Hasan Salaam is a rapper

Rapping

Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...

 born in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 and raised in New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

. A Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

 whose father is Caucasian and whose mother is Black, his lyrics touch on such subjects as "post-colonial exploitation

Exploitation

This article discusses the term exploitation in the meaning of using something in an unjust or cruel manner.- As unjust benefit :In political economy, economics, and sociology, exploitation involves a persistent social relationship in which certain persons are being mistreated or unfairly used for...

 of African (hip-hop) culture", "the African diaspora

African diaspora

The African diaspora was the movement of Africans and their descendants to places throughout the world—predominantly to the Americas also to Europe, the Middle East and other places around the globe...

", and "the true Islamic jihad". Salaam organizes food and clothing drives in Jersey City on the third Sunday of each month.

Biography

Salaam started rapping at the age of 10. After seeing a preview for the movie Malcolm X

Malcolm X (film)

Malcolm X is a 1992 biographical motion picture about the Muslim-American figure Malcolm X . It was co-written, co-produced, and directed by Spike Lee. It stars Denzel Washington as the titular character. It co-stars Angela Bassett, Albert Hall, Al Freeman, Jr., and Delroy Lindo...

 in 1992 he read the Autobiography of Malcolm X

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

The Autobiography of Malcolm X was published in 1965, the result of a collaboration between Malcolm X and journalist Alex Haley. Haley coauthored the autobiography based on a series of in-depth interviews he conducted between 1963 and Malcolm X's 1965 assassination...

, which inspired him to become Muslim.

In 2003 he took first place in beat-making at the Battle Dome Championships.

In 2005 he won an award for Best Live Performance and Best Underground Song of the Year for the song "Blaxploitation" from his debut album Paradise Lost

Paradise Lost

Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. It was originally published in 1667 in ten books, with a total of over ten thousand individual lines of verse...

at the third Annual Underground Music Awards.

Together with Hicoup, Rugged N Raw, Impaq and Badsportt he is a member of the group 5th Column.

Salaam featured on the UK Hip hop group Mecca2Medina

Mecca2Medina

Mecca2Medina were the first Islamic Hip hop/Nasheed group in Britain.-History:The group was started in 1996 and produced their first EP, entitled "Life after death", the same year. Since then they have released three nasheed albums and two hip hop albums and one mix CD. They make music for both...

's Truthseekers album in 2006.

Salaam is a deeply spiritual Muslim MC who has been described as having "the powerful delivery of Chuck D

Chuck D

Carlton Douglas Ridenhour , better known by his stage name, Chuck D, is an American rapper, author, and producer. He helped create politically and socially conscious rap music in the mid-1980s as the leader of the rap group Public Enemy.- Early life :Ridenhour was born in Queens, New York...

, the racial love of Mos Def

Mos Def

Dante Terrell Smith is an American actor and Emcee known by the stage names Mos Def and Yasiin Bey. He started his hip hop career in a group called Urban Thermo Dynamics, after which he appeared on albums by Da Bush Babees and De La Soul. With Talib Kweli, he formed the duo Black Star, which...

, the instructional attitude of Krs-One

KRS-One

Lawrence Krisna Parker , better known by his stage names KRS-One , and Teacha, is an American rapper...

, and the anger of Immortal Technique

Immortal Technique

Felipe Andres Coronel , better known by the stage name Immortal Technique, is an American rapper of Afro-Peruvian descent as well as an urban activist. He was born in Lima, Peru and raised in Harlem, New York. Most of his lyrics focus on controversial issues in global politics...

."
Salaam's third album proper, Children of God, was released in 2008, featuring guest appearances from Lord Jamar

Lord Jamar

Lord Jamar is an American emcee and actor. He is a member of the hip-hop group Brand Nubian, which formed in 1989. As an actor, he is best known for his role of Supreme Allah on the TV series Oz. He has appeared on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Third Watch, and The Sopranos...

, Masta Ace

Masta Ace

Duval Clear , known better by his stage name Masta Ace, is a rapper from Brownsville, Brooklyn. He appeared on the classic 1988 Juice Crew posse cut "The Symphony"...

 and Salaam’s 5th Column crew. Exclaim!

Exclaim!

Exclaim! is a monthly Canadian music magazine that features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with special focus on Canadian and cutting-edge artists...

described the album as "well rounded" and "handled superbly", saying that Salaam has a voice that is "trained like an instrument, commands attention". Children of God has been described as " themed deeply in all religions", and was described by HipHopDX as possibly "the new archetype in what religious-minded rap can be".

Discography

• 5th Column Mixtape Vol.II (2003)
• Paradise Lost (2004) Day by Day Entertainment/Oar
• The Reavers Terra Firma (2005)
• Tales of the Lost Tribe: Hidden Jewels (2006)
• Children of God (2008) 5th Column Media
• Mohammad Dangerfield - "Mohammad Dangerfield" (self-titled) (2011)
• TBA (2011)

External links

• Jasarevic, Mina (2008) "Underground Report: Elzhi and Hasan Salaam", HipHopDX, 16 August 2008