Gendering Islam: Ms Undastood and the search for alternative models of black womanhood

Abstract

The aim of this article is to explore how black musicians, particularly those who proclaim a close relation with Islam, are using the cultural images from Islam to create new identities within black communities. Little has been written on the influence of Islam on female artists in African American communities. Since influence is not a one way road, this paper reveals that some female African American singers have appropriated the cultural symbols in Islam, recontextualised these symbols as female singers and manipulated them to speak to or elaborate on the women's new found Muslim identities. This paper selects some lyrics of Ms Undastood, a musician who openly proclaims her close relationship with and cites Sunni Islam names and the religious credo that she manipulates as a fertile source of her artistic imagination. It will be argued that the lyrics of this artist demonstrate a quest to create an ideal and alternative black community informed by the spiritual values of the Sunni version of Islam. Although in her lyrics she is aware of the struggles of beliefs within the versions of faiths articulated through Nation of Islam, The Five Percenters or the Nation of Gods and Earths, and Sunni Islam, Ms Undastood has drawn criticism for implying that Sunni Muslim values are better than those values in the other versions of Islam. However it will also be demonstrated that the political significance of her contribution to black females and Muslims is to have challenged the emerging mainstream but black male dominated Islamic popular musical culture.