THIS IS NOT A SAFE SPACE: The Muslims
The Muslims; The Durham-based, all-queer, Black and Brown punk band that needs to be on your music radar. The band consists of: lead singer/guitarist QADR, a Black queer Muslim originally from New York; North Carolina-born Palestinian drummer FaraH BaHbaH; and queer bassist Abu Shay.
Born in 2016 following the inauguration of Donald Trump, The Muslims use queer anti-establishment sentiment and radical concepts to carry the message of inclusivity within punk scenes and eradicating whitewashing artists.
Taking inspiration from classic punk--Agent Orange, Bad Brains, The Replacements, and Fugazi--the band mix hardcore, rock-rap fusion and their collective experiences as multi-racial Muslims into a gritty deliverance upon their audiences.
With over 200,000 Spotify streams in the last year following their latest record release, Gentrified Chicken, the band drives a valiant narrative within the underground punk scene of attacking white supremacy at its core.
In our modern culture, where we can tune into any news outlet and witness white supremacy firsthand on display on our screens, The Muslims scream for protest and change until every citizen--regardless of gender, race, religion, and sexual orientation--feels free to walk down the street without the fear of being profiled due to white supremacist ideologies.
In their 2019 interview with Indy Week, singer QADR acknowledges the problematic side of punk spaces being whitewashed and sometimes associated with far-right principles opposed to what The Muslims believe. "Punk is gay as s***, queer as s***, brown as s***, all of these different things,” QADR says. “It can obviously include white folk, but it’s about having experiences that make you wake up and push back against the normativeness of society.”
The trio envisions a future where white supremacy is eradicated and destroyed by people reclaiming their Indigenous or cultural practices and contributing music and art to the conversation. Their latest record, Gentrified Chicken, touches on the subjects of a Black child acting like a child without any instilled fear. Overcoming dangerous stereotypes, Muslims can go in public without fearing racist citizens profiling them because they are “threatened.”
The trio is able to seamlessly blend the lines of anarchy, queercore, and afropunk to erect an in-your-face politically motivated sound that stands for America’s contemporary socio-political climate. Through their unfiltered lyricism, instrumentation, and production, The Muslims fuse political satire and sarcasm in regards to white-dominated punk spaces and corrupt government establishments.
The Muslims’ 2019 album, Mayo Supreme, is a clever word-play on white supremacy that signifies the “intentional ethnic cleansing of people of color worldwide,” according to QADR in Indy Week. Political rights include where taxpayers' money goes and how restrictive gun access should be, not that a Black person should have the right to breathe. QADR references far-right nationalist groups being scared of an approaching race war, but turn around and commit acts of violence in a religious, ethnic sense combined with political terrorism.
By reclaiming their space in the punk scene by using humorous language and word-play, The Muslims are able to openly share their experiences of being Muslim-American.
The band contributes to the conversation of structural white supremacy shaping our everyday culture by actively calling out white supremacy--regardless if it’s in government or music spaces. The Muslims uplift other Black and queer artists on their media platforms and spread messages of support for Black Lives Matter with “annual reminder that punk’s not white,” and “we fight to protect marginalized communities, not senators and cops.” Nothing gets more punk than this.
In The Muslim’s 2018 interview with Scalawag, the band talks about navigating white supremacy. QADR said, “If it wasn't for white supremacy The Muslims band wouldn't exist. We literally have a song called ‘White Guys’ that changes every time we play it live because we get mad and that informs how we play it.”
The band’s fourth studio album features the song “Punch A Nazi” with its catchy, straight-forward message of dismantling the rise of white supremacy during the Trump era; most notably the events of 2017 “Unite The Right” rally in Charlottesville, VA, and Trump refusing to denounce a far-right white supremacist group on a live national platform during the 2020 presidential race. The lyrics, “Punch that Nazi in the face / Knock his teeth back in his brain / And if that inbred scum gets up / Kick that cracka in his gut,” show the most unapologetic anti-racist and unfiltered side of the band that explores old-school punk nostalgia to create something that feels completely revitalizing.
Using witty word-play, “Blink 9-11 (What’s My Race Again?)” is a commentary on Blink-182’s “What’s My Age Again?” used to raise awareness of police violence during innocent confrontations. QADR screams, “That’s about the time it f****** dawned on me / Nobody loves you when you’re Black and free / I shoulda checked demographics first / What the hell is wrong with me.” The Muslims set the scene of going out on a Friday night wearing baggy clothes and having a confrontation with a racist police officer. QADR talks about not having time to code switch and that they can’t live in white supremacy anymore.
In the band’s earlier record, Mayo Supremacy, the band touches on similar narratives as Gentrified Chicken in their song “Death Grab for Bootie.” The mix of purposefully sloppy, distorted guitar riffs interlaced with anti-capitalist messages show the band’s aggressive roots and passion for social commentaries in the lyrics, “If there is a problem, then the problem is the poor / If the poor are starving, then the rich is eating more / Lock em in the closet / won’t you keep them in a vault / Problem is the people always wanting to be treated equal.” Listeners can catch the hidden humor of the “eat the rich” concept.
In the sloppy post-punk lyricism of “Fuck the Cistem,” the listener is transported back to the late 1970s and can hear early Televison and The Modern Lovers as hailed inspiration. The Muslims make it an original with their sharp melodies, “So f*** the system / F*** these cis dudes / They are useless / It is proof that men are trash / Why don’t you admit that you hate women? / Reject your compliments, and you get murdered! / You say that you’re a good guy, we don’t buy it! / I don’t trust you in close space / I don’t trust you in no space / F*** the cistem.” An anthem of expression that calls out sexism, the band rages about creating a newer, safer space for women.
“I hope that other Black and Brown punks hear this music and are like, “F*** yes, I feel so vindicated. I feel like this was made for me,” said FaraH BaHbaH.
