Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 08-18-2011 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Music, Film/TV
A native of southern California, Murad Aldin Amayreh is a CSULA film school graduate and Muslim American filmmaker. Murad’s first documentary film “Last Refuge” explored the issue of detainment of Muslim leaders in the years following the September 11th attacks. This film won best documentary at the Golden Eagle Film Festival in Los Angeles. Murad then co-directed the documentary film “American Ramadan” which has aired numerous times on PBS. Murad is also the creator of the YouTube video sensation “I AM A MUSLIM!” which to date has reached over 2.5 million people and is considered one of the most viewed and most discussed religiously based videos on YouTube. He also participated in creating the video “A Land Called Paradise” which won the Link TV, One Nation, Grand Prize.
Check out the new music video he directed featuring Manifest ONE and Karaz:
Tags: Murad Aldin Amayreh, uprising
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Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 07-26-2011 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Music
WASHINGTON — In 2005, when the State Department invited Native Deen, one of the most prominent Islamic hip-hop groups in America, to do a good-will tour of Mali, Senegal and Nigeria, the band’s members did not know what to do.
“We had a debate in the community,” said Abdul-Malik Ahmad, one of the three members of Native Deen. “ ‘Should we do it?’ ‘Should we not do it?’ Some people were saying, ‘Y’all are going to be puppets, going over there saying: ‘Everything’s O.K. We’re bombing your country, but we have Muslims, too!’ ”
The United States was not bombing those countries, of course, but the band was aware of the animosity in the Muslim world toward the American government. So Mr. Ahmad, now 35, and his collaborators — Naeem Muhammad, also 35, and Joshua Salaam, 37, who all live outside Washington — convened a shura, or community consultation. They asked for help to determine the proper course of action.
“We invited people of knowledge,” Mr. Ahmad said when we met Tuesday afternoon in a Georgetown bakery. “And we decided not to take every offer, but if it’s our mission to spread tolerance and faith, it can be O.K. to take this offer.”
Since that time, the trio of rappers and musicians — who use only percussion, because some Muslims believe other instrumentation is un-Islamic — has also traveled with the State Department to Egypt, Tanzania, Jordan and Palestinian territories. On July 1, Native Deen (“deen” is an Arabic word meaning religious system, or way of life) released its third album, “The Remedy,” featuring songs like “Only Fear Allah” and “Ramadan Is Here.”
The band performs about 40 shows a year, mostly at Muslim cultural conventions and summer camps. In the last 10 years, they have sold about 40,000 CDs, although, Mr. Ahmad noted, “usually our CD is bootlegged cause there is poor distribution channels for Islamic music.”
Mr. Ahmad and Mr. Muhammad grew up as African-American Muslims in an area of Maryland with few Muslims of any kind. Mr. Ahmad said his parents had joined the Nation of Islam as young adults, but had become orthodox Sunni Muslims and raised him to be religiously observant.
“My parents tried to instill in me that you pray five times a day, make sure you fast, basically all the beliefs of Islam,” Mr. Ahmad said. “But as a youth, it’s very difficult when no one else around you is doing that, and there’s the peer pressure not to pray, just to fit in.”
Through his local mosque, he got involved in Muslim Youth of North America, known as MYNA, an experience that he said “was amazing.”
“Other youth!” Mr. Ahmad remembers feeling. “Same faith!”
Mr. Ahmad was 15 when he met Mr. Muhammad at a MYNA camp in Rockville, Md. Soon after, at a MYNA summer camp in Ohio, he met Mr. Salaam, and in 1992 they contributed songs to a cassette compilation called “MYNA Raps.” Over the next decade, the three young men contributed to four subsequent “MYNA Raps” compilations.
“It was something my parents approved of, and it was hip, it was fun, it was uniquely American,” Mr. Ahmad said. “Even though the quality was poor, it was amazing.”
After the last “MYNA Raps” compilation, in 2000, the rappers decided to form Native Deen. The band has never provided its members, who are all married and have children, a full-time living, so they have day jobs. Mr. Ahmad is a Web developer whose clients include NASA; Mr. Salaam is the youth director for a Virginia mosque; Mr. Muhammad works for a relief agency.
Some more famous Muslim rappers, like Mos Def and Lupe Fiasco, are open about their religion but do not make it a main focus of their art. Native Deen, by contrast, writes conspicuously Muslim lyrics. As a result, said Mr. Salaam, who joined us late at the bakery, the group’s music is particularly popular among youth from observant families.
“We tend to deal with the masjid-going community,” Mr. Salaam said, using the Arabic word for mosque. “But the majority of the community is not masjid-going. They may come to the masjid once a week, once a year. But the people we have been primarily dealing with — this masjid invited us, or this Islamic community center, or this relief organization.”
At Native Deen shows, audience members are more likely to be from Middle Eastern or South Asian backgrounds than to be American blacks. One reason, according to Suad Abdul Khabeer, a Purdue University anthropologist who studies Islamic hip-hop, is that Native Deen’s “harmonies and melodies sound like the kind of nasheed” — Muslim praise music — “you get from the Middle East.”
As a result, Dr. Abdul Khabeer said, Muslim immigrants who may look down on African-American culture find Native Deen’s work palatable, while American blacks may find it insufficiently aggressive, sonically speaking. “Hip-hop lite doesn’t speak to them in the same way,” Dr. Abdul Khabeer said. “Black audiences are like, ‘That’s kind of lite.’ ”
But Native Deen’s faith places it in the history of American hip-hop more generally. Pioneering hip-hop artists like Afrika Bambaataa and Wu-Tang Clan have demonstrated in their lyrics the pervasive influence of Islam in black America. Even when rappers are not themselves Muslim, Dr. Abdul Khabeer said, many borrow ideas and terminology from orthodox Islam and from Muslim-identified groups, like the Nation of Islam and the Five-Percent Nation.
“We never saw ourselves as this, because we have just been doing it, but people see us as pioneers in Muslim music,” Mr. Salaam said. “For the ‘MYNA Raps’ people, that is going back 20 years.”
“Later on,” he added, “I think it will be written that a lot of American Muslim experience, Native Deen were part of that.”
Mark Oppenheimer
Tags: native deen, islamic hip-hop, new york times
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Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 06-24-2011 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Music
Ahmad James, better known as Baraka Blue, exudes lyrical smoothness in his debut album, Sound Heart. Inspired by Sufism and the poems of Rumi, this Seattle native shows us why he is so much more than just a rapper.
His latest video “MYST Unplugged” is inspired by the love stricken “Layli & Majnoon”
Tags: ahmad james, baraka blue
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Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 06-23-2011 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Music
Tags: ahmad zahir, shakira
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Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 05-24-2011 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Music
Professor A.L.I. is a Bay Area based, politically & socially conscious hip-hop artist who explores global issues from vantage points of both rage and hope. He accomplishes this by taking on the persona of ‘Black Steven’ channeling the anger felt by victims of worldwide oppression, yet leaves the window open for hope of a better future through his expression as Professor A.L.I.
With over a decade in the game as a member of various rap groups, A.L.I. has crafted his art; He met with his greatest success as part of the Hip-Hop duo ‘Stormshadowz’. Discovered while recording his third ‘Stormshadowz’ album by E-40, the Professor has climbed up the Hip-Hop ranks and now boasts a resume which includes having worked with a range of legendary artists from E-40 to Raekwon.
On May 12, 2011, Professor A.L.I. released his full length solo LP, “Carbon Cycle Diaries” which tackles controversial issues such as corporate hegemony, global warming, Islamophobia, and police brutality. The album features legendary artists Raekwon, Sadat X, Canibus, Killah Priest, Hussein Fatal of the Outlawz and Lord Jamar. “’Carbon Cycle Diaries’ is a decade in the making; it’s my journey, my passion, my intellect, it is my very soul spit on wax… Everything I have ever experienced comes out in this culminating project. I learned a long time ago that a Professor has knowledge but an M.C. has the audience. Each track on this 20 song monster is laced with lessons for life, from both my teachers and life experience, addressing the issues which beleaguer our footsteps upon this realm,” Professor A.L.I. stated.
Immortal Technique called the album “an integral part of the revolutionary network of real hip-hop.” Hip Hop pioneer and legend Chuck D stated, “We don’t see the people who are doing real things getting enough props.”
Listen here:
Tags: professor a.l.i., carbon cycle diaries
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Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 05-12-2011 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Music
Madonna is single again after splitting from her latest “boy toy”, a 24 year old Muslim dancer named Brahim Zaibat, over religion after he wouldn’t convert to Kabbalah. Watch it here:
Tags: madonna, brahim zaibat, split, religion, muslim
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Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 04-15-2011 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Music
Tags: muslim mos def
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Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 04-06-2011 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Music
By Kashif Ghazanfar, Aslan Media Music Editor
Zohra Atash maintains a deep, artistic vision while not allowing herself to be pigeonholed by stereotypes as an Afghan-American woman. As the founding member and lead songwriter of the band Religious To Damn, Zohra brings together seemingly disparate elements and sounds with thoughtful precision. Traditional Middle Eastern instruments such as the rubab and harmonium are seamlessly incorporated alongside modern guitars and synthesizers.
While one can hear the bands that influence RTD in their music, the end result of their music and sonic structures do not sound derivative or forced to conform to a preconceived idea. Instead, the songs tend to blossom like wildflowers. RTD’s sound hints at bands like Cocteau Twins and Siouxsie and The Banshees the way a waft of perfume might remind you of a memory.
Perhaps, what best defines RTD’s evocative sound is Zohra’s compelling voice. At once sonorous and haunting, her vocal delivery seems to echo the likes of Kate Bush. Also carrying a hint of Middle Eastern tonality, her personal sound holds an ethereal quality.
What’s most compelling about musician and songwriter Zohra Atash is her ability to be artful and provocative without being contrived. As an Afghan-American who holds Faith and family in high regard, she maintains a composed and distant grace when dealing with questions of gender and identity. She is, first and foremost, an outstanding musician with a great deal of vision regarding her craft as a songwriter.
Atash recently sat down with Aslan Media to discuss some of the complexities she’s experienced as an artist and musician, and shared her creative process:
Aslan Media: Who (and what) are your early influences that compelled you to make music? Were there other factors such as your complex identity as an Afghan-American that allowed art and music to become a kind of refuge for you?
Zohra Atash: My father was a musician and a singer, so I think it was in my blood. He used to play harmonium and sing and play records all the time while I was growing up. He bought a lot of recording equipment too. My earliest memories are of me recording songs off the radio and singing really loudly over the vocals. You must understand, in those days, my parents were having a really difficult time bringing us up in a country where certain aspects of the culture were so foreign to them. They were apprehensive about immersing us in activities outside of the house and school, I think out of fear, really. So you could say that music has been a form of catharsis and escapism, and a really great way of staving off boredom from the very beginning….
AM: Musically, I hear a myriad of influences. While I detect elements of bands like Black Tambourine and, perhaps, Cocteau Twins, your great vocal delivery reminds me a little of Kate Bush. Is that a fair assessment? Who are your favorite artists/bands and singers?
ZA: I love all of those artists, yes, so I guess they must be somewhere in my musical DNA. It feels like the required thing these days is to deny that you’re influenced by the artist you’re most clearly influenced by and cite something more obscure or unrelated. I think that’s weird, so I’ll say yes, your assessment is entirely fair, Kate Bush is definitely an influence. It’d be almost criminal to not be influenced by those records as great as they are. Elizabeth Fraser is one of the best vocalists in rock history. Period. And Black Tambourine, they’re fantastic, and from my hometown. There are so many great bands that came out of DC in that era… I was lucky.
The favorite artists/bands is always so difficult to answer, because I’ve had so many. Right off the top of my head, I’d say Wire, Lee Hazlewood, Peter Gabriel, Diamanda Galas, Suede, Captain Beefheart, Patti Smith, Bryan Ferry, Emmylou Harris, Jacques Brel, Fairuz, Nick Cave… all huge influences.
AM: Are the ethnic influences in your sound a conscious decision or did it happen naturally as your sound progressed?
ZA: It’s almost so natural, the question feels foreign. When I decide to put rubab or harmonium on a song, I’m not thinking that it’s any more “ethnic” than a guitar or Rhodes. I guess growing up the way I did, I was never strongly aware of those dividing lines that would make one thing feel like it was “over there” in the ethnic box. When your dad plays Beatles tunes on the harmonium, it’s just all the same thing, just sounds and instruments and music.
It’s been interesting to see how people have responded to this, some have heard that I’m Afghan and the word “gypsy” has been tossed around to describe our music, and they hear it and they think, “Oh, this isn’t the exotic thing I was expecting.” Sometimes people like that, sometimes they don’t. It’s almost as if some want to complain that it’s not plain enough and the others want to complain that it isn’t weird and foreign-sounding enough. But the moment I start consciously asking myself whether I’m committed enough to an “ethnic” sound to satisfy people who do have those clear dividing lines is the moment I’m not making the music that feels most natural to me.
AM: How do you go about writing a song? Do you begin on the piano or guitar or with a vocal melody?
ZA: Every song is different. Most of the time, songs get written in my head, and I flesh them out on guitar or piano, or whatever until it starts to make sense. I spend a lot of time on the details.
AM: Do you prefer crafting a song in the studio or do you find more sustenance in performing live?
ZA: I suppose if I had to sacrifice one, I’d keep writing music. That is my joy. Performing is a part of that joy, but not the end all be all.
AM: Who are you currently listening to?
ZA: The last five records I just played: US Christmas: Run Thick in the Night
Willie Nelson: Teatro, Kraftwerk: The Man-Machine, Rolling Stones: Aftermath, Anna Calvi: Anna Calvi
AM: Does faith play a role in your music, at least, on some kind of peripheral level? Do you feel a certain reluctance in being explicit about your family’s faith or background given the often insulated mindset of music scenes and artistry in general?
ZA: It plays multiple roles. I doubt I’d write the kinds of lyrics I write or be drawn to these grandiose ideas and images without my religious bacAMround. Questions about guilt, redemption, and what’s eternal are all questions that religion deals with. I’ve never been reluctant about discussing my family’s faith or background. But it can get complicated in my own creative process.
For instance, our last video for the song ‘Sunset,’ really upset some of my family members. They were worried it looked “satanic.” The idea of anything in that video being devilish was as far from my mind as whether the rubab was ethnic. To me it was just a dark, visual love poem. If anything, it was like a fairy tale. We were just creating our own fantasy world, but some in my family couldn’t separate that from the real world. It’s a difficult line to walk because I love and respect my family and I don’t want to hurt them. But it’s also difficult to feel like you have to ask yourself before you put a piece of art into the world, “Wait, will my family assume I love Satan if I release this?!”
AM: Does your gender add even more complexity to your identity as an artist who is also, perhaps, straddling two seemingly disparate cultures?
ZA: I’m sure gender plays some role. At a point, though, it can be annoying. I don’t think any woman ever wanted to be a “woman rocker.” Not to sound cliche, but why don’t we say “man rocker?” I think it might be nice to have fewer labels. Muslim female musicians might turn heads post-9/11, but musicians just want to be respected by fans and by fellow musicians for their creative output. “Rock and Roll” was always about breaking free from the chains that bind you, and identity can be one of those. Too much focus on ethnicity, bacAMround, and gender sort of misses the point of why we get into it in the first place.
AM: Lastly, what hopes do you have for your music and as an artist?
ZA: I only ever wanted to create work I was proud of, and I think I’ve done, and try to continue to do that.
Check Atash and her band: http://www.myspace.com/religioustodamn
Religious To Damn’s Latest Album, ‘Glass Prayer’ can be found on iTunes http://www.religioustodamn.com
Tags: zohra atash, religious to damn, zohra atash, aslan media
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Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 02-24-2011 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Music
Yuna is an independent Malaysian singer-songwriter. She began writing her own songs when she was 14 years old, and her first performance of her own songs was at the age of 19, after she learned how to play guitar. She has performed in numerous acoustic shows and events in many parts of Malaysia since 2006.
She sounds a bit like Norah Jones. What do you think of her song: Missing Star?
Tags: yuna, missing star, malaysian hijabi singer
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Posted by BeautyandtheEast on 12-17-2010 | Comments | Share | Filed under: Entertainment, Music
Religious To Damn is that rarest of jewels—sophisticated gypsy rock and roll that’s tender and aggressive, elegant and raw all in the same melodic burst. Hailing from psychedelic, otherworldly places where dim fires illuminate the night time, Religious To Damn creates a universe that is at times expansive, at times intimate, but always compelling.
The project began when Religious To Damn’s central force, Zohra Atash, took to the studio with a small collective of fellow New York musicians. They soon made their debut in WIERD Record’s live series in 2008. That show was followed by an intense performance alongside kindred spirit/sometimes collaborator Tamaryn and Finnish songstress Vuk (aka Emily Cheeger of Dirty Projectors). It wasn’t long before they garnered the attention of notables like Jim Sclavunos (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds/Grinderman), who contributed drums to their song ‘Mayflies,’ as well as his sagely mentorship in the studio. Born from these sessions are the tracks on the Falls Down Again seven-inch mixed by Warren Defever (His Name Is Alive) and released on M’Lady’s Records in late 2009.
Soon after, Atash finished up work on Religious To Damn’s debut full-length with a new supporting cast. Josh Strawn of Vaura took up guitar and partnered with Atash on production duties, Charlie Schmid, a classically trained percussionist and composer, brought his eclectic drum sensibilities to the table, while Secret Machines’ Brandon Curtis co-produced, mixed, and played keyboards. A profound expansion on her vision, Glass Prayer combines thunderous swirling guitars, painterly atmospherics, and diverse rhythms, reflecting her own brand of bewitching tunecraft. Throughout, you can hear the musical influence of Zohra’s Afghan heritage as it sits intriguingly alongside Western rock elements. Her vocals range from the sweet and fragile, to the kind of ferocious you would expect from someone who filled Jarboe’s shoes as a touring vocalist with post-metal doom metallers A Storm of Light.
While Religious To Damn’s sound is distinctive, one-dimensional it is not. There lies a lot of depth and variation in the songs and structures throughout Glass Prayer. Expect songs befitting of her name: Zohra, Arabic for ‘blossom,’ and Atash, Persian for ‘fire.’ “Drifter” and “Sunset” could be dystopian radio pop in some alternate dimension, sitting comfortably in a sweet spot between Fleetwood Mac’s Tusk and classic 4AD releases (Dead Can Dance, Cocteau Twins). What Atash does well is package songs of high drama and tension into affecting melodies and lush textures, allowing the songs to seep in further into your head. While the album’s darker shades remain consistent, Religious To Damn knows where to turn up (and let up) the tension with ethereal moments like “Black Sand” or “To Love The Machine” complementing the driving shoegaze/spaghetti western-isms of “The Wait” or the frantic gallop of “Terra”. The drama reaches peaks with contributions from Zohra’s longtime friend Tamaryn on “The Bell” and “Let The Fires Burn”, nicely rounding out an album that stunningly delivers.
Religious to Damn “Drifter” Music Video from Jason Akira Somma on Vimeo.
Tags: religious to damn, zohra atash, glass prayer, drifter
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Are you a Muslim/Middle-Eastern/South Asian actor, musician, singer, comedian, designer, film-maker, journalist/host, or have a special story? Show us what you got!
