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Speaking with Saint Levant feels like encountering two personalities at once. One moment, you hear Marwan Abdelhamid (his real name), his intimate voice carrying the warmth of distant days spent with his father in Gaza. He recalls them in detail, as if each melody holds a story refusing to fade. The next moment, the more widely known artistic persona of Saint Levant takes over, exuding charisma and absolute confidence in front of the camera. The seamless blend of personal memory and stagecraft, nostalgia and defiance, defines his presence.

As Billboard Arabia’s February cover star, Saint Levant’s artistic journey has taken him from Jerusalem and the alleys of Gaza to global stages from The Olympia in Paris and Coachella and Lollapalooza. Born into several cultures and languages, his identity is a fusion of Arabic, English and French, shaped by his Palestinian-Serbian father and Palestinian-Algerian mother. His migration to France and the U.S. further enriched his artistic outlook, injecting his work with a globally intertwined essence. This diverse background enables him to merge different musical styles, from funk to traditional Eastern rhythms, making him a rising star in Arabic music.

When discussing the Arab artists who inspired him, Saint Levant looks back to his time in Gaza. He reminisces about road trips with his father, who played music in the car, filling the air with the voices of global stars like Lenny Kravitz and Michael Jackson. “Before any singer, my father was my inspiration,” he says. Yet, diving deeper into memory, he adds with nostalgia, “But if we’re talking about Arab singers, definitely Cheb Khaled. We used to listen to his albums, especially Sahra and Khaled, with songs like “El ‘Arbi” and “Wahran”—those are incredible. To me, Cheb Khaled is the top.”

Saint Levant’s first professional track carried his real name. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he released “Jerusalem Freestyle,” a rap song about the Palestinian cause. “That was my first real track where I put my name —on Spotify, I was Marwan Abdelhamid.”

What sets Saint Levant apart are his multicultural roots, which grant him a broad perspective on music. He seamlessly sings in three languages, English, French and Arabic, within a single song. Explaining his unique lyrical structure, he says, “From my very first song, I was using three languages because that’s just how I talk. The same goes for my music. Now, I’ve learned to separate them more. Before, I used to mix all three languages in one sentence, but I realized not everyone is like me—they can’t follow that. So now, I do one chorus in English, one in Arabic and one in French, which makes it easier. But it all happened naturally. I never planned to be a trilingual artist.”

This cultural foundation also influences the structure of his music. When asked to define his genre, Saint Levant explains that his work transcends classification. He blends 1980s funk with traditional Palestinian and Algerian sounds, making it difficult to stick a single label to it. His team frequently revisits this question, reflecting the fluid nature of his artistic identity. Instead, he describes his music as part of a “New Wave Arab” movement, blending futuristic Arab sounds.

His latest project, the album Love Letters, is an open letter to love in all its forms, released in February to align with Valentine’s Day. Elaborating on the title, he says, “Each song is a love letter in its own way. ‘Daloona,’ which I did with Qassem Alnajjar, Shadi Borini and 47Soul, isn’t a romantic love letter. It’s a love letter to my country and my people. I brought together seven Palestinian artists in one track, so it’s a love letter to Palestine. ‘Diva’ is a love letter to the golden girl and to Algeria. ‘Wazira’ is a tribute to the minister of love and ambassador of emotion. And ‘Wayn Ma’addi Wayn’ is a Libyan song, a love letter to Libya, and also a song for broken hearts. So to me, they are all different love letters.”

Explaining the album’s structure, he says, “I divided it into two sides: Side A and Side B, because there’s a difference. Songs like ‘Daloona,’ ‘Wazira’ and ‘Carmentina,’ those are love letters from Marwan. But ‘Diva’ and the rest are love letters from Saint Levant, the persona. Of course, I feel more comfortable as Marwan, but I have to play Saint Levant.”

Speaking about his collaborations, Saint Levant highlights his long-anticipated project with Marwan Moussa. “I’ve wanted to work with Marwan Moussa for a while. Since 2020, in interviews, whenever they asked me which rappers I’d like to collaborate with, I always said Shabjdeed and Marwan Moussa. To me, those two played a big role in my journey. So finally meeting him and being in the studio together was an insane experience.”

Before this project, Saint Levant released his debut full-length album, Deira, in 2024, following the success of his 2023 EP From Gaza with Love. The latter gained widespread attention for its raw and heartfelt expression. Deira is named after the hotel his father built in Gaza in 2000 when their family moved there. The hotel bore witness to many tragedies before being completely destroyed in the recent war. Singing about “Deira” became a celebration of Palestinian daily life and Gaza’s landmarks through a deeply personal lens, reflecting Saint Levant’s lasting bond with his hometown and how that bond has endured over time, adding a profoundly personal and emotional dimension to his work.

In Deira, he worked with prominent artists from different musical landscapes to expand its impact and make it a shared experience. His collaboration with Cheb Bilal on “Let Her Go” and the standout track “Allah Yihmeeki” with global artist Kehlani, who has publicly supported the Palestinian cause, are among the highlights. The album also features tracks that capture Saint Levant’s mix of defiance and emotion, alongside romantic ballads like “Forgive Me” and “Qalbi.”

Saint Levant has secured a consistent presence on the Billboard Arabia Top 100 Artists chart, holding a spot for 46 consecutive weeks. His single “Wazira” released before “Love Letters” entered the Hot 100 last week, with more songs from the album expected to follow in the coming weeks.

This article was originally published by Billboard Arabia, written by Omar Bakbouk.