A Transnational History in the Making

Abstract

Abstract Hip hop and Islam have reshaped visions of one another in hip hop’s homeland, the United States (US), and Islam’s birthplace, the Middle East. This article surveys the history and rise of American Muslim hip hop (AMHH). It then examines Middle Eastern Muslim hip hop. I argue that the skillful appropriation of religious motifs in music generates transnational connections via AMHH, while music’s utilization of Islam reinforces Islam’s long-standing transnationalism, albeit through an unconventional platform. AMHH simultaneously reflects and reconfigures Islam and hip hop in the US, making it a model for Middle Eastern counterparts who borrow from AMHH’s musical, religious themes. I further argue that the highlighted sample of AMHH artists holds a reified understanding of Islam that it consistently advances, whether extremist, conservative, or liberal. In contrast, the highlighted Muslim Middle Eastern hip hop displays incoherent Muslim identity markers that combine all three distinct strands of Sunni Islam.