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.