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

"In this timely, revelatory study, Hisham Aidi examines the secular and religious movements that have recently emerged among Muslim youth in the West as a means of protest against the policies of the "War on Terror." He interviews artists and activists, and reports from music festivals and concerts. He explains how certain kinds of music--particularly hip hop, but also Jazz, gnawa, Andalusian, Judeo-Arabic, Latin and others--have come to represent a heightened racial identity and a Muslim consciousness that criss-crosses the globe. He describes how western governments--particularly the U.S. and England--use music in an attempt to deradicalize Muslim youth abroad. And he explores the increasing radicalization among Muslim youth in an historical context: looking back to the Civil Rights movement and to the words of Malcolm X which have inspired many American Muslims. In all, Aidi has written a riveting, eye-opening portrait of a growing, potentially radical segment of the global youth culture"--