Aficionados of busting rhymes, moves and caps are grieving the loss of the godfather of American-style Islamist Gangsta Martyr Rap, Omar Shafik Hammami, who was shot and killed in southern Somalia as reported by both USA Today on Sept. 13, 2013, and The Washington Post on Sept. 12, 2013.
Hammami was reportedly gunned down by rivals from south central Somalia, the al-Shaabab gang.
The 14,000 strong al-Shaabab has effectively erected their own dictatorial caliphate in the war-torn country and looked upon Hammami and his followers as an usurpers who needed to either leave or face some serious 187 (street slang for murder).
Loosely translated as simply “The Boys,” al-Shaabab on formal occasions also goes by the nom de guerre of The Popular Resistance Movement in the Land of the Two Migrations.
Wouldn’t that Be Dirt Path Name…?
It is still unclear if Hammami, who also goes by the street name of Abu Mansoor Al-Amriki, literally translated “The Father of Victory from America” or simply “The American,” was killed in a militarily executed ambush or an East Coast-West Coast Tupac vs. Biggie style drive-by.
The Alabama born and bred Hammami, the son of a Syrian Muslim father and a Christian mother, evidently embraced certain aspects of each parent’s culture when he enthusiastically adopted a mix of Jihad and Gangsta Rap.
More Reverb…
Best known for his warbling and reverberation-heavy arias with provocative titles such as Send Me A Cruise (Missile) and Make Jihad With Me, The Daily Mail (of London, England) politely points out that Hammami’s singing voice was “toneless” and “out of tune.”
The British publication also noted:
In Make Jihad with Me, his singing style is described by ABCNews as a ‘deep Barry White growl’.
Others have been even less complimentary, saying his a cappella tunes “suck.”
