This is the first of two articles on the relationship between Islam and hip hop I just did for The Samosa. I tracked down a couple of outstanding artists and documentary filmmakers to find out how people bring together these two rapidly growing global cultures that often appear at odds with each other.
It’s well worth checking out two recent films on the subject: Deen Tight by Mustafa Davis and New Muslim Cool by Jennifer Maytorena Taylor.
Through the research for these articles I discovered a whole new bag of incredibly gifted hip hop artists. More about them later. But for now, I leave you with one of my new favourites - Narcicyst’s tragicomic new release Phatwah:
In the trailer for brand new documentary film New Muslim Cool, a radio talk show host says the following to rapper Hamza Perez:
You are a single dad, a Muslim, a Puerto Rican, you are from the hood, you are an artist, a rapper - you sound like America’s worst nightmare.”
The film centres on Perez, a former drug dealer who converted to Islam and started over as a Muslim preacher in North Pittsburgh. Opening a mosque in a rough neighbourhood and attracting a sizeable following with his unconventional fusion of Islam and hip hop, Perez soon arouses the suspicion of both, local drug dealers and Homeland Security.
Eventually, the FBI raids his mosque and Perez has to come to terms with post-9/11 realities. The archenemy of the state is no longer the African- or Latin-American drug dealer. Muslims are the nation’s new usual suspects, often seen as little more than terrorists-in-waiting.
So far, so familiar. But, luckily, the film doesn’t end there. After the raid, instead of turning his back on society and minding his own business, Perez challenges his own reservations and begins reaching out to Christians and Jews in his own unusual way.
