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Monday, October 06, 2008 Artist Of The Week - Hasan Salaam An up and coming emcee with some buzz is oftentimes described as being “hot in the streets,” so maybe it was a sign that during this interview with New Jersey emcee Hasan Salaam not one but two fire trucks interrupted us. Salaam recently released his second album, Children of God, and when one combines that with the work he’s been doing in his community Salaam truly embodies the phrase “hot in the streets.” During our fire truck interrupted sit down Salaam spoke about his work, both musically and within the community, as well as his thoughts on how people treat each other in America, and getting Poison Pen on the basketball court. Yes, you read that right, getting Poison Pen on the basketball court. Adam Bernard: With a name like Hasan Salaam I’m guessing you get a lot of “random” airport checks. I know there’s a political lilt to much of your work, so hit me with your thoughts on the way people are treating each other in America today. Hasan Salaam: It’s funny because within the Black community Islam has always been prevalent, since the days of Elijah Muhammad, so within the community it’s all good, but on a larger scale it seems like more of America is in fear of Islam. Sometimes I get it from random spots when they check my ID, or at the airport, stuff like that, but to me it’s just ignorance. Being Black in America you kind of already deal with it anyway, so I guess I already got the tough skin for it. It just bothers me that people don’t really look into most faiths, whether it be Islam, Christianity, Judaism, most people don’t know anything about it even if they’re a part of it. They don’t know what it’s really about, where it comes from, the history of it, the science about it, or anything like that, so their ideas of things that they’re not a part of are even more ignorant, or closed minded, because they just have never experienced it before. Adam Bernard: Your latest album is titled Children of God. What’s the meaning behind this title? Hasan Salaam: We are all part of the human family, and Five Percenters are supposed to deliver the message to all families of the planet earth. We all come from the same place. We all come from the same source. Also, I work with kids and I got tired of always hearing my kids calling each other nigga, calling each other bitch, all the time and it’s just like you need to recognize yourself for who you really are. That’s really where it comes from. It’s not that we’re all a child in the physical sense, but we’re children in a spiritual sense. We’re young in this world. No matter how old you are there’s still shit you’re gonna learn and that’s really where it’s coming from. We all have the essence of The Almighty in us and that’s really what it’s about for me. Adam Bernard: You mentioned you work with kids. Do you teach, or do after school programs? Hasan Salaam: I work with the Urban League of Hudson County in Jersey City. I work with kids that would be considered at risk youth, kids that are coming out of the youth house, or got court probation, or things like that. I work with them helping them get life skills, like helping them get a job, helping them get back into school, and giving em as much knowledge of self as I possibly can. Adam Bernard: I hear you also do a lot of other community work, as well. Hasan Salaam: We do food and clothing drives with Rugged N Raw and the rest of the cats in the 5th Column; HiCoup, Impaq and BadSportt. The drives are every third Sunday of the month and we try to gather food and clothes for the community. There are a whole lot of people who help us, actually. Also, in everyday life I try to address and greet everybody with peace and try to be the best man I can be. Adam Bernard: Tell me about some of the other sides of Hasan Salaam. Hasan Salaam: I like to laugh. For me that’s like medicine, so I crack a lot of jokes. One of these days I’m gonna take my shot at stand up comedy. I think that’s the hardest form of show business. Musically someone can come to your show and even if they don’t like the whole thing they can find a little piece that they like, but with stand up comedy it’s make me laugh or you suck. Besides that I like to play ball. I try to play basketball whenever I can. Adam Bernard: You know they have the NBA Entertainment League. Hasan Salaam: Yo, they need to have an underground Hip-Hop tournament, or some shit. That’s what I want to do one day, a benefit, or something like that. We can have a benefit basketball game with all the cats in the underground. Adam Bernard: I’m choosing whatever team has Homeboy Sandman on it. Hasan Salaam: Yeah, he’s like six-nine or something (ed’s note - he’s really 6’5’’). I want to get Poison Pen on my team because I think he’d be able to clear everybody out the box. Adam Bernard: We don’t have a lot of athletic folks in underground Hip-Hop, unfortunately. Hasan Salaam: It could be like one of those softball teams, like the beer leagues. We could have one of those. The game moves a little bit slower, the final score would be like 25-23, or something like that. Adam Bernard: Finally, other than potential basketball beer leagues with other underground Hip-Hop artists, what inspires you? Hasan Salaam: Everyday life. There’s so much material out there right now no matter what your expression is, whether it’s Hip-Hop, comedy, whatever it is there’s so much shit going on in this world that needs to get better, or just be pointed out, whether it’s good or bad. People are starving, the economy is shot to shit, and gentrification is splitting up a lot of our communities. My mother was supposed to retire but she can’t because they’re not gonna give her her medical benefits and her pension is fucked up and it’s just like that shit is really hittin home right now. Last year, when they had the stimulus check, I didn’t make enough money to receive one, and if anything I’m the person who needs that shit the most!

Still staying on the east coast, and still in the vibe for conceptual and meaningful joints, HipHopDX heads over to New Jersey to chop it up with Hasan Salaam whose album, Children of God, a follow-up from his debut Paradise Lost (2005) is scheduled to drop early September. With his mind on a mission to deliberately decipher topics from politics to race, the emcee and youth worker offers Hip Hop fans that staple we’re oh so hungry for: insightful lyrics over bangin’ beats - and a voice deep enough to make Barry White jealous. He is intelligent enough to speak the language of your reason and approachable enough to relate to your deepest confessions. As Salaam offers a possible explanation for the misogyny in Hip Hop, DX inquires upon the Children of God (sharply featuring Masta Ace, DJ GI Joe and Rugged N Raw), emceeing and Islam, and the connection between “The Uprock” and “The Downrock.” HipHopDX: Salaam Hasan. Brief introduction for those still sleeping? Hasan Salaam: Peace, this is Hasan Salaam. I got into Hip Hop when I was like three years old – as far as writing, 11 years old, 12 years old. My goals with Hip Hop are in sha’ Allah to be able to add on to the struggle music that’s been here from my people for 500 years; and one day that it helps us to getting free. On the business aspect of things, one day I’m gonna open up a couple of centers built for the youth in Jersey. After school programs, basketball, chess, philosophy; just a spot kids can go, be safe and educate themselves. That’s my ultimate goal. DX: How difficult – or easy – it is to be pushing through the Jersey/New York’s Hip Hop scene, which doesn’t seem to be having any particular direction at this moment? HS: Everybody and their mama raps right now. [Laughs] Outside of New York and New Jersey, I definitely see more support from people who aren’t emcees, just the listeners and the supporters. But the good thing about being in New York and New Jersey is there are mad venues here. Any day I can be just like “I’ma go out, I’m a perform tonight” and I can make that happen. And within all of that, you definitely find a lot of people that are talented, that have a real love for Hip Hop - it’s got its pluses and its minuses. DX: Tell us about your upcoming album, Children of God. HS: Children of God is basically my response - I work with kids now and I’m really just tired of hearing them refer to themselves as “nigga” and “bitch” before anything else. I’m a firm believer that the creator, the most high, Allah – whatever you want refer to the most high as – exists in all of us. And we’re learning as we go along. This is my second album; it’s a lot of my experiences, a lot of what I’ve been through and what I’ve seen, and how it’s lead me to where I am with my life. DX: Any particular concepts/themes? HS: The main thing on the album is just that no matter how bad things get, no matter what we might be involved in, what we might do, Allah is still with us. We still have the ability and we still have the means to make things better and try to better our lives - and not only better our own personal lives but better the lives of the people in our community and the world. We definitely are in serious times. We’re still persecuted in America and all over the world. If we’re still our own worst enemies and we keep referring to ourselves as all kinds of crazy things, we’re never gonna be able to rise above the situation we’re in and we’re just gonna stay stuck in it; and we’re gonna be complaining about the same thing 500 years from now. DX: The production on the joint caters to your voice and flow really well. Some of the tracks, like “The Downrock,” are commercially friendly - was that intentional? HS: Well it wasn’t made to be more commercially acceptable; everything on there is made to be good Hip Hop; good music. “The Downrock” joint, me and RNR, we just wanted to see what would happen if we put both of our production styles together. I’m real into melody and RNR is known for his drum patterns. We wanted to see what would happen and that’s the track that came out of it. I’m a do me regardless, that’s why I said on that joint Industry cats doing coke and a smile, thinking I’ll ever be switching my style. I can rock over anything; I love Hip Hop, I love rocking a party, I love rocking a show – but I’m still gonna be myself and bring the message that I want to bring to everything. But the overall production, I just wanted to step it up because a lot of people have said to me before “the production was alright on the last one,” but they felt at times that the lyrics or my voice would overpower certain joints. I want to be able to compete with the people that are supposed to be on top. I’m tired of people saying “Yo, this artist is trash but his beats are hot so I listen to him.” HS: There are powerful political intros on the album including one on native religion and one on the usage of the “N” word. How do they assist in your overall intention for the album? DX: That’s like when you write a paper, and you write your thesis statement - that’s kind of like the thesis right there. Originally, this was gonna be a mixtape but I decided I don’t want to rhyme over other people’s beats no more. So it fits better within the storyline. A lot of people were like, “Why you gonna put God in the title, people are gonna be scared.” But it’s funny - you put “nigger” into something, you put “gun”, you put “bitch”, seems like people will gravitate to it. DX: Why do you think that is? HS: We’ve become accustomed. We view ourselves in that way. We almost expect to be called that. On some level it’s the shock value of it; on he other levels it’s – the main purchasers of this music are Caucasian so it’s cool to them to be like, “What’s up my nigga?” [Laughs] It’s attractive in that kind of aspect. When people talk about the devil, they say, “That was the most beautiful angel,” or “the brightest angel” or some shit like that. Not to even take that in the literal sense of it but usually, doing wrong is very attractive. You get a rush when you’re on the block hustling; you get a rush when you steal from somebody; and that’s where I think it comes from a lot of self-hatred. DX: The track “Suga” replenishes the positive outlook on women that’s desperately missing from Hip Hop. Why did you choose to opt out of disrespecting females even though many rappers excuse misogyny with “What I rap is what I see”? HS: I kind of wrote that joint as like my dream woman…I wrote that song a while ago. And it was just kind of like what would be everything that I would want in a woman and what I would be to that woman and what she would be to me, and how we’d help one another. I heard that beat, my man Impact made it and I was always a fan of the original from Curtis Mayfield - and I know he wrote the original for his daughter. And I was like “I’m grown up now, what would I expect from a woman as my equal?” DX: Why is the negativity against women so prevalent? HS: Hip Hop is like a microcosm of how we are right now; society-wise, women are put down. So within Hip Hop, that shit sells. Sex sells faster than anything else […] everybody want to sell that. If somebody just got a half-naked woman in the video most people might not even listen to the video, they’re just gonna have it on mute and watch. I know mad people that just got BET on mute; not even listening to the song, but you still know the artist’s name… The actual misogyny of everything I think is because subconsciously, black men in this country are very marginalized […] they view us physically strong but mentally weak. Within the society itself, look at what’s going on. When you get shot 50 times don’t nothing happen. I ain’t never heard of police shooting up a white kid 50 times […] ultimately in these situations, it’s come out in such a way that a man doesn’t feel like a man – look at situations like men beating on their women of any color or class. A lot of the times it’ll be like “Oh, I got fired from a job so I hit my wife.” One has nothing to do with the other but that’s the closest person to you and that’s the only situation where you feel you have some kind of power. That’s one of the main ways it comes out. Like, “Let me put down a black woman; a black woman has less of a voice than I do so at least she’s not gonna fire back”… DX: Great analysis. Is there a connection between “The Uprock” and “The Downrock”? HS: Yeah those are supposed to just rock together…It was kind of my dedication to the people. The b-boy was the first…the b-boy was exploited. Now it’s the emcee that’s exploited most by mainstream culture. But back in the day they used to have break dancers in the McDonald’s commercials – they still do but then even more. And then they tried to kind of make it seem like “This isn’t relevant anymore so we’re not gonna push this it.” I’ve always loved break dancing; it’s the one thing I can’t do. I can deejay a little bit, I can throw my tag up here and there, and I can rhyme; but I tried break dancing once and I messed up my whole shit. [Laughs] DX: Is it difficult to be a Muslim and an emcee at the same time? HS: It’s a lot [more] difficult to be a Muslim in this day and time where we live regardless of your profession and your talents. DX: I’m asking because there’s perhaps more exposure to drugs, alcohol, women? HS: I’ve been exposed to that stuff my whole life. [Laughs] I don’t think I’m exposed to it just because I’m an emcee. The last show that we did – I usually carry my chess with me because I’m big ass chess fiend – and I was joking with my man like, “We were breaking all these stereotypes of what we supposed to be doing backstage. We supposed to be sitting here with weed and women - but we’re here playing chess.”

When religion is chronicled in Hip Hop, it’s either been the grandiose, such as Kanye West’s “Jesus Walks” [click to read] and MC Hammer’s “Pray” [click to read], or the critical, such as Jedi Mind Tricks’ “Heavenly Divine” [click to read]. Independent of his own Muslim faith, New Jersey’s Hasan Salaam [click to read] has made an album themed deeply in all religions, that meets the polarity that Hip Hop has witnessed in the middle with an personal, honest and analytical look in Children of God [click to purchase] at how spirituality lives in today’s streets. “The Reign” shows the tangibility of this album. Hasan recounts his street past, and parallels his journey to Malcolm X’s, in transition from neighborhood menace to enlightened emcee. With his hard delivery, the song doesn’t preach, but mirrors the message many rappers offer to today’s youth, with jewels to boot. Using the same sample Kanye would later touch for The Game and Common’s “Angel,” Hasan joins a pioneer in his movement, Brand Nubian’s Lord Jamar [click to read] in “Angel Dust.” The brilliantly composed song, a la 50 Cent’s “Baltimore Love Thing,” plays into a drug metaphor, but this one multi-faceted, alluding towards religion and greed, things perceived by many as good and bad respectively. Another veteran jumps in as well, on “The Uprock.” There, Masta Ace [click to read] and Hasan combine subject matter from Hip Hop, street stick-ups and bravado to play off of each other seamlessly with an organic chorus and thumping bassline. With a message so streamlined and sewed metaphors in every verse, Children of God’s only inconsistency comes in its production. Whereas “Angel Dust,” “History of Violence” and “Someplace” all employ low, dark and live instrument-based sounds, the album leaps college football warm-up samples and video game effects on “15 Minutes.” “Kingdom of Heaven,” albeit deftly-written, loses momentum with quirky string arrangements that feel a bit too experimental. Sold through mom-and-pop stores and his website, Children certainly surpasses most self-made efforts, and just like Immortal Technique’s Revolutionary Volume 1, shows an emcee ready for the next plateau of musical assistance. Though not immaculate, Children of God may be the new archetype in what religious-minded rap can be. Whereas KRS-One’s Spiritual Minded welcomed all faiths, the rarely-mentioned work may have lost some connection with the youth, Hasan Salaam isn’t too clean to curse, with production and the dirt under his fingernails to connect in audio just as he’s done in his private life, performing and speaking in schools and prisons. While spiritual Hip Hop has either celebrated the artist’s faith vividly or defamed other religions, Hasan Salaam made a universal analysis of religion and rap. New Jersey Hip Hop is coming back into the spotlight, but with a different perspective than ever before

For this weeks Q&A session we hooked up with New Jersey emcee Hasan Salaam, After taking a short hiatus he has just released his anticipated new street album "Children Of God" which is available in stores and online right now. Hasan sits down with us to talk about his thoughts on Hip Hop in 2008, What its like being a Muslim in America and his plans for the future, make sure you check out the new track "The Uprock" off the new album featuring Hip Hop legend Masta Ace at the end of the interview. Dub MD: Hasan Salaam, What's good? Hasan Salaam: Maintaining brother what's good with you? Dub MD: For those who don't know, could you just give a short review of what you've experienced in your rap career up until now? Hasan Salaam: I've released 2 albums "Paradise Lost" and "Children of God" 2 mixtapes, toured the world, won 2 underground music awards, and rocked every show you know Dub MD: Coming from New Jersey, what do you think of the New Jerz music scene right now? Hasan Salaam: The new Jersey scene is directly linked to NYC more than ever there are less venues in Jerz than there used to be but talent wise Jerz always shines Dub MD: What do you think of the commercialisation of Hip Hop right now, do you think its showing respect to its pioneers? Hasan Salaam: As always the culture is a reflection of our people. unfortunately our people are not controlling the mainstream images of our culture at this time. we cant expect our enemy the one who has raped, enslaved, and brutalized us for 500 years to provide us with healthy food. they waged war on the panthers cause they fed the babies so we know what the tactics of the united snakes are, they control the media so its gonna be the same program you dig. As 4 our people who are choosing to sell out and buy in to the bullshit they are the poverty pimps and they obviously don't have a love 4 this if they don't respect those that gave their lives to create and nurture this. the Zulu and Rocksteady anniversaries should be more packed than the VH1 hip hop honours every year cause VH1 didn't build this they used to front on hip hop they just jumped on the bandwagon to get some gwap. we as a people should support the originators not just wait 4 mainstream approval, we set the trends here. Dub MD: Do you have a new album in the works? what's it called? and what can heads out there expect from it? Hasan Salaam: I have a new album out right now its called "Children of God" and you can expect that modern day spiritual, freedom song blues, martyr music over some chest thumpin' production. Dub MD: With this project, what artists & producers are you connecting with this time round? Hasan Salaam: I got Lord Jamar, I.Mpaq, Craig Rip, Kasim Keto, Def Dom, Iron Braydz, Rugged N Raw, and Sos on the tracks, and I did 1 or 2 also guest spots by Rugged N Raw, BadSportt, Majesty, Maya Azucena, Lord Jamar, & Masta Ace its a album 4 real alot of work went into this Dub MD: What's your label situation like just now? Hasan Salaam: Trunk of my car records, nah I'm doin this all on my own right now Dub MD: How come its took you this long to finally release a new album, since your last release "Tales Of The Lost Tribe"? Hasan Salaam: Real talk life was hectic, I was broke and I take my time with these rhymes I don't just write anything you dig Dub MD: How do you feel you've changed as an emcee from your debut album "Paradise Lost" up until now in 2008? Hasan Salaam: I've found my groove its just tighter now the beats are tougher, my pen game has stepped up its overall growth. Dub MD: Your a respected lyricist in the game, why do you think it is that emcees with skills on the mic, never make a real mark on soundscan? Hasan Salaam: I think there are lyricists who have made there mark on soundscan its just the ones we might think of that have not do not have the major marketing machine behind them. or they're label doesn't have that tight relationship with the stores to get there product swiped when somebody buys another album Dub MD: You've got a lot of support from hip hop fans online, How important do you feel the internet is to an underground hip hop these days? Hasan Salaam: The internet levels the playing field a bit. if your looking for some real music if you search you will find it. its also dope that I can build with supporters online Dub MD: Where do you get the inspiration to write the type of material you do? and what was the writing process like on your albums? Hasan Salaam: My inspiration is life as a whole what i go thru, what my peoples go thru what the world is going thru. 4 me the writing process is constant i think of ideas and either jot them down or work em out in my mind. if its gotta beat I just throw the track on repeat and knock it out. if it doesn't I just keep that going till I get a track 4 it. Dub MD: How difficult is it being an emcee in Hip Hop in 2008 and being a Muslim at the same time in America? Hasan Salaam: It's no harder than what our people have been dealing with here since the birth of this hypocritical nation. black folks gonna be hated whether were Muslim, Christian, Buddhist or Atheist, mc, gardener, preacher or hustla. hip hop to me is a microcosm of our Diaspora to qoute dead prez "its bigger than hip hop". As for being a Muslim in amerikkka i look at it like this we been here since it started. 1 out of every 4 Africans brought here was Muslim. Noble Drew Ali and The Hon. Elijah Muhammad were spreading truth in our communities and they were given problems by the establishment so its like fuck it we have to deal with it to let the truth be known whether Muslim or not. Dub MD: There's a lot of Hip Hop artists on major labels these days, Why do you feel so few artists, given the opportunity to express their opinions in such a prominent free-speech platform, are so afraid to do so? Hasan Salaam: Because people are still slaves. they are willing to die over $ and chains and thing with no real value but cringe when it comes to standing for something like freedom and justice. Dub MD: You've worked with a lot of artists over the past 5 years, Who did you have the best connection with both outside and inside the studio? Hasan Salaam: There are a lot of people i think of off the bat I've been blessed to meet a lot of good people thru this music. Iron Braydz held me down in the UK and treated me as family that was true right there. I've learned a lot from working with Lord Jamar he's willing to share his knowledge of the game and its honest. DJ G.I. Joe really looked me out on my 1st national tour that's my dude right there 2. Maya Azucena is my little big sister now and we met thru this music 2 we just vibe very well musically. its funny I feel bad cause there's so many more people to speak of I could've done this whole interview just on that question Dub MD: Is there anyone you'd love to work with in the future, you haven't had the chance to yet? Hasan Salaam: I wanna work with the Dungeon Family I dig there sound and what they stand 4 musically Dub MD: What do you think is your most defining and unique characteristic that sets you apart from every other artist out there? Hasan Salaam: I'm me. my life experience and how I relate it thru my lyrics, the jazz and soul influences in my flow. everyone has a story to tell I just got a style with mines Dub MD: If you could describe yourself as a emcee in 4 words, What would they be? Hasan Salaam: Honest, Relentless, Hungry & Fearless! Dub MD: For your fans who haven't seen you perform yet, are you planning on going on a worldwide tour anytime soon? Hasan Salaam: inshAllah I'ma be everywhere sooner than later. if people wanna get at me to come to there city/state/country they can hit me up on myspace.com/hasansalaam or hasansalaammusic@aol.comThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Dub MD: What is on tap for Hasan Salaam for the rest of 2008 and beyond? Hasan Salaam: inshAllah more shows, more music, more building and more learning Dub MD: Do you have anything to say to the fans? anything you wanna get off your chest? any shout outs? Hasan Salaam: I want to say thank you to all the listeners and supporters there's no fans just fam you dig. We are all children of god remember that when you look in the mirror and when you look at your brothers and sisters out here in the world. in order to get free we gotta recognise our true selves. Stay wise keep fighting no progress without struggle, walk on water, peace!

Hot new single for forthcoming LP "Children of God" Hasan Salaam Teams with Brand Nubian's Lord Jamar for "Angel Dust" August 19, 2008 - San Jose, CA - Freedom Press and 5th Column Records are proud to announce the September 2nd release of Hasan Salaam single "Angeldust" for his forthcoming LP "Children of God". Hasan Salaam was hypnotized by the power of the mic at a young age, prompting a rap style that has been in the works since the age of 11. His first live show, at the age of 14, was the beginning of a rap phenom. Hasan officially grabbed the mic with authority in 2002 and hasn't put it down yet. His independent debut album "Paradise Lost" hit the streets in 2005. Songs like "Prayer of a Sinner" and "Tales of the Lost Tribe" soon set the internet on fire. Hasan soon found himself in high demand, traveling across 38 states within North America as well as ripping stages in Canada and United Kingdom. But after he returned, he realized that there was still much work to be done. "I work with kids. I got tired of the kids calling one another n*gga. I told them, "There are no n*ggas and b*tches here. You are children of God. We're forgetting why we're here in the first place. I felt it was time to reinstill the strength thats inside of us, and inside of our children." "Children of God" upholds the lyrical and quality of Hip-Hop's Golden Era, while simultaneously pushing the music forward. This is heard most noticeably in tracks like "Angel Dust" produced by Brand Nubain's Lord Jamar (who also sings the hook) outlining the painful story of a stripper who is destroyed inside a web of her own escapisms. The funk laced, organ infused "15 Minutes" tells of the chaos of the entertainment industry with an infectious hook. Tracks like speaker knocking "Uprock" featuring Masta Ace bangs with the concrete grit and flow that made the east coast the cornerstone of Hip-Hop. "History of Violence" highlights the lack of security we all feel trying to make it through the day. The horn blaring "Insomniac" might well be remembered as an urban anthem for future freedom fighters. Production credits for this full bodies LP go to Lord Jamar, Craig Rip, Impaq, Iron Braydz, Kasim Kato, Def Dom, Rugged N Raw and Hasan Salaam himself. "My approach to choosing is if I can see whats happening over the beat when it drops" says the reflective Salaam. "Then the writing process is just that I have stories that I already want to tell. 'Angel Dust' is a story about my homegirl. 'Kingdom of Heaven' just makes me think of peace. To me its what heaven on earth sounds like- so I wrote to that." "Children of God" was created to be musically seductive and informative for the listener. Melodically rich without blurring the line of real block music, Hasan Salaam illustrates the power and pain of the inner city. He does this effectively, without celebrating the undeniable darker elements of street life. "Children of God" drops September 2nd 2008.