Abstract
ABSTRACT Critics of Islamic popular music have tended to explore open modes of rebellion in black communities of America. However, the actual popular music does not always mine open political themes. There are new discourses produced in Islamic popular music. These discourses focus more on the capacity of black Muslim communities to improve their immediate communities. The themes explored in this popular musical genre emphasise social themes such as the meanings of human existence and place the notion of what is political in a different light. The aim of this paper is therefore to explore the contradictory role that Islamic music plays in producing new social publics. The paper analyses the lyrics of three black popular musicians; namely Luppe Fiasco, Nas and Mos Def. The paper further argues that Islamic popular music is shifting away from overtly political themes in its rendition, not because these are no longer useful; but rather that dwelling on social themes enables the artists to discuss the social identities produced in Islamic music with minimum pressure to sing to conform to the single dictates of political ideologies. It is suggested in this paper that popular music is at most subversive when it insists on creating its own narratives in spaces that do not easily lend themselves to political manipulation, infiltration and supervision.
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