Fresh Music Friday

Salaam, salaam!!

Check it out, I know brothers have been slacking, but training for these fights and recording an album while looking for a job is NO JOKE. Very time consuming folks, brothas is out here exhausted!!!

Anyway, I dunno if this is going to be an every Friday thing, but I'ma try to make it work. You know mans be on Twitter with the Follow Fridays, but I wanna show love to what I hear that's new, and I like.

First off, Jasiri X. Every one knows, Jasiri is my brother from another mother. So check this, his video is blowing up all over the inter net. He shot this DURING G-20, in front of the jakes!!! Definition of Gangsta. Mansthem need to step there street cred up 10 fold now. The respectable Minister Jasiri was really in full effect. Check his video out:

The Only Color That Matters Is Green

Next up! My man G5 Clive out of Chocolate City (Washington DC for all of you ignorant suckas) just dropped a brand new mixtape called 'Reign Cheque'. Clive is one of the most creative and lyricaly flexible brothers out right now and also is one of DC's biggest names, right behind the 2009 break out artist Wale. Reign Cheque features the internet smash (and my favourite song out right now) Vice City, also featured on the production is some guy from Toronto named Fundamental. He's half of this group called Good Company, I dunno if you ever heard of them.

Sex Ed: Like Water (Remix) prod Fundamental

Reign Cheque

http://www.mediafire.com/?zjzcn3gyeon

Those familiar with my blogs, are familiar with Tito Lopez. Tito has been on a meteoric rise, from numerous mixtapes gaining steam online, to storming AllHipHop.Com and a fued with Saigon. I'm a little late with his newest release The Strictlee Tito lopez LP, but better late than never. This is 5 tracks of pure HEAT, from in my opinion the best MC with out a deal (next to me of course).

Download Mixtape Provided by DatPiff.com

Last but not least, we're coming back top Pittsburgh. Jonny Quest is a new jack on the scene, and is ready to make noise. He has a song for us regular joes who deal with rejection from the opposite sex because we aint dope boys. Well ... Mr. Quest has some dope commentary on the subject with his song She Tried To Tell Me prod by Chemist. It's a real early 90s type feel, something like Lord Tariq would of done. So here it is!

She Tried To Tell Me prod Chemist
http://www.zshare.net/audio/66408103993cf30a/

The Ayatollah Has Spoken

The Devil @ The VMAs

Asalaamu alaykum wa rahman tu Allah!

May the peace and blessings of God be upon you. To All my Muslims, Ramadan Mubarak! Only 6 more days left in this glorious and holy month. All praises be to the most high, the one God to whom all praises are due.

Sorry for the hiatus, but I like to take Ramadan off and focus on Islam. The blog will be back up with much new content after E'id, insh'Allah (God Willing).

Allow me to say one thing. This is MY blog. If you're familiar with me, you know I speak what I feel, I speak my mind, and I speak my heart.

For those who aren't familiar and have no idea who I am or haven't figured it out yet ... yes, I am a Muslim. (shocking init?)

Quick summary. In Islam we believe in praise to One God, the creator of all, the same God you all pray to, except we assign no partners to him. We believe in the Torah and The Bible, but we believe God sent us the Qur'an as a final sign and to clear up errors and make things right with both books, and the Qur'an is the actual word of God. We don't believe he had a son, we don't believe he came in the form of a man, or none of that. We believe he sent many prophets, whom all were Muslim and Muhammed Ibn Abduallah of 1400+ years ago was the final prophet and seal of the prophethood. That's it, in short at least.

So I'm sure every one watched the VMAs last night, or at least heard about the antics. Kanye West again stole the show and made off like a bandit. Kudos to him for keeping himself relevant. Kanye West ladies and gents, taking over the world one non assuming white girl at a time. Say what you want, I thought it was staged and hilarious.

But that's not what I'm going to address!! *Gasp* I know, I know, I'm ever the rebel compelled to go against the grain. Nah, see what I'm going to put on blast is a joke every one thought was harmless fun, but in actuality was like 6 day old milk with a brussel sprout blend, very pour taste.

A Muslim brother by the name of Anas brought the following video of Jack Black calling for a Jummah (congregational) prayer to praise the Iblis (the devil). Watch below

I'm sure those who aren't Muslim are all too familiar with what is said in their respective books and religion about the devil, but what does is said in Islam? Well I have included two excerpts from Al-Qur'an to quench the thirst for the aforementioned knowledge.

Surah An-Nahl:

"When thou dost read the Qur'an, seek Allah's protection from Satan the rejected one.

No authority has he over those who believe and put their trust in their lord.

His authority is over those only, who take him as patron and join partners with Allah."



Surah Al-Ra'd:

"To Him is due the true prayer, any others that they call upon besides him hear them no more than if they were to stretch forth their hands for water to reach their mouths, but it reaches them not: For the prayer of those with out faith is nothing but vain prayer."



There are other verses, but I felt those two dealt with the matter at hand quite fittingly.

See I wanna make this short and sweet. I don't care what you worship, or how you practice your beliefs. That is indeed your business. However, I do believe in showcasing strong moral fibre and upholding the theorem of responsible behaviour when amongst the presence of children and impressionable minds.

Yeh, yeh, I get it, Jack Black is a really funny guy. I'ma huge fan of his. But that was just straight out fuckry. I never expect MTV to show any type of cooth now days but come on. People were saying Kanye has no class for his antics. How can you even associate the words "class" and "MTV" in the same paragraph other than this very paragraph? To straight out co-sign devil worship is beyond me. I guess that really lets you know what time it is! ... I wonder if BET would of allowed that? Meh, I wouldn't doubt it.

Lemme bring it to a close on this note though. Lets say, one of these famous MUSLIMS, Akon, T-Pain, Mos Def, Lupe Fiasco, Snoop Dogg (chuckle), Dave Chappelle, or Shaq would of received an award and said "all Praise be to Allah" or something of that nature? I can PROMISE you that 1 of the following would occur. That segment would of been edited out of the broadcast, the speach would of been cut and the recipient of the award would be hurried off stage, he would catch immediate backlash for being "preachy" on stage and not keeping his beliefes at home, or he'd have been the target for any and all type of Islamic-bashing devices. But you can worship the devil on MTV. That's one hell of a message folks.

I really dont have any conclusion other than this. In the words of Jay-Z (who's new album is TERRIBLE)

"Dough to get, more shows to rip, I suggest you all roll with the click, who you wit?"


PS. I bet NO website or news out lets covers this outside of here ... so make sure to credit the source!

PPS. My birthday is Sept 16th ... just throwing that out there ... That's Wednesday. I'll be 24.

I wear a size 34-34 pants, XL shirt, 7 3/8 hat - thank you very much.



The Ayatollah has spoken!

Back Packer Weekly: New Muslim Cool

Salutations and Salaam.

Whats gwanin BPW faithfuls? I know, I know, it's been a long time since I've made an installment on this thing, shame on me, right? To be quite honest, brothers have been bare busy, lots of things on the agenda, but this isn't about me. This BPW is a special BPW, unlike any I've ever wrote before. This is a movie review, of sorts.

Look at the definition of "Cool". Cool is more than a vague temperature placement. Cool is an adjective; following suit of a trend, a state of acceptable being with report and praise, relative to ones point of view. Brother Lupe Fiasco dropped an album called "The Cool" which utterly and irrevocably embodied the definition. There are a lot of new trends, a lot of new things we as a people as a culture find attractive and refreshing. Be it detrimental or not, what ever the vast array of subjects in question, from the music we listen to, to the dress we fashion for ourselves, to steroids, selling crack, it's all "cool" at one point. So for a religion to be new, cool, exciting, and what ever else, seems kind of like a contradiction, right? Wrong. The New Muslim Cool is sweeping the world over, as Islam is the fastest growing religion in the USA and now the number one practiced religion in the world, with numbers well exceeding 1billion. Islam is a religion that dates back centuries, so why is the prefix "new", attached? Well the influx has become increasingly noticeable since the events of September 11th. Islam before may have been a 2o minute discussion in your social studies class. You may have had one or two exchange students who were Muslim, but you were never really that interested in them, so you didn't ask many questions. Now look at it! All the sudden Islam is every where you look. In the classroom, in sports, in cartoons, and even in movies.

PBS and POV films banded together to create a very fresh and insightful look into a young man who is an MC, a father, an activist, and above all a Muslim, Mr. Hamza Perez. A member of the well known Hip Hop group M-Team, Hamza is a Nuyorican transplant living in Pittsburgh. Now I don't wanna give away the film because it's an amazing body of work, however, I will give a short synopsis. The cameras follow brother Hamza through out his day to day life. The jihad (struggle) of self, the jihad of religion and the trials and tribulations all mighty God places in front of us to keep our faith strong and our hearts pure. You will see Hamza performing his daily fatherly duties, in the studio with his brother, and partner in rhyme Suliman, working as a religious leader in prison and even getting married. Depending on how familiar you are with the Pittsburgh Hip Hop scene and how well you network, you may see some people you know all through out the film.

I met Hamza and his brother once, my first E'id Al-Fitr in the Pittsburgh Muslim community in 2006, they forever made an impression on my heart and brain. They were two of the most warm, kind and inviting brothers one would hope to meet. So upon hearing the news of this documentary, I was overjoyed that an occurrence of this magnitude was taking place so close to where I am and involving people with in my cipher.

This is more than just an opportunity for a brother to get press, or to get his 15 minutes of fame. This is something far greater. With the misrepresentation of Islam ever prevalent in the biased Zionist media, in schools, in the books you read, a counter balance was past due. All too often the image of the "towlhead" warrior and or suicide bomber yelling "Allah'u akbar" is seen in movies, magazines and nightly news stillshots. All too often is the image of the long robe wearing, oil hording greedy Arabian Muslim presented to you with no alternative to digest. "New Muslim Cool" opens up the viewers eyes to a tangible facet of society that is no different than the every day American encounters. In fact the places of Hamza and the deacon at your church could be easily changed around and the exact paths would still be trodden, more less.

This documentary is paramount in bridging the gap between a world with in a world that has been victim of slander, demonetization while literally sitting across the street from your residence. As Islam continues to grow and more and more people begin to recognize and accept the presence of it as a mainstay in American/Global culture. It behooves one to educate themselves on the unknown. What better way then watch a former drug dealing, Puerto Rican Muslim from New York who was raised Catholic go through his day to day ordeals? "New Muslim Cool" is an accurate portrayal of true Islam, the peace and the submission of one's will to the one God. This film shows exactly how real Muslims deal with real struggles in real life. I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did.

I have to give an over sized phat shout to sister Rashida James-Saadiya who blessed me with the link through the will of Allah (SWT) and had a hand in getting this wonderful documentary viewed in Pittsburgh. May Allah (SWT) continue to bless and reward you, those responsible for the creation of this project, and its focus points.

I urge you all to watch the documentary here :

http://www.pbs.org/video/video/1160843137/search/new%20muslim%20cool

send this to as many people as you can, edyourselves and buy the DVD!

Asalaamu alaykum

The Ayatollah has spoken

Entertainment: The African American Pacifier

Peace and blessings, loyal Backpacker Weekly readers. I hope every one's week was spent intelligently. You know, it's been kinda hectic the past few weeks, and I'd like to take a quick moment out to honour those we've lost. Boxing (the sport I hold nearest and dearest to my heart) lost two great, great, competitors. Arturo "Thunder" Gatti, and Alexis "El Flaco" Arguello, both have passed on. Foul play is suspected in both deaths. May God have mercy on them, and all those we've lost recently.


Lets open up Today's installment with a simple word. Ambivalence. Don't know what that word means? Well, our problem stems a might bit deeper than the matters at hand now, doesn't it? The biggest "news" of late, has been the timely passing of the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. I say timely because, God is sufficient, and disposer of all affairs. When it's time to go, it's time to go. There is no hold up, no wait, there is no "well, I was kinda in the middle of something". When your number is up, that's it. So Mike, thank you for the talent you've shared with us, and also, thank you for spawning the catalyst for this here blog topic!

Entertainment. To be entertained, distracted, to indulge in something. What do we use entertainment for? We use it for a myriad of reasons; we use it to make us laugh, make us cry, make us forget, we use it to fill up time in an empty schedule, we use it to distract us from reality. To distract us from reality. Above all else, does that not hold the most truth to it? Does that not encompass all of the given definitions and then some? I'll be the first to admit, reality is a motha ... the saying "its real in the field" didn't just pop up because it rhymes, entertainment takes us away from what ever it may be that we're dealing with in our lives and allows us to immerse ourselves into a realm of fantasy. If not fantasy, it provides an outlet of escapism that we can harness to alleviate a number of ailments. Do we allow it to control us? Do we give entertainment too much of our attention? I ultimately pose the question, do we as African Americans, a people who use entertainment like air, allow it to hinder and impair on very basic judgment and obstruct evaluation of moral fibre?

African Americans love to be entertained. Do we ever. No one can refute that. Don't even try. I'll do the knowledge on that, in case you aren't quite yet in the know. As slaves. We we stripped away from our roots. Literally cut off from all ties to what made us African. The only thing we had left was oral translation, spirit and soul. I tell you what. Lemme lock you up some place in Georgia and make you pick cotton, endure torture beyond belief and eat the foulest of mother nature's creations. Let's see what you do to take your mind off of all that. We did what the slave owners couldn't fathom. Called upon our spirit for help. Negro spirituals, song, dance, that became our weapon in a seemingly limitless arsenal. That's what got us through the deepest pain. That stayed with us, just like high blood pressure from all that pork. That's my synopsis.

I'm going to use two main focus points, and I will not allow my personal beliefs and ideologies to make their presence known ... that heavily.

First. Hip Hop. See, we as members and fans of the Hip Hop culture allow a lot of bullshit to pass. All to often excuses are made for brothers who generate income off of the production and consumption of social pollutants. We take it all in. We do all but except it, and then give mans passes like "yo, he's just expressing himself", or "yo, he's just dictating his point of view for his struggle and those a like". Yeh, I've heard all that before, and to be honest, it's quite a weak excuse. That's like saying Hitler gets a pass for the Holocaust because some one pissed in his Cheerios, and he felt the only way to rectify his unfortunate breakfast dining experience was to erradicate some Jews. I don't wanna hear it. People, point blank, period, we've become accustom to the bullshit! We've become all to complacent with mindless drivel and accepting mediocrity. Think about it. If a brother comes on the radio with a record like "I'm Black", the Styles P song, it doesn't get spun, you probably didn't care to hear it when it was spun. It's automatically ruled as "that bullshit". You say, "man I can't dance to this shit, I can't hear this at the club!" But when the Ying Yang Twins dropped "The Whisper Song" you were all over it. It's because "I'm black, even though my skin's kinda light/ that just means my ancestors was raped by some body white/" makes you deal with actual reality. Whereas "Wait till you see my dick" doesn't. Well, not really any thing relevant at least. There is a reason Gucci Mane and Young Jeezey are in current rotation, and Mos Def, Talib Kweli, artists of that caliber are pushed to the back burner. Kids now days are especially susceptible to this because of the emphasis on monteray gain. I remember building with brother Jasiri X about his after school programme he runs for children in Pittsburgh. He uses Hip Hop as his education method. He brought up OJ Da Juiceman in his discussion, and explained to me, the kids loved him because "he gets paid". They dont really overstand he what he represents, and if they do, they turn a blind eye to it because of what he "has". How often has that happened through out the course of Hip Hop? If Nas was convicted of leading a child porn right tomorrow, I bet you all the tea in China I break every Nas album I own and curse him to the grave. I don't care that he was one of the best lyricists ever! He was soliciting kiddy porn! The scale doesn't balance out people!!!


Second. Mike Jackson. "Damn, damn, damn, Jaxx. You really gonna go in on old Mike? Pause." Nope. I'ma just keep it 100.

My man James "Cyfe" Moore posted a note on facebook the other day, concerning Mike's death, his funeral and all the subsequent fuss. He really made some poignant points. Essentially he required that we hit the "nigga please" button and stop saying Michael was in the same echelon as Malcolm X and Dr. King. I agree whole heartedly. Was I a fan, of course? Did I succumb to the rumours? Most Definitely. Do I have my own opinions, of course. One thing y'all gotta overstand is that, Mike died Muslim. So I'm not gonna sit here and bash no Muslim. Not happening. However, I will say this. Mikes passing DID NOT keep me from my day to day actions at all. I purposely missed his funeral for a few reasons. One, I buried my best friend, I don't wanna see that shit again. Two, no ones funeral needs to be that public in the first place. Three, I don't want that funeral turned production to some how alter my opinions, what ever they maybe, to far past hypocritical levels. Was Mike iconic? Certainly. Did he impact millions? Absolutely. But I don't remember Mike ever really pushing religion, philosophy or knowledge to the level of real world leaders and brothers who fought died for the struggle and the message. Y'all making Mike out to be prophet. Fall back with all that nonsense!!!!

This illustrates my point. Our culture, us as a people put far too much weight on irrelevant shit. We would rather be entertained then deal with the truth at hand. That's God's curse on our people for our actions. My Imam has told me that time and time again (yes, he is black), that our people have been cursed for our ignorance, and that is it. Do I really need to cite examples? The proof is in the pudding. I pose this final inquiry. Have we let the entertainment business dictate our lives beyond repair? Or is this something that can be overcome, like the countless social and physical obstacles we've encountered as a people? We gotta come to terms with our own reality and consciousness, we gotta acknowledge the tangible occurrences present in our immediate vicinity. That's all we have to do to begin to ween ourselves away from the entertainment, and lean ourselves towards the edutainment. Learning can be fun ... you just
read this blog, didn't you? :)

*Editors Note*

I used "Ambivalence", above. I used that because, I rap. I am an entertainer. Though I'm not the status quo. I don't shuck and jive, finger pop, coon out and fool myself. I take a stance and use my gift, my abilities to educate and shed light. I do all that, but I still have a good time. I make sure those who watch my show, and listen to my music, those who read my blog, genuinely enjoy my work. I'm not bashing entertainment, I'm just asking where your head is at. You, the reader! Where is your head right now? Do you spend too much time away from reality? I do from time to time. But I overstand where I am in life. Do you?

The Ayatollah has spoken