which not only invokes the sense of Islam but also of the Pakistani flag. Notably, Aki Nawaz's mother was one of the leading activists for Benazir Bhutto's Pakistan Peoples Party. Fun-Da-Mental has also been one of the first British music groups to actively and fiercely defend the Muslim community by example. In particular, Fun-Da-Mental have set out to appeal to and voice the concerns of the alienated Muslim youth of British towns such as Bradford (Nawaz's birthplace and the original hometown of the group). Consequently, Fun-Da-mental has reached a significant number of British Muslim youths who identify with the situations and topics covered in the group's lyrics, slogans and presentation. As is common within any culture with a hybrid demographic, British-born youths of Islamic heritage were struggling to fit into either aspect of their given identity and were trying to find a place for themselves. Fun-Da-Mental made this hybrid identity accessible, and allowed the youth to explore themselves. They countered the strict views and opinions of mosque scholars and Muslim community leaders with their own political manifesto. "Fun-Da-Mental's expressions of pride in Islam appealed to Muslim youth who had been raised on British popular culture yet also felt wounded by British Islamophobia." Fun-Da-Mental's work has been compared by cultural researcher Sanjay Sharma to that of the Nation of Islam in its combination of pro-black (or pro-non-white) assertion and condemnation of racism. The group has taken direct inspiration from several black activists in the United States and their reassertion of history. A particular inspiration was Malcolm X, who notably became a Muslim as part of his political journey: the group sometimes cite his pronouncement that "I am a soldier named Alaha, so put down the cross and pick up the X". In the song "President Propaganda", Fun-Da-Mental's lyrics rely on the rhetoric of the Nation of Islam to send anti-Western messages. The lines "you had us whipped, raped, and lynched/Took away the Quran, you gave us the Bible" allude to issues such as slavery and religious persecution. Discography Albums Singles See also Native Deen DAM (band) Dirty Kuffar Mecca2Medina References External links Official site Guardian article Independent article BBC news item includes video interview. Observer album review AsianVibrations.com Interview Red Pepper article Socialist Worker article Londra Gazete article Oxford mail article Times Online article Indian Express article https://scalper.bandcamp. Nadeem Shafi aka Scalper https://YouTube.com/MrScalper English hip hop groups Asian Underground musicians Worldbeat