Rappin' Taliban

September 3, 2003 1:55 PM

John Walker Lindh, Hip Hop MC? Before John Walker Lindh became the American Taliban, he hid his whiteness, excoriating wack MCs on Usenet hip-hop bulletin boards. Attracted to Islam after listening to hip hop influenced by the Five Percenter movement, he later abandoned rap to denounce Nas as a fake Muslim. An interesting, but previously unexamined side to the American jihadist.
posted by jonp72 (13 comments total)

Lindh is an exceptionally driven and uninhibited example of the deep-seated conflicts that lurk just beneath the surface of white participation in hip-hop.

oh, horseshit. mtv told him rap was cool. end of story.
posted by quonsar at 2:03 PM on September 3, 2003

JOHN DOE's Almighty Bicoastal Armegaddon Starchild Flow With Extra Sprinkles On Top & Sides

Also, in 1998 he sells all his records.
posted by wobh at 2:14 PM on September 3, 2003

I actually have a mix tape that John Walker Lindh made from back in the day... I don't believe I got it directly from him, though I could be wrong.

And just to note, I wouldn't exactly call this an "unexamined side" -- I remember all this being brought up when he was first captured... that's when I realized I had the tape. :)
posted by laze at 2:26 PM on September 3, 2003

This is all Puff Daddy's fault.
posted by solistrato at 2:45 PM on September 3, 2003

quonsar, i don't think you read enough of his newsgroup posts. he seems like a thoughtful rap music aficionado, though sometimes it almost feels as if [e-mail] is actually more than one person.

my favorite line: "I need to take over the world now, so peace love and englobiness.."

ha.

thanks for the links. i just read through most of the newsgroup posts. fairly interesting. it's funny that he tried to pass himself off as black to gain credibility, but i gotta give him some credit for being a race traitor.
posted by mrgrimm at 2:50 PM on September 3, 2003

Man, I can't believe he sold "Situation Hot." That shit is hard to find.

For real though, those newsgroup links were really interesting.
posted by sklero at 3:29 PM on September 3, 2003

Speaking without letting up from my third eye's retina.

*smacks forehead*
oh yeah! there it is! sheesh, how could i possibly have missed that driven and uninhibited example of the deep-seated conflicts that lurk just beneath the surface of white participation in hip-hop?
posted by quonsar at 3:29 PM on September 3, 2003

I can't believe the story links (with an actual hyperlink) to his Email address. What the hell is that about? Are they encouraging us to write him? What's the motivation?
posted by dgaicun at 4:29 PM on September 3, 2003

That "5-percenter" link is fascinating, but it makes me wonder -- is there a reason why I shouldn't just write off the Wu-Tang Clan now as a bunch of cultists?
posted by John Shaft at 4:42 PM on September 3, 2003

If you come from a certain experience, you will notice things that others, not from that experience, do not. Your senses are tuned differently. There's a lot of that in ... hip-hop. People assume that because they are smart, because they can read, they can ultimately understand everything going on and being said in the music and culture. I don't think so.

Word.

Qtroll- as I get older, I too find a natural tendency to discount the new generation for their sheeplike ways, mistaking the homogeneity of mass media for the alleged homogeneity of culture. But then I think back to when I was that age, when knowledge and new experiences could really open the eyes and stoke the fire of idealism. You may not like or understand hiphop, but I bet you can think back to a time when a book or song really opened your eyes in a way that still left previous generations blind.
posted by roboto at 7:41 PM on September 3, 2003

As usual, Aaron McGruder has something to say about this...
posted by vito90 at 6:25 AM on September 4, 2003

thanks jonp. this is some really interesting stuff. quonsar i believe you may be entirely missing the point. this guy knew his shit and if anything, HATED the stuff MTV was trying to sell him.
posted by glenwood at 6:56 AM on September 4, 2003

walker is a victim and should be pardoned, if i'm not mistaken, millions of $s were given to the taliban by the u.s., probably around the time walker was hooking up with the taliban. so by the logic that has walker locked up and ridiculed, the people who gave the money to the taliban should be doing time but they aren't. walker had no part or no knowledge of the terrorist attacks on the u.s. but has been tortured since his capture. Free John Walker.
posted by joemeek at 7:30 AM on September 4, 2003