Mike Skinner is best known as the frontman of hip-hop band The Streets, with five studio albums under his belt and a string of hit singles.
But a move away from the microphone has seen him turn his hand to film-making, and his new documentary - to the surprise of some - explores the burgeoning rap scene among Israelis and Palestinians and the impact of the ongoing conflict on music.
Hip Hop in the Holy Land is a six-part series presented and co-directed by Mr Skinner and produced by Noisey, a music channel featured on the Vice news site.
Mr Skinner, 36, who lives in Highgate, north London, said: "Seeing different groups rap in Arabic or Hebrew was interesting.
"I came away this time thinking I know less than I did in the beginning. The more you talk to people the more complicated it becomes."
The first episode was posted on the site last week and saw Mr Skinner meet Tamer Nafar, the founder of the first Palestinian rap group, Dam.
Watch the documentary below:
Mr Nafar has grappled with his identity as an Israeli Arab and is shown telling Mr Skinner that he supported the boycott movement and would not perform at Israeli shows.
"I'm a Palestinian with Israeli ID," Mr Nafar said. "But I can't cancel the Jewish influence around me for good or for bad, and when I rap it is going to be there."
In another episode, Ohad Cohen, a previously secular Jew who now identifies as strictly Orthodox and raps in Hebrew, discusses his messianic faith.
Mr Skinner said: "It is surprising to see someone like that as a rapper. But it is good fun.
"Not many people speak Hebrew, so I guess there is a cap on your audience, whereas Arabic is a bigger language.
"In one episode we met Subliminal, who is credited as Israel's most commercially successful rapper.
"His views were much more on the right. He was interesting because I learnt a lot about borders and the concerns of Jews from him. But then you speak to Tamer and you can see Palestinians are not exactly happy either."
Noisey director Alex Hoffman said: "I have wanted to do something with Mike for some time because he is interested in history and politics as well as being a rapper.
"My dad is from Israel and a few years ago I ended up in Dimona and came across the relatively unknown Black Hebrews community from the Negev desert.
"The wider world largely has no idea this community exists, but they celebrate all the Jewish festivals, and love Israel, and there is a really popular rapper from there. People know all the words to his songs."
Mr Skinner, who has previously performed in Israel, said: "All the rappers there know each other, whatever side they are on. But you don't get the silly fights we get over here, over a girl or something. You get the sense they fight over bigger things."
