The dynamic duo of “blood brothers” Sons of Yusuf have delivered a flashy new video for their track “No Caliphates” that features an appearance from the incomparable rapper Talib Kweli. The song follows Ya’koob and Humble Abdul as they describe their experiences of discrimination as Muslims growing up in Los Angeles while Kweli delivers an impactful verse that speaks to racial injustice in ways only he can.
Over a beat that has shades of “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” Sons of Yusuf draw attention to past prejudice with stylish flow and fiery lines like, “I’m not a terrorist, I’m a tourist / soon as they find out I’m an Arab they start jumping to conclusions.” Kweli follows suit with characteristically effortless flow and biting commentary. In one of his more striking rhymes, he writes, “Respectability don’t stop a cop who wanna shoot / they killed Martin Luther in a civil rights suit.”
With the video filmed in Dubai and Kuwait featuring the three artists playing basketball and rapping in Kuwait oil fields and the streets of Dubai, “No Caliphates” is an entertaining, grooving, and most importantly, emotionally potent project with a finger directly on the pulse of the most important issues of today.
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