An interesting editorial piece on the "Arab Money" remix, a rap song by hip-hop artists Busta Rhymes, T-Payne, Akon and others in which the first two ayat (verses) of the the opening sura (chapter) of the Qur'an are used as the hook (chorus) of the song.

"It's time that Muslim activists come together with a plan to do some serious outreach to Muslim rappers, who are part of the mainstream music industry but detached from the mainstream Muslim community. The recent Busta Rhymes' “Arab Money” remix that caused a brief uproar for not only using the term ”A-rab” as in the original version but also interpolating verses of the Qur'an in it is a prime example of how brothers and sisters “in da game” need to be pulled in." Read more...

Hailing from and having grown up in NYC, having witnessed the birth of hip-hop and key milestones in its history, knowing something about the interplay between hip-hop culture and Islam in NYC in the 90s, I believe that a very firm stance is required from the African-American Muslim community, in particular, on this issue and on the many harmful aspects hip-hop culture, "urban" culture and Blackamerican popular culture in general. I may be addressing these issues in greater detail in a few weeks. Stay tuned :)