Islamic Hip Hop Music : a Translation of Muslim Identity Under Western Political Culture

Abstract

Song is lyric poem adapted to musical expression. Native American puts tales, songs, and oratory in their traditional literature. There are varieties of working songs that used across different context. One of them is Hip hop – a style of popular music of US black and Hispanic origin, featuring rap with an electronic backing. This study is aimed at exploring identity of Islamic hip hop song lyrics by “Soldiers of Allah” band, one of the former Islamic hip hop groups to put their music on the internet. Therefore, post-colonialism approach is employed, since to uncover identity of Islamic hip hop, the rise of Islam in America must be understood. In America, Islamic hip-hop has transformed into cultural movement that drawn major attention. Islamic hip hop emerges as the result of immigration and racial politics, deindustrialization and state withdrawal, and the cultural forces of Black Nationalism. The songs shot through with internal contradictions; they portray a hybrid world of western secularism put side by side with Islamic tradition. In line with Hip hop characteristics, the songs are used to spread deliberation of establishment of “one ummah” under one ‘khalifa' for substituting nationalism border. It involves the rejection of white-ness and western-ness. The lyrics deal explicitly with the fight for racism, and encourage Black, White, Islamic relations. They show proud announcement of the artists on their faith and swell “Islamic” messages of social justice that is difficult to be done by other media.