DJ Khaled

We've written on this site in the past about the ongoing relationship between hip hop and Islam. DJ Khaled is an American deejay of Palestinian background. He's known to most radio listeners for his shout-outs over a handful of hip hop hits he's produced in the last year including "I'm So Hood" and "We Takin' Over" featuring a who-is-who of current stars. In a recent interview with Heeb (a magazine targeting young, intellectual Jews) Khaled talks about his background and his music and how they interact. For example when talking about his studio in Miami, his current hometown:

You named your studio Jerusalem. Was that any kind of statement?

I did it cause I feel like my studio is a holy place, everybody is allowed in there, and I feel like its blessed like the Dome of the Rock, you know?

And about working with other artists:

Let me ask, when you get together with the artists that you work with, do you discuss your different backgrounds?

A lot of people, some of these rappers are Muslim, and sometimes we’ll be kicking it. But everyone respects me as a man, respects me as a person. Everyone’s got their way of being brought up, in their different belief systems, like that. I’m a normal person, just like everybody else, you know it?

The photo of Khaled shows an interesting interaction of hip-hop fashion and religious expression (necklace).

Buy U A Drank

T-Pain, the Grammy Award-winning rapper/singer from Florida has become a near ubiquitous in pop music, from his frequent collaborations (most recently with Flo Rida on "Low") to his own hits ("Buy U A Drank", "I'm In Luv Wit A Stripper"). T-Pain was born near Tallahassee as Faheem Najm to Muslim parents. There are a large number of Muslim entertainers in the US and Europe, many of them involved in Hip-Hop and RnB. We will feature many such entertainers on this site, but I thought T-Pain would be good introduction precisely because there is nothing obviously evident of his Muslim background in his familiar prescence. Muslims are a diverse and complictated group of humans like any other and their faith isn't always at the forefront of their identity. Or as Faheem told the Australian News in an interview when asked what is like to be Muslim in America:

"It's like being any other person," he says. "I'm still a person, a human being, no matter what religion I am."

But has the war on terror changed perceptions about Muslim faith?

"People don't even know," T-Pain says. "Me, Busta Rhymes, Lupe Fiasco - they don't even know we are Muslim. People think a Muslim has to have a turban or a big beard. It's stupid."

To explore the mysterious world of T-Pain you can visit his official website here http://www.t-pain.net/