Though this week's New Statesman will be remembered for 'Heathcliffe-gate' there's also this very good article on the many barriers female Muslim rappers face when they try to launch a music career. Their response to criticism is very empowered. Read about it here
Norwegian Muslims claimed she was a bad role model after promotional videos for the album showed her with her back exposed and dressed in what was deemed to be sexually alluring western attire. Deeyah received verbal threats against herself and her family. And during one concert in 1995 she was attacked onstage.
The following year she came to London, hoping that things would be different, but the problems were soon to return. When the video for her single "Plan of My Own" was aired on an Asian music channel, featuring the singer dancing seductively with a man, the death threats and harassment started again. She is now based in the US and needs the constant protection of bodyguards. "People have said to me, 'If you wore more modest attire, toned your act down a little, you'd be OK.' Well, you know something? I've tried wearing traditional costumes onstage and I'm still the whore. I'm still the person who's wrong."
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