AyBas “Kill’Em All”! Is Ignorance Attacking Muslims?
Jersey Is Naked would like to introduce you to underground rapper Aybas. Aybas, New Jersey native was born Jassim Abbasi. The Palestinian American rapper dreams to be the voice and the symbol of the Arab-community. AyBas plans to pave the way for other Middle Eastern rappers to shine.
In the rapper’s early days he was apart of the rap duo called I-Slam. After performing for five years the group parted ways and AyBas pursued a solo career. He has recently released a very politically charged record called “Kill’Em All”. The record is based around the 9/11 attacks and the Boston bombing. In the new jawn he expresses how the people who practice Islam are not violent and their beliefs doesn’t teach that.
The video has so many powerful images of the American Flag and the US Army. These images tend to appear when he goes into the chorus ” There terrorist let’s go to war cause they did the same thing that they did before so fuck’em kill’em all!” Of course we all have our opinions on the 9/11 attacks but I wanted to know more about what he had to say in reference to the record and video.
I had the opportunity to sit down and speak with AyBas about the record and get his real thoughts.
Would you say your using the song “Kill’Em All” as a cry out for peace for the Islamic culture against ignorance?
Absolutely. The message of the song is to show the world that the majority of Muslims don’t condone terrorism. Extremists don’t represent us as Muslims, and Islam is a religion of peace. There are over 1 billion Muslims in the world, and less than 1% of them follow extremist ideology. We should be blaming these acts of terror on the individuals themselves, and not on the 2nd largest religion in the world, which is also the fastest growing religion in the world. Its ignorant to claim that a religion practiced by 1 billion innocent people who are just trying to live meaningful lives is to blame for terrorism.
Do you feel that the middle eastern community in a whole is still experiencing the same cruelty as when 9/11 happened?
Yes I do. There was a story last week of a Muslim woman attacked in the streets of France just because she was wearing a hijab. She was pregnant and when she told them that they punched her stomach. She ended up losing the baby to a miscarriage. After the Boston Bombings, hate crimes against Muslims increased across the world. In the US, there are a lot of people who do understand that extremists don’t represent Islam and they have moderate Muslim friends, but the problem is worldwide. I’m concerned that this is getting worse and the perception of Islam as a violent religion is becoming more popular. Just type in anti-Islam or Islamophobia in a Google search on in YouTube and you’ll see what I mean.
I watched the video and seen a lot of imagery of the US army in war uniforms fighting for their country, are you oppose to the war on extremist who were apart of the 9/11 attack on the US?
I’m not opposed to a war against Al Qaeda or the Taliban, but I am opposed to the “War on Terror”, the war in Afghanistan as a whole, drone attacks, and the war on Iraq which just ended. The point of the war in Afghanistan was to kill Osama Bin Laden and weaken Al-Qaeda forces, which was done. The enemies to the US are the terrorist organizations that attacked the US on 9/11 and still threaten them to this day. The war in Iraq led to the death of tens of thousands of innocent Iraqis at the hands of US forces.
Drone attacks end up doing more harm than good. I read recently that for every 1 militant that is killed, 10 innocent civilians die as well. This leads to more anti-American sentiment and the families of the victims want to get their revenge. Think about that. You’re living in Pakistan and a drone strike by the US kills your family member who was not part of any terrorist group. How would you feel? Also, the “War on Terror” is just stupid because “terror” is a tactic, and not an actual target. You can’t go to war with a tactic. The US has every right to defend itself, and as an American I feel strongly about that. I don’t think its okay to kill innocent people in the process and just shrug it off like its no big deal.
I loved the awareness that is being created in reference to islam and muslim culture saying the people are one of peace, but in the record the lyrics state “Boys are molested Catholic preist are liable and they learned all from the bible”. Was this lyric supposed to be a teaching moment or is this something you believe?
The line is “I won’t judge religion by the actions of a few / But for arguments sake that’s exactly what I’ll do / Young boys are molested, Catholic priests are liable / They were taught to molest, yea they learned it from the Bible”. The very next line is “That sounds crazy don’t it / I’m not tryin to be your opponent / Only said it cause I was hopin / Maybe then your eyes will open”.
I obviously DON’T believe that the Bible teaches this, but the point I’m trying to make is that to assume that something terrible a “religious” person did was instilled in them from religious text is ridiculous. It’s just like Christian extremists that blow up abortion clinics and kill innocent doctors and women. No one blames that on Christianity. They say “oh those people are crazy”. But when a “Muslim” straps a bomb to his chest and kills innocent people, they blame it on Islam. Sounds like a double standard to me.
Would you say that the treatment in Middle Eastern countries of each other is fairly? If not what are your thoughts about the caste system? IE (paid a certain amount because of background, only allowed certain jobs because of what country your from, or being identified by country to receive ultimate status.
That’s a good point. It definitely isn’t fair. What most people in the West forget is that innocent MUSLIMS are the victims of terrorism more than anybody. In Pakistan, Iraq, and Syria innocent Muslims are being killed by other Muslims all the time. The problem is deep rooted in culture and hatred is instilled in them from a young age.
Lack of education and unwillingness to compromise is the problem. The problem is NOT Islam, its the individuals and the system in which they live. It goes back to the leadership in these countries as well, which can be very corrupt. So the point here is that Muslims in the Middle East are fighting extremists just as much as the West.
Despite the war on terrorism and the bombs in Boston; what do you hope outside of creating awareness that this record will do for all people?
I hope that it teaches people to never judge a group based on the acts of individuals. Stereotyping is common throughout human history. Jews have been stereotyped throughout history leading to antisemitism. Blacks and Hispanics have been dealing with this in the US recently and now we are starting to see some change.
In the Middle East, people stereotype Americans by claiming the US is a “great Satan”. I’m an American fighting to change the perception of Islam across the world, so am I still a devil just for being an American? All stereotypes are terrible, and we need to instead judge individuals for their actions, not the group in which they are a party to.
Jersey Is Naked wants to Thank AyBas for shedding some light on this subject and most importantly giving us this interview.
Want More AyBas:
Jersey Nunn
I am a blogger who writes entertainment news, celebrity gossip, and original content. My original content consist of short stories, unsigned artist write-ups, along with other displays of artistic expression.
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