In The Spirit Of Malcolm

Posting continues below

Words by Felicia Okoye

Yesterday (May 19th) marked the birthday of Alhajj Malik Shabazz, better known as Malcolm X. (R.I.P). A revolutionary of his time, Mr X continues to be heralded in hip hop culture, more so than any other civil rights leader in history. A man determined to stand up for his beliefs and give a solid up- middle- finger to the institutions that he saw as grossly discriminatory. A bit like Scarface and Tupac Shakur, X represents the hyper masculine, non-conformist rogue (I’m not seriously comparing X to Scarface, promise). The main difference between Malcolm X and other socio-political popular culture figures like Che Guevara or Angela Davies, is that X was initially part of the Nation of Islam, a devout Muslim till his death.

Yet, we have another rising outspoken figure in the world of hip hop who too coincidentally has Nation of Islam ties- rapper & boo to Erykah Badu- Mr Jay Electronica (Jay ElecHannukah…). I watched a recent video interview he did with The Most Influential, where he talked about his spiritual beliefs . For Jay, it’s not so much a case of representing a religion, but more so spiritual awakening. He mentions in the interview that he no longer identifies with a particular religious organization because it causes divide. Still, while hip hop has been used for a tool to voice many injustices and social standings, from gentrification to the welfare system, addiction, racism and sex, it seems to be only a matter of time before outwardly religious music becomes the mainstream. And why not? Since every other aspect of human existence are ingrained in music.

Sure, there are already other Muslim rappers of high standing including Mos Def and Lupe Fiasco (plus even more self determined Christian rappers) but not many of them  have dropped “Muhammad Asalaamica Rasoul Allah Supana Watallah” in a 16-bar or proclaimed they want to  “… be a servant to the human families of the planet earth” via Twitter in the way that Jay Electronica has. Of course niche rappers voice personal beliefs, but its pretty apparent that Jay will soon catapult out of the underground. This could be the shift into a new era.

Hip hop culture is (was?) the pseudo religion of many; with rappers probably have more sway in youth culture than pastors do. In a climate where (as Fiddy Cent recently outlined in an MTV interview) conscious rappers of yesterday are the hipster rappers of today. Perhaps the new ‘conscious’ minded music artists will move towards a more pronounced depiction of spiritual views, lead by the likes of Jay Electronica (followed by fundamentalist illuminati accusers, obvs).  Malcolm X with his unapologetically outspoken nature allured many young African Americans towards The Nation of Islam. He encouraged pride, strength in knowledge, the power of truth and honour.  I feel a resurgence of that sentiment, whether propelled by religion or not. This really excites me. Not because I’m advocator of Islam (I’m not), but because it’s encouraging to think the days of hollow hip hop are dwindling. Bring on the renaissance!

I’ll leave you with a bit of Malcolm:

…Speech made after his pilgrimage to Mecca.