As an Egyptian raised in the United States, I find that I share a similar plight to many others like me who grew up outside of their motherland: feeling trapped in cultural limbo not having any place to rest. Not representative enough of your ancestors, but still out of step with the dominant cultural paradigms of the land in which you live. This groundlessness may seem fairly benign to those who don’t experience it, but for those who experience this identity crisis, we know that it can feel devastating. This album is documentation of my personal journey to reclaim my cultural heritage.

If looked at like a “quest for authenticity”, this endeavor is paradoxical. How more authentic can you be other than yourself and the totality of your experiences? However I think that angle misses the point entirely which is that pursuing and internalizing traditions doesn’t have to be a quest for authenticity at all. What brought me to maqam in the first place was the beauty of Quran recitation that had captivated me growing up. Reciting Quran has no strict aesthetic guidelines, there is no “authentic” way to recite. There are however styles of recitation that are more popular in certain areas than others, signifying geo-cultural coordinates to the diaspora like a beacon.

But maqam is so much more even than that. The philosophy of maqam extends beyond music and is in its essence, it is modulation. Modulation of sound, modulation of spirit. Listening practices in the Islamic world are much different than that of the Modern West. Many proofs on Islamic Jurisprudence have been written regarding whether or not music should be forbidden on account of its incredible effect. The integration of maqam into recitation itself is even contested in that, it is believed it distorts the meaning of the holy book. And still many others have written just as much on why the blossoming, transcendental effects of deep listening are at the heart of Islamic practice. How can one obey Allah (SWT) if they cannot hear? How can one love Allah (SWT) if they cannot feel?

The spread of maqam is concurrent with the spread of Arabic through Islam. And yet when we study maqam, we typically do not look at rich and extensive traditions of Islam that exist outside of the Middle East. The arabic language itself was built upon by scholars from across the Medieval Islamic world, hailing from all directions not just those from “arabic” regions. And so though I will continue to study Egyptian Islamic sonic traditions, I find myself being pulled to the autophysiopsychic components (a term coined by Dr.Yusuf Lateef). The true essence of maqam will continue to pull me to sounds in my heart, not sounds that I study.

This album is a document of where I am currently. I learned these modalities and they truly are beautiful. I don’t know when I’ll be back to a place of strict cultural execution of Egyptian Islamic sonics. Black American culture is where I’ve been and it’s where I am. There is an incredibly rich history of sonic exploration, modulation, and creativity that I am much more familiar with, a history which would be impossible to talk about without Islam both in the Modern and Medieval African diaspora. The last composition “pyramids” is my tribute to Black Quantum Futurism where after years of being in cultural paralysis, I claim the sonic future that I am meant to.