Feedback Friday: Should female Muslims be allowed to rap?

Sisterhood: A mixtape

Rap is one genre that females rarely tread on, but UK's Deeyah is determined to make a mixtape featuring female rappers. What sets this mixtape apart? The fact that it's written and sung by female Muslim rappers from Europe, UK and US.

Deeyah is a Pakistani-Norwegian singer and composer who keeps a lookout for up-and-coming female Muslim rappers, singers and poets who want a platform to show their unreleased songs. Topics that are covered by these artists include the war on Iraq, racism, love, women's issues and being a Muslim woman in the West–pretty much topics that affect young women all over the world. Most of the artists featured on the mixtape range from women in their mid-teens and the mid-20s.

Of her project, Deeyah has this to say, "Hopefully we can help create a platform to have their voices and opinions heard as both artists and Muslim women living in Western societies. Female Muslim artists face a tough time. There's very little support for them, many of them have been actively discouraged–even by their own communities–from expressing their thoughts and dreams through music. But they are not alone as this first collection proves ... they have something to say and they deserve to be heard."

So far, Sisterhood has gotten attention from publications like the BBC Asian Network and The Asian Today. The mixtape is not for sale, but are available for streaming from the Sisterhood MySpace page.

Junk took a listen and got a glimpse of the unexplored world of Muslim women making music influenced by the West. We're glad that someone is taking the initiative to do something positive and new in the music sphere, but what are your thoughts? Tell us if you think Sisterhood will fall on deaf ears or will it have the potential to reach an audience and make an impact?

More info at Sisterhood's page.