96 Miles From Bethlehem

On top of writing or appearing on several star-studded rap/R&B crossover hits over the past decade, Ottawa-raised MC Belly may be the mainstream pop world’s most visible Palestinian artist. Packing nine tracks into 19 minutes, *96 Miles From Bethlehem* is an impulsive, emotional response from an artist torn between feelings of helplessness and hope. But it is also a testament to Belly’s enduring songwriter savvy: With “Jenin’s Song,” he cleverly riffs on the phonetic similarities between his West Bank birthplace and the common name Janine, yielding an acoustic-R&B lullaby that functions as both a fictional love song for the girl who got away and a requiem for the city he dreams of seeing again.