Film of Growing Acclaim Follows Muslim Hip Hop Artist from Brooklyn

posted on: Jun 22, 2010

“New Muslim Cool” is a film that follows the life of Brooklyn native Hamza Pérez, a hip hop artist and Islamic convert who is setting up a new community in the North End of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The film will kick off the 22nd season of the PBS series P.OV.

Pérez, a Puerto Rican-American, was born in the Sunset Park area of Brooklyn. Twelve years ago, at age 21, an encounter on the street with an “old sheik” prompted him to give up his life of drug dealing and convert to Islam. Pérez then became active in setting up communities for Latino and African American Muslims.

Along with his brother Suliman, he set up the Arabic hip hop group the Mujahideen Team or M-Team, which uses the familiar musical style to convey religious messages. Eventually he would bring the M-Team to prisons, hoping to inspire prisoners with his faith.

“New Muslim Cool” follows the life and work of Pérez as he struggles to rebuild his family, following his first marriage, and reach out to young people in the community through hip hop. The film takes in depth look at the realties of the post 9/11 world, when Pérez’s mosque is raided by the FBI.

“See, we don’t speak full Arabic,” Hamza says in the film, “but we know Arabic Spanglish Ebonics.”

Jennifer Maytorena Taylor, the film’s director and producer, says that the film came out of her long standing interest in the power of music and culture to influence social change. She said that there is a need for more authentic and detailed images of young people, communities and families.

“New Muslim Cool” won the Freedom Award from Al Jazeera International Film Festival. On Saturday, June 20, filmmaker Taylor and the film’s subjects will attend the film’s screening as part of Gowanus-based Rooftop Films, on the roof of El Museo Del Barrio.

The film airs on Tuesday, June 23, at 10 p.m. on PBS.

By Zoe Thomas
Brooklyn Daily Eagle