Rebel Music: Race, Empire, and the New Muslim Youth Culture

In this pioneering study, Hisham Aidi--an expert on globalization and social movements--takes us into the musical subcultures that have emerged among Muslim youth worldwide over the last decade. He shows how music--primarily hip-hop, but also rock, reggae, Gnawa and Andalusian--has come to express a shared Muslim consciousness in face of War on Terror policies.
This remarkable phenomenon extends from the banlieues of Paris to the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, from the park jams of the South Bronx to the Sufi rock bands of Pakistan. The United States and other Western governments have even tapped into these trends, using hip hop and Sufi music to de-radicalize Muslim youth abroad. Aidi situates these developments in a broader historical context, tracing longstanding connections between Islam and African-American music. Thoroughly researched, beautifully written, Rebel Music takes the pulse of a revolutionary soundtrack that spans the globe.

Author: Hisham Aidi
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Published: 12/02/2014
Pages: 432
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.80lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.10w x 1.00d
ISBN: 9780307279972

Review Citation(s):
New York Times Book Review 02/01/2015 pg. 24

About the Author

Hisham D. Aidi is a lecturer at the School of International and Public Affairs and the Institute of African Affairs at Columbia University. He was a Carnegie Scholar and Global Fellow at The Open Society Foundation and is coeditor, with Manning Marable, of Black Routes to Islam.