Hip hop was created in the ’70s as a means for disillusioned Black and Latino youth to express their grievances and anger at the racism and neglect of the system. Today, although not always used for those political purposes, there does remain a strong segment of the hip hop population which uses this form of expression in political ways to bring to light their struggles and experiences with the system, whatever that system that may be. Muslimah Media Watch has highlighted hip hop and Muslim women before.
One of the women we covered earlier, Deeyah, has just released an album titled Sisterhood. As described on her MySpace page:
Sisterhood is the collective name for a mixtape project of previously unreleased songs written by young up and coming female Muslim rappers, singers and poetesses from the UK, Europe and US.
Music has for centuries been a powerful and beautiful form of expression all around the world including the Muslim world. For centuries, poets, saints, worshippers of God, both men and women, have used music to express not only their love for God but their love and critiques of this world. These women are a part of the modern generation of Muslims using music to express themselves and get their message out to the masses. 