Walkin’ Through Chi Town’s Muslim Hip Hop Festival

Muslim Woodstock. Deenstock. Streets. Whatever your fancy, IMAN’s Takin’ it to the Streets event in Chicago last weekend was quite simply awe-inspiring. And we are all still recovering, or rather, re-discovering what it means to be Muslim in America today.

To set the scene (as Sophia from the Golden Girls would say): Picture it -Southside Chicago. 2010. After a night of brutal rain and thunder, years of meticulous planning and global duas -Dear God, please don’t let it rain in Marquette Park on June 19 -the day is gorgeous. Bright and sunny. Warm and breezy. Alhumdulillah.

But the grounds are damp and muddy from the previous night. Arriving at dawn, the IMAN crew, made up of a handful of staff members and hundreds of volunteers, rush through the park grounds assessing the damage and finishing the setup. The three gates open up and the day begins. Bismillah.

As the early risers start arriving, tai chi, yoga and dhikr sessions begin. Allahu. Allahu. Mayor Daley, Reverend Jesse Jackson, Congressman Keith Ellison make their opening remarks. The four stages open up. Sound of Reason, Zerobridge, and Amir Sulaiman at the Unity stage. Los Vicios de Papá, Malika Zarra, and Amjad Sabri at the World Music stage. Brother Ali, the ReMINDers, and the Narcicyst at the Hip Hop Pavillion. Khalil Ismail, Tinariwen, and the Pockemon Crew at the Streets main stage.

Everyone is waiting in anticipation for the headliner performance from Mos Def later tonight.

Famed female DJ Raichous and her husband DJ Kidragon are spinning at the Streets stage. Raichous says her faith drives her to seek music that has a spiritual and positive message. “It has inspired me to dig a lot deeper into different genres of music, more world music, more spiritual music. And it’s given me a greater appreciation for all these different kinds of music.”

Rapper Brother Ali has the crowds going at the Hip-Hop Pavilion. He is excited to be back. “I love Rami [founder of IMAN]. I look up to him,” he says, “There’s a new Muslim community, still rooted in the essence of Islam and the ways of the Prophet (PBUH). IMAN is becoming a leader in the community. Streets gives that spirit of unity and humanity.” He adds laughing, “And they treat me great. They don’t have to, though. I’d show up anyway.”

The crowds are growing by the thousands. Black, white, Desi, Arab, young, old, Muslim, non-Muslim. “That’s the true essence of hip-hop,” Fabel of the Rocksteady Crew tells me, “Taking it back to the streets is how hip-hop was born. And it’s a powerful tool for dawah. People see this and are like, ‘wow, I didn’t know Muslims got down like this.’”

Record producer and DJ Anas Canon is amazed by the musicianship, “There was a band playing while I was up [DJing]. They were getting ready for sound check. I just changed to a D’Angelo song. They picked up on it and started jamming to it, even with the changes I made. That blew me away. That’s a true musician. Their set was great, too.”

Mubashir Mohiuddin of the band Zerobridge is thrilled to finally have the chance to see the Moroccan group Tinariwen. “We toured Morocco last summer and I read about them,” he says, “so I’m honored to see them perform here and this past Thursday at the show in Millennium Park.”

Sarah Albahadily, a teacher and Streets fan, has come all the way from Oklahoma for this occasion, as it only happens once in two years. She says that she’s never been to an “Islamic” event on this scale based on the arts. She is impressed by the warmth in those around her.

As I roam the bazaar area I pass a walking advertisement dressed in Statute of Liberty costume. Clearly exhausted from being on his feet all day, he looks around and goes, “Man, I knew I should have been a cop. Look at them just sitting around and eating.”

I look around, and he is right. Chicago’s finest are on duty to patrol the area. A Muslim event with an estimated 20,000 attendees is definitely cause for an extra level of security, especially in the Southside of Chicago. They seemed bewildered though; there is nothing for them to do. No drunken disorderly conduct. No overwhelming waft of hashish in the air. No threats or fighting. Not even a pick-pocketing complaint. Probably even more confusing for them is that the music and performances on all four stages stop for a moment at 1:00pm and 6:15pm. The adhaan is given from each stage and the masses drift over to the prayer area for Dhur and Asr. Albahadily says she has never seen anything like it back home. Can I get another Alhumdulillah?

Rami Nashashibi, founder of IMAN, would later say the cops on duty would tell him they had never seen anything like this either. He adds, “I think clearly, the event has grown into a social phenomenon of sorts. It has been able to inspire the Muslim community and bring together a cross section of the larger [community] as a whole, as no other event of its kind.” Subhan’Allah.

Visiting Chicago on a return trip from Egypt, Imam Suhaib Webb is slowly taking the whole scene in. “Of course, as a cleric, I’m not going to approve of everything going on here. But I do like what they’re doing for the community. It’s like we disagree on the appetizers but we agree on the main course. As clerics we need to reach out, not be stand-offish to the community,” he says.

Someone has gifted the Imam with a bean pie, which has him excited. “Have you ever had bean pie,” he asks me.

“No. I’ve never even heard of bean pie.”

He looks shocked. “How is that possible, sister?” He jokingly adds, “That’s like haraam!”

Clearly, my naive Desiness is showing. Another sister in the tent explains to me the soul food significance of bean pie in the history of Muslims in America, starting with the efforts of The Nation. “Bean pie is like the one Muslim American food,” she explains.

Imam Suhaib insists that I try some of the bean pie.

As we talk about some of the challenges facing the American Muslim youth, he goes on to say, “The patriarchy in our community is debilitating for the younger generation, especially young women. You know, my mom would punish me by making me stare at a wall. I can only imagine what it’s like to be listening to a lecture by staring at a wall. We also have a problem of women becoming depressed with certain personal situations and they don’t know what to do. Boys are also struggling with their identity. They need to learn to become men and they need fathers who can teach them how to be men.”

Before I leave he asks, “So what do you think of bean pie?”

“I think I’m a believer.” Masha’Allah.

Ustadh Usama Canon, who is also directing his efforts towards the youth, echoes Imam Suhaib’s sentiments. He further describes these challenges, “Young Muslims face the challenge that every other young American does – falling victim to consumerism and the material culture. But there’s also Muslim specific issues. For a lot of us that is figuring out our identity. Recognizing the ethnic background our parents come from and reconciling that within ourselves as Americans. Young Muslims also have the added challenge of adhering to the deen. The aforementioned challenges only strengthen the last one. Efforts like Streets help bring the conversation out in the community.”

No one is unapproachable and no conversation topic is taboo today. As we walk, Ustadh Canon is approached and asked if he is single and available to meet a prospective spouse. He laughs and says he is flattered, but turns down the offer saying he is happily married.

The whole crowd has gathered around the Streets main stage. We are nearing the end. The French B-boy group, the Pockemon Crew, is getting everyone riled up, even Ustadh Canon.

It is time: Mos Def makes his grand entrance. ”As-Salamu-alaikum!” He begins with La-ilaha-illallah. Singing it over and over as the crowd goes wild. To my left and laugh – I see a white girl in a retro summer dress swaying to the beat as she hula-hoops. Yes. Definitely, Muslim Woodstock.

Like any proper Muslim event, the day ends at Maghrib. Mos’ performance culminates with young opera singer, Zeshan Bagewadi, giving the adhaan. Almost in unison, the thousands gathered turn to face Mecca. Allahu-Akbar!

Photos by Savera Iftikhar