Harvard Grad Releases Revolutionary Hip Hop Album

“ It’s not every day that hip hop and Harvard occupy the same sentence, but for rapper Abu Nurah, who made his first hip hop recordings while an undergraduate at Harvard, the genre was an integral part of his college experience. ”

Rapper Abu Nurah

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(eMusicWire.Org) – Worcester, Massachusetts (US) – It’s not every day that hip hop and Harvard occupy the same sentence, but as the founders of The Source magazine, the self-described “Bible of hip hop”—both Harvard alumni—can attest, it is not without precedent.

For rapper Abu Nurah, who made his first hip hop recordings while an undergraduate at Harvard, the genre was an integral part of his college experience. “One of the main lessons I learned at Harvard,” says the rapper, “is the importance of pursuing what you love. Even when I had problem sets and finals to study for, I always made time to go down to the studio in my dorm room’s basement to work on hip hop. It was therapeutic for me.”

The son of Mexican immigrants, Abu Nurah, born David Chavez, grew up in Los Angeles' notorious Pico-Union neighborhood and developed an affinity for hip hop at an early age, twice winning his grade school’s annual break dancing competition.

Abu Nurah's music has been featured on Democracy Now's War & Peace Report. His debut album, titled "Don't Be a Citizen," received high acclaim. “Say it Loud,” Abu Nurah’s second outing, pays tribute in title and spirit to the legendary James Brown’s revolutionary song by the same name.

As is now customary of Abu Nurah’s work, the album pulls no punches. The title track reclaims the much maligned term Jihad and expounds on the virtues of selfless sacrifice to help the weak and downtrodden.

Says Abu Nurah of one of the album’s tracks: “‘Imagine’ tells the story of Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a woman kidnapped along with her three children from the streets of Pakistan only to spend years in captivity in the infamous U.S.-run torture prison at Bagram Air Force base in Afghanistan.”

Just as uncompromising as the message is the quality of the beats and rhymes. Backed by contributions from veteran producers like DJ Roddy Rod (Maspyke, Low Budget Crew), the album’s 17 tracks prompt head-banging as well as soul-searching. Emcees Tableek (of Maspyke) and Zulu Sheksta (from Poland) are featured on two of the tracks. Other production credits include Kashmir, The Wayfarers, Maro-One, Sumo Lex, and Umar Jibril. Cuts and scratches are courtesy of DJ Henry C and The Wayfarer.