Mecca2Medina

Mecca2Medina is a British Islamic hip-hop and nasheed group from London, founded in 1996 by Rakin Fetuga after he left the rap group Cash Crew in 1995; its first EP, Life After Death, came out the same year. ^{1 2} It has released three nasheed albums, two hip-hop albums and a mix CD, and makes music for Muslims and non-Muslims alike. ¹

Ismael Lea South and Imran Kazi joined Fetuga first, then Daoud Saifallah and Abdul Kareem Talib; the article, citing Alison Pargeter's book, says all of them converted to Islam except Kazi, who was born Muslim. ¹ Their songs express their Islamic views and comment on social issues of "ghetto life", rapped over African drum rhythms for conservative Muslim audiences and over electronic beats for hip-hop fans. ¹ The members include youth workers, a social worker, a teacher and a civil servant, and they have run workshops around the country with disaffected young people and prisoners. ¹

As The Salam Project they have organised talks with scholars including Abdul Hakim Quick, Ahmed Babiker Abu Bakr al-Sudani and Michael Mumisa, comedy nights with Prince Abdi and Jeff Mirza, and tours for new Islamic rap artists, among them Poetic Pilgrimage; they also worked on an album by the Malaysian group Raihan. ¹ Saifallah, then Kazi, then Talib left, leaving Fetuga and South as a duo; Fetuga released a solo album as Rakin Niass. ¹

• English Wikipedia, 'Mecca2Medina', revision 1311484382 of 15 September 2025, citing books by Timmerman, Pargeter, Gilliat-Ray and Curtis. ¹
• Wikidata item Q6804398. ²