Dawud Jalil

I first remember hearing hip hop at family-type gatherings where I would hear The Sugar Hill Gang's "Rappers Delight". I don't remember really being absorbed by hip hop until I heard Run-DMC's "Sucker MC's". At that point it was over and I officially became a hip hop head. I used to recite the words to all my favorite songs from that point on. I started writing rhymes myself when I was about 15. I got a karaoke machine (for Christmas I think) and I started writing to instrumentals from a tape made by DJ Mark the 45 King. I started letting other people hear my tapes and battling guys at school and in the neighborhood. I went away to college at Tennessee State University in Nashville, TN and started recording in my friend Dorsey's (D-West) dorm room and later in his apartment. We cut a single called "No Mystery" in '95 or '96. I converted to Islam shortly before this time and was under the belief that music was forbidden (haram) from discussions with other Muslims and reading a few Hadith (sayings of Prophet Muhammad-peace be upon him) which seemed to prohibit music. In my heart, I felt that I should leave music alone and focus on learning more about Islam. Despite being urged by the leader of the mosque I attended in Chicago to still record, I left music alone in 1996. In 2006, I ran across an article about Yusuf Islam, formerly known as Cat Stevens, returning to music after 28 years. This caused me to do more research on the subject as it relates to Islam and I found that it wasn't as black and white as I believed. From that, and due to the general decline of the quality of music I was hearing, I decided to start writing and recording again in late 2007. Thank you for taking the time to read this and for listening to what I have to share with the world. Peace, Dawud

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