Aki Nawaz (born Haq Nawaz Qureshi) is an English singer, rapper and musician and part of the band

Fun-Da-Mental Fun-Da-Mental is a British-based multi-ethnic hip-hop– ethno-techno– world fusion music group formed in 1991. The group is notable for its energetic fusion of Eastern and Western musical forms, for its outspoken political stance, and for i ...

. He is best known for his controversial lyrics.

Profile

In the 1980s, using his proper name Haq Qureshi, he played drums with the

gothic rock Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie a ...

band

Southern Death Cult Southern Death Cult were a British post-punk/gothic rock band in the early 1980s. They are now primarily known for having given their lead singer and parts of the name to the multi-platinum hard rock band the Cult. Despite the similarities in t ...

, a forerunner to

The Cult The Cult are an English rock band formed in 1983 in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead singer Ian Astbury's ...

, featuring

Ian Astbury Ian Robert Astbury (born 14 May 1962) is an English singer, best known as a founding member, lead vocalist and frontman of the rock band the Cult. During various hiatuses from the Cult, Astbury has fronted the short-lived Holy Barbarians in 1 ...

on vocals. When Astbury moved on to found his own band, the remaining musicians stayed together for a time as Getting the Fear, recruiting new singer Bee Hampshire from

Futon A is a traditional Japanese style of bedding. A complete futon set consists of a and a . Both elements of a futon bedding set are pliable enough to be folded and stored away in a large during the day. This allows a room to serve as a bedro ...

, but eventually broke up. In 1986, Nawaz moved to London, set up a management company and signed artists to major record labels. Two years later, he formed

Nation Records Nation Records is a record label set up by Kath Canoville and Aki Nawaz in 1988. History The label was set up after major labels declined to release their fusion of world music and dance music, an album called ''Fuse'' (1989).Larkin, Colin (19 ...

as a label primarily focused on creating fusions between different musical forms from all over the world for a more youth-oriented audience. Nawaz advocates a certain Islamic

orthopraxy In the study of religion, orthopraxy is correct conduct, both ethical and liturgical, as opposed to faith or grace. Orthopraxy is in contrast with orthodoxy, which emphasizes correct belief. The word is a neoclassical compound— () meaning 'r ...

, expressing total opposition to

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

and drug use. He believes that there should be a unity between

Afro-Caribbean Afro-Caribbean people or African Caribbean are Caribbean people who trace their full or partial ancestry to Sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of the modern African-Caribbeans descend from Africans taken as slaves to colonial Caribbean via the ...

s and Asians because he believes that the struggles that the two groups face are exactly the same. Through his music, Nawaz attempts to "normalize" the Islamic presence in Britain as well as to explain the reasons for fundamentalist tendencies among Muslim youth.Swedenburg, Ted. "Islamic Hip-hop vs. Islamophobia." In Global Noise: Rap and Hip-Hop Outside the USA, 57–85. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 2001. Nawaz has collaborated with many traditional musicians, both in the studio and live: these include Huun Huur Tu, Rizwan Muazzam Qawwal-Mighty, Zulu Nation (a South African hip-hop group), and Gazi Khan (an artist from Rajasthan). Fun-Da-Mental worked with progressive Asian bands to help fight racism and spoke at anti-racist benefits. The group emphasizes militancy and self-defence when tackling racism. Nawaz has been criticized by Islamic community members not only for his lyrics, but also for his group Fun-Da-Mental's recital of verses from the

Qur'an The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sing. ...

over musical beats. Some Muslims believe this goes against what they regard as a fundamental tenet of

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

. In this sense, Nawaz's musical contributions are considered controversial for their lyrics as well as for their religious content. Nawaz claims he is prepared to face the consequences of any of his albums' releases, saying, "I'll take all the blame. If they're going to lock anyone up they'll lock me up."

Controversy over lyrics

The controversy behind "All is War" lies in its lyrics, which could be interpreted as glorifying terrorism. One of the songs, "Cookbook DIY," (the song's title being likely a reference to ''

The Anarchist Cookbook ''The Anarchist Cookbook'', first published in 1971, is a book containing instructions for the manufacture of explosives, rudimentary telecommunications phreaking devices, and related weapons, as well as instructions for the home manufacture o ...

'') includes instructions for making a home-made bomb. The video to this song makes many visual references to America. The video ends with a shot of

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

which quotes

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

's statement "If we make peaceful revolution impossible, we make violent revolution inevitable."

References

External links

G-Had in the UKNawaz at theworld.orgControversy over political songsCookbook DIY video at Trinketization
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nawaz, Aki Living people English male rappers Gothic rock musicians English rock drummers Musicians from Yorkshire Nation Records artists English people of Pakistani descent Musicians from Bradford 1961 births