‘New artists need to take up the mantle now’: inside the west London scene that pioneered British Muslim hip-hop

Among the bustling market stalls in 1980s Shepherd’s Bush in west London, there was a small group of teenage boys breakdancing and beatboxing, performing a cappella rap verses to passersby about class consciousness, racism and equality. They called themselves Cash Crew and, despite still being in school and yet to sit their A-levels, they were already pioneering a new form of British hip-hop that would go on to produce a bold scene of its own.

Breaking out of the long shadow of US genre originators, homegrown British hip-hop acts spent the late 1980s and early 90s tapping into their own culture to create a fresh sound. Brixton group Hijack developed a uniquely fast-paced hardcore style, while MC Rodney P delivered his verses in a distinct London accent. In their home of Ladbroke Grove, Cash Crew began combining the teachings of Islam with rap lyricism to birth an entirely new style: Muslim hip-hop.

“Hip-hop has always had roots in Islam, with rappers like Mos Def, Rakim and Ice Cube all being Muslim, but no one was doing what we were back in the early 90s,” Cash Crew co-founder Rakin Fetuga, 53, says when we meet on an icy winter’s night at his local arts hub, Rumi’s Cave, in Harlesden, north-west London.

Read the feature in Hyphen.

[This piece was published on 07/02/25]