his childhood years. In a beautiful culmination of what was and what would’ve been, DEIRA is a Palestinian paradise, where struggle morphs into resilience and freedom for all. It’s a concept that is all too familiar to the African diaspora, who use Afrofuturism as a means of flipping reality on its head and uplifting the community.
In a 2022 interview, Levant explained why the year 2048 pops up in his lyrics often and how he was inspired by African culture: “2048 is the world that Saint Levant lives in — a world where Palestine is already free. As a Palestinian living outside of his homeland, I have a lot of privileges, and one of those privileges is the ability to imagine a future for my people: a future where there are no checkpoints, no borders, no patrolling soldiers. [It] draws heavily from Afrofuturism in the ways it tries to reimagine what kind of world we want for our children.
Musically, Levant is also tuned in to the happenings of Afrobeats, citing Burna Boy as one of his favorites. Additionally, he incorporates that same vibe into his single, “One More Time.” “I’ve been a Burna Boy fan since 2018, and I’m super inspired by the Nigerian diaspora scene in general,” he told Document Journal.
J’Adore Dior
While Saint Levant is blazing a trail for Arabs in Western music, he’s also made waves in other aspects of the industry — including fragrance. In 2023, Dior Beauty appointed Levant as its first fragrance ambassador in the Middle East in concert with the brand’s Gris Dior fragrance launch. The announcement was a bold and inviting move on Dior’s part, showing the brand’s willingness to push for inclusivity in places where certain cultures aren’t showcased center stage. Saint Levant also attended the Gris Dior launch event in Los Angeles, where he became fully immersed in the Dior Beauty family. According to GQ Middle East, the new role allows the musician to represent some of the most iconic fragrances to date.
Unexpected Success With “Very Few Friends”
Although it’s mostly common knowledge now that the sexy single “Very Few Friends” is what kickstarted Levant’s career, what many people may not know is that the rapper hadn’t even officially released the song when it first went viral. In his interview with Harper’s BAZAAR, Levant revealed that he only posted a snippet of the song without any visuals or expectations of the response he might’ve gotten. It wasn’t until one of his close friends reposted the song that “Very Few Friends” gained traction and practically blew up overnight.
“I had to scramble to release the song — I didn’t have it mixed, I didn’t have anything, no visuals, no tank top,” Levant shared. “I turned it around in like five days, posted it, and now I’m with Harper’s BAZAAR.”
Check out Saint Levant’s DEIRA album on all streaming platforms here, and stay connected with all his latest updates on Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.
Interested in more Saint Levant? Check out our full album coverage for DEIRA here!
