I go by the name Ibrahim Mo- hammed Auwal, popularly known as Raheem Da Dream, and I am based in Lafia City, originally from Lafia City. OUT OF ALL THE GENRE IN MUSIC, WHY DID YOU CHOOSE HIP-HOP? It actually placed a lot of roles in this vision because it goes down to the early Black Liberation Movement where we have people like Mal- colm-X, Martin Luther King, down to people like Hiwupi Newton. So, the role it actually played in my vision, it shows me way to try to live with people, to try to approach people in the positive way, positive manner, how to bring positivity towards emancipation or progression of our day-to-day struggle. Relate with the people downside, like in the slum where we come from, never forget where we come from, that’s what I learn from Hip-Hop.

Basically, com- passion, love, wisdom, and understanding. DO YOU THINK THE CULTURE OF HIP-HOP IS ACCEPTED IN THIS PART OF THE COUNTRY? So, it goes down to say that there is a lot of corporate bodies who came through to sabotage the 9 elements of Hip-Hop culture because it’s the black thing even though it’s not all about racism. So, there are people who say, alright, we need this money, we need to sell out the elements and go to the negative side, but we the 5%, that’s the true seekers of knowledge stay in the underground in the positive side. Even though it sorts of like an abstract movement around this part of the country.

I think it goes down to knowing our true values and traditions, so I can connect that to what the likes of Zaki Azzay have done, the like of Eldee Extra-Large down in Jos, because a lot of people talk about Hip-Hop, you can’t talk about Hip- Hop without remem- bering J-Town, you know, and all of that, Kaduna, Crock Town City, so I can relate that to our people to understand that we have our own values, we have our own pains, struggles, we have our own dis- parity, because there is a lot of disparity in human lives, so basically it’s a universal thing right now, you got to relate with the love, the pain and all of that..

you can’t talk about Hip- Hop without remem- bering J-Town, you know, and all of that, Kaduna, Crock Town City.