The Illogical Journey

The year was 2001 and there we were, sitting in the canteen at college. My cousin and I joked about starting to write rhymes and pretend to be gangster rappers. We wrote and found it simple to form sentences that made sense, and rhyme. We continued to write from that moment on. It was a form of art that I started taking seriously. And it led me to venture into music production and making melodies. And thus, the path was laid out for me.

I started studying the music I was already listening to and looked out for their delivery and the story being told. Taking inspiration from KRS-One, Run DMC, Wu-Tang Clan, and A Tribe Called Quest. I understood that I was more drawn to the story itself rather than the sex, drugs and rock and roll life that other rappers were rhyming about. I was essentially being educated in the evolution of Hip-Hop and life in the so-called American Ghetto.

I’d say my biggest inspiration was Q-Tip from the group, A Tribe Called Quest. Through Q-Tip, I learned of Mos Def – a fellow Muslim, real name Yasin Bey. They have this song called Body Rock. I love the way they let their words breathe in that song. Q-Tip is a master of a technique called needle dropping. This is basically creating a sample loop on the turntable by judging where to lift and place the needle. I started studying how Q-Tip made music and was introduced to the MPC, a drum machine made by Akai and a pillar in the creation of Hip-Hop music. It was later on in life I managed to get one for myself. I got the MPC 2000, and still have it in my arsenal. I even used it as inspiration for my thesis at university, where I studied the user interface design implications for Music Production Software. I argued that there was no need to create any new software when the old school hardware could be turned in to digital audio workstations.

I should also add that being born in the sunny streets of Edinburgh, I was more exposed to the UK Hip Hop scene. A genre that includes many sub-genres such as Road-Rap and Trap, but inspires other genres such as Garage and Grime. I would say that the latter genres would also be classed as UK Hip Hop, but that’s just me.

In the UK scene, I was most influenced by Oxide and Neutrino. I used to listen to their debut album, Execute on repeat. Through Oxide and Neutrino, I and the world were introduced to So Solid Crew. But it didn’t stop there. Kano, Wiley, Dizzee Rascal, Scorcher, Lethal B and his group, The More Fire Crew, The Heartless Crew, Lowkey, Miss Dynamite, and her little brother, Akala were not only becoming increasingly popular in the waves, but also on my playlists.

Looking back, Lowkey, Akala and The Heartless Crew were my favourite. The Heartless Crew have a song called Why? (Looking back) and the storytelling in that song, the structure, the music and the delivery were just too sweet for my ears.

I feel this is a good time to include some honourable mentions:

Shystie – One Wish. – A perfect song.
Klashnekoff – Murda. – I love the music and the flow.
Swiss – Cry. – There’s a line in this song where Swiss says “One of my friends offered crack to me, could you believe?, That could’ve been my downfall, but I didn’t agree.” Such simple words with so much impact and food for thought.

All of this gave me the inspiration to write based on three simple points:

1. Tell a compelling story.
2. Try to avoid profanity.
3. Learn new words as much as I can and challenge myself to make difficult words rhyme.

This third point was inspired by a childhood friend of mine. We were on a bus journey and he told me to freestyle over any word of his choosing… He chose the word ‘ambulance’. No freestyle came from that but I took that as a lesson to adopt the third point into my writing. I needed to keep challenging myself and made beats for the sake of making beats and I wrote for the sake of writing. The love and passion kept growing.

Life changed when I lost my father in 2012. I started to explore what it meant to be a Muslim and through this journey I found a love for God and an inexplicable love for our Prophet Muhammad ‎ﷺ (May God’s peace and blessings be upon him). I understood that love doesn’t need an explanation or any logic. We love because we want to and when we love, we love illogically. Hence, Illogical Love. My writing shifted at this stage in my life. I started writing about Religious matters, worldly matters and I wanted to use this skill to articulate my love for the Prophet ‎ﷺ, which is something that words cannot do any justice.

I hope you enjoy your wee glimpse into my illogical life!