Palestinian singer-songwriter Marwan Abdelhamid, known professionally as Saint Levant, showcased his debut full-length album DEIRA with a powerful performance December 13 at Terminal 5.

The packed venue was dotted with Palestinian flags and traditional keffiyehs, and fans shouted in English and Arabic alike as they eagerly awaited Levant’s entrance. After an opening set from fellow Palestinian singer-songwriter Lina Makoul, Levant kicked off the evening with “On This Land,” the first song on DEIRA.

Backed by a group of dancers performing soldier-like choreography, Levant alternated seamlessly between rapping in English and singing in Arabic in one of many musical tributes to his homeland: “We are a nation of displaced dreamers/Heritage keepers,” Levant’s lyrics profess.

“Deira is the name of the hotel that my father, Rashid, an architect, built with my mother in 2000 when they moved to Gaza,” Levant told Variety when he released the album’s title song. ““Deira means the Kasbah or the old city…Deira is anchored in Algerian culture through its sound (where my mother is from) and in Palestinian culture through its words (the land of my father). Deira represents represents a mix of my parents’ cultures.”

Levant’s Terminal 5 performance showcased his versatility as a musician—in musical style, language, vocal range, dance, and as an instrumentalist: halfway through his second song, Levant traded in his microphone and began riffing on the saxophone as fans screamed their support.