Don’t Panik! Islam and Europe’s “Hip Hop Wars”

Surveying European hip hop today, one notices two things: first, as in America, some of the biggest stars are Muslim, the children of immigrants and/or converts; and second, a number of these artists are (or have been) embroiled in controversies about freedom of expression, national identity and extremism. European government officials are increasingly worried about the influence that Muslim rap artists wield over youth, and are scrutinizing hip hop practices in the immigrant neighborhoods, trying to decide which Muslim hip hop artists to promote and which to push aside.

As European state officials decide what “hip hop policy” to adopt, American embassies on the continent have slowly inserted themselves into this delicate dance between European governments and their hip hop counter-publics.

Read more in my recent Al-Jazeera article “Don’t Panik! Islam and Europe’s ‘Hip Hop Wars.’”