Hip Hop culture from the view of a Muslim

One goal of Muslim Minds Redefined is to acknowledge the fact that different Muslims in different parts of the world each has their own culture. This is as much true in the west as anywhere else on the globe. One thing that is unique to Muslims in the west is Hip Hop culture. From Mos Def to Amir Suleiman to Lupe Fiasco and Hasan Salaam, Muslims have played a large role in Hip Hop culture and continue to do so today.
Muslim Minds Redefined had the chance to interview Christie Z-Pabon of Muslims in Hip Hop/Tools of War to get her perspective on Muslims and the Hip Hop culture.

Muslim Minds Redefined: From your personal view, what is Hip-Hop? What are the different components of Hip-Hop?

Christie Z-Pabon: Hip Hop is a culture first of all. When I talk about Hip Hop, I don't mean simply Rap (Emceeing) but also DJing, Turntablism, Popping, Locking, Uprocking, BBoying/BGirling, Aerosol Art, etc. My husband, Jorge "Fabel" Pabon of the Rock Steady Crew reminds that there are other elements too like fashion, etc. I work in Hip Hop all of the time and I have little to nothing to do with Rap. I usually work with DJs. I would like the words "Hip Hop" and "Rap" to NOT be used synonymously because now the sleaze of today's Rap industry is described as "Hip Hop". It makes it harder for me to use the word "Hip Hop" when I am trying to get a venue or a park for an event.

Hip Hop emerged in the early 70s with DJ pioneers like Kool DJ Herc, Afrika Bambaataa, GrandMaster Flash, etc. They did not have so called "Hip Hop" records. They used Funk, Rock, Soul, R&B, Electro, World music, etc. to make the music "Hip Hop". That's the beauty of a DJ is that he/she can even take Classical and cut, scratch, beat juggle, transform and/or mix it into a Hip Hop track. I loved the sound of Scratching as soon as I heard it and have loved it ever since!


MMR: What things make Hip-Hop Hip-Hop?

CZ-P: I read something in Stress magazine once, I think it was by Davey D and he was explaining that just because Hip Hop heads like blunts or Timberland boots doesn't make them "Hip Hop". I agree. I am happy with the essential foundational elements of Hip Hop but I get upset now, with marketing and magazines that make it seem like strippers, porn stars, drugs, alcohol, rims and jewelry are the new elements of Hip Hop.

MMR: Coming from a Muslim background, what kind of influence do you see hip-hop having on Muslims in general?

CZ-P: I have only been Muslim for 10 years, all praises due to God, but I was basically introduced to various concepts of Islam through Hip Hop, esp. through 5%ers and Nation of Islam emcees like Poor Righteous Teachers, Public Enemy, Da Lench Mob, Ice Cube, Gangstarr, etc. That's me loving militant emcees with a message and they WERE the mainstream Hip Hop artists. That was the 90's. Nowadays, those emcees would be considered "underground" meaning they probably wouldn't get signed or make it in the top magazines. My husband, who was in Hip Hop and became a Muslim way earlier than me, has played me old school mixes by DJ Afrika Islam sampling Malcolm X speeches.

MMR: What about outside of the Muslim community, what can Muslim MC's bring to the world at large?

CZ-P: God willing, with artists like Lupe Fiasco, Rhymefest, Freeway, Everlast, Q-Tip openly admitting they are Muslim in interviews, the Rap fans of today will once again take an interest in the religion of their favorite emcees and what they live by. They don't have to necessarily do a whole dawah Rap to put the message across. I like the idea that they can help educate others about Islam and Muslims as well as address ridiculous stereotypes about us.

MMR: There are some people who might say that music is haram and it leads to taking people off the diin, etc, what kind of response would you give to these kinds of people?

CZ-P: I am not the scholar on this topic. God forgive me if I have misled anyone. In my opinion, not any official stance of anyone but me, I look at Muslim emcees as spreading dawah. Music is simply the vehicle the message travels on, whether it's positive, negative or neutral. I get upset that some Muslim parents will discount Muslim rap but on the down low their kids are listening to commercial rappers who are glorifying violence, criminal behavior, substance abuse and all sorts of social ills. Why not give the youth music by talented artists who remind them about God, morals, ethics, values, etc?

MMR: Also, why listen to Hip-Hop even though Allah's name may be mentioned here or there? Why not just listen to nasheeds?

CZ-P: The beats are what drive me and make me want to consider the message of the emcee. Nasheeds are beautiful and relaxing. I think there's room for both. Popularity wise, it would be easier for an artist like Amir Sulaiman to get his positive messages to the mainstream Rap & Spoken Word audience than a Nasheed artist who might have his music found in the "World Music" section of a store.

MMR: Do you think that music actually has the ability to change things for the better? What about for the worse?

CZ-P: Music in general is simply the vehicle to deliver the message or put across a feeling. It's who’s behind the music that controls whether it can be positive, negative, silly, neutral, sad, romantic, etc.

MMR: Your group goes by the name "Tools of War", what's the meaning of this name and how and/why did you choose that name?

CZ-P: Tools of War was named with the idea that there are many "tools" one can use in competing/battling within Hip Hop culture: turntables, microphones, paint, one's body, and especially one's voice (and so on)! Although the name might appear aggressive, the intent behind it's use is actually to inform and educate people regarding not only Hip Hop but many other social and political issues. As we grow, we are finding that it has also become a forum for voicing opinions and sharing ideas which might help in unifying and uplifting people all over the world. Fabel came up with the name, inspired by the title of a hardcore punk song. We thought about changing it after Sept. 11th but others we spoke with said the name is "so hard" and not to give it up. We are known for positivity. We don't push religion through Tools of War simply positive messages.

MMR: What kind of artists, groups, songs illustrate what "Tools of War" is or stands for?

CZ-P: Oh man! I can't really say I ever heard a song that made me say that it should be the Tools of War theme song. Some ideas: The Four Tops song "Keeper of the Castle"; Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes "Wake Up Everybody"; Public Enemy, Afrika Bambaataa, James Brown, Immortal Technique! There are so many more including dancers, aerosol artists and DJs. [Fabel] would probably have a whole other list of artists from various genres. We don't simply limit ourselves to Rap. In fact, the more average the rappers are now, the more I dig even deeper into Rare Grooves.

Introducing Muslim Minds Redefined

Today, it is imperative that the new generation of Muslims begin to think and see the world in a different way than what we have been taught. The scholars for dollars, the imams who speak the line of money, the elders who immerse their culture into Islam, these are not the ones we should be listening to or following. A new way of thinking has to be found if this Ummah is to survive intact and with sanity remaining. Muslim Minds Redefined signifies this step towards approaching Islam from a unique perspective.

Some Muslims say that they want to see change and they want their communities to be more inclusive and more equal, yet the things they may practice are not Islamic. Rather than turning to our own standards and criteria, they turn to that of western culture operating under an inferiority complex. They feel that Islam is behind and backwards and that Islamic law is no good or at least it is secondary to the western ways. These kinds of Muslims aren’t working for a betterment of Islam, they are working for the induction of the west while saying they are Muslim and want ‘Islamic’ law. This is not what we are working towards. We are interested in practicing Islam and with no inferiority complex in what we do.

We are those Muslims who are coming into the scene with an entirely different frame of mind. Our source of knowledge is the Qur’an and what we come across in readings and teachings and talking. We do not work within the framework of sectarianism. While some of us may individually claim to be Sunnis and others may individually claim to be Shi’as we can easily work together and with one another without being condescending towards one another. Every one Muslim is entitled to his and her own opinion and madhabi interpretation. Interpretation will be different based on human and life experience but if we can agree to disagree then the problems faced between us will be minute. Stressing our differences and separating ourselves from one another has done nothing and will do nothing to better our standing in this world and in the hereafter. Working on a common ground will be what gets us to a much better status in this world and is what will strengthen our Ummah.

Muslim Minds Redefined is an effort to revitalize this diin within a new generation of Muslims. Shed off the extra fat and the extra weight that has been holding us down. Sift through the mud and muck. Cultural practices that are passed off as Islam, blind devotion to ‘leaders’ and entities who do not have the best interest of their followers at heart, these things and others are what MMR seeks to correct insha’Allah. Too many generations have failed their offspring by silently being complicit with the wrongness being perpetrated and the failures being purposefully performed against the Muslim public by those in seats of power and knowledge. To sit by idly while such things go on is to commit a wrong. And even if we, MMR, are not able to affect large change in our communities for the better, at least we would have tried and with each step drawn closer to pleasing Allah. Our intention is what matters most and the intention of MMR is to return ourselves to Islam without the weights our societies and histories have placed on it and on us.