This is a big one, for me at least. I have been following this group since they started with their first youtube videos. They are a special lot. All of them palestinians, sons of refugees. One from the states, the other from Jordan, or another from Israel.

The one from Haifa, Israel, I have met personally. Walaa Sbeit used to date my best friend from school. long time ago.

They might not be the best musicians. But they managed to take something, palestinian wedding music, and spread it around the world with their "shamstep" approach. Simulate a Mijyiz flute with a synth and add the known rhythm with the drums on top.

I showed their music to my family a few years ago. They were instantly hooked and have seen them live several times. I was lucky to see them last year in a small venue in Karlsruhe, Germany. The venue was basically empty but the 50 odd people that were there knew what was coming. It was a fun party :)

To see them play at Tiny Desk tells me that they have come a long way. And I hope they keep on going...

I will add two more videos for those interested:

This is probably the first video I saw from them 5 years ago and I ddin't realize I needed this in my life before:

This is a track by one of the guys from the band, El Far3i, the guy on the darbuka. He was rather famous solo before the band rapping and doing great music