In 2013, a group of hip-hop artists in the Bay Area came together with Shaykh Hashim Ali Alauddeen to record and produce the “Karbala Mixtape, Volume 1”. This project aimed to call grassroots and underground lyricists and creatives back to putting relevant messages in their craft, harkening back to the “golden age” of hip-hop.
Shaykh Hashim said about this mixtape, “Each track tells important events in this story culminating in the imprisonment of the survivors in the court of his mortal enemy, Yazid. We tell the story while connecting the struggles of Imam Husayn with struggles of African peoples, both Christian and Muslim. The retelling of this history is important as it is also important for us as a people to retell the Middle Passage, slavery, Jim Crow and the hardships that have happened to all people around the world who have been victims of injustice. Our inspiration comes from our love of divine justice.”
This project came about in the wake of the assassination of al-Hajj Malcolm Latif Shabazz, the grandson of al-Hajj Malik Shabazz (Malcolm X), in May 2013, with whom Shaykh Hashim had a close relationship. al-Hajj Malcolm is featured on the tracks, “By Any Means Necessary (Yaa Husayn)” and “Candles for Husayn”, the latter being a tribute to his mother Qubilah.
Other artists include Amir Sulaiman, Left from the Bay Area Group the Frontline, Phenomena Da Poet, Professor A.L.I., Yusuf Abdul Mateen of Blak Madeen, Young Skitz, Shareef Nasir and Camron.
Listen to the mixtape via Reverbnation here:
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