Poetic Pilgrimage, Britain’s first Muslim hip-hop duo, has spilled the beans about their rap.
The pair dubbed the “hip-hop hijabis” has been performing non-stop since starring in a documentary in 2015, the Independent reported.
Muneera Williams and Sukina Owen-Douglas, who were born in Bristol to Jamaican parents and converted to Islam in 2005, have been working on their first album.
The 35-year-old Williams said she had “no doubt” that the theme of Islamophobia, reports of which spiked following last month’s terror attacks in Paris, would be explored on the record, but “not in an obvious way” so as not to alienate listeners.
Poetic Pilgrimage, who draw on reggae influences, want to “unite people” with their music. “We are Muslim, Caribbean, British, Londoners, Bristolians – we’re a tapestry of things. It will come out in our music,” Williams added. “The hip-hop community has always been supportive of us, especially in Europe and America. There is misogyny in hip hop but no more than in society in general.
She noted that they like anyone who is good as they’re inclusive, not exclusive. “We don’t do it for entertainment, but as a form of enrichment for ourselves and our communities.”