Somali rapper tells it like it is on the streets

Jabril Mohamed incorporates his own experiences of Finland into his songs

print this

By Jaana Laitinen
     
      When you look at him, it is hard to see in Jabril Mohamed much of the angst-ridden rapper. The guy is all smiles.
      Mind you he does have the beginnings of bling - there is a thick metal chain dangling around his neck.
      Let's ask him for a lyrics sample. Mohamed starts: See me in Helsinki, chilling with my dogs. / They don't wanna see us / Balling at all / No more sitting / In the mall.
      Fair enough, I get the point. When Mohamed, 19, describes the life he and his friends live in Finland, it is easy to understand that there is plenty there for a rapper to feed on.
     
Mohamed was just in the Appeals Court, demanding that an earlier assault conviction be quashed. The court blundered, is how he describes it. A guy got stabbed in Kaisaniemi, in the park. Mohamed went to help and he got fingered for the assault. That's what the man himself says.
      Mohamed goes on to say that when he was in court, a security guard whispered in his ear: "You don't belong in Finland. Welcome to do some time inside here. Go to Oulu, if you dare, and this prisoner will stick you when you are up there."
      The incident is so fresh in the memory that Mohamed has not yet digested it enough to turn it into rhyme. Maybe he will, since in his songs he tends to describe the things that happen to him and to his friends.
      There is enough material to go around, from the policemen who slapped him about the head to the "nigger" taunts and monkey catcalls.
      "Hip hop is about putting things into words. I tell it like I see it and hear it. I'm not one of those bling-bling rappers who flaunt their gold bracelets on stage and spout empty sh*t. I'm a rapper with a social message."
     
Jabril Mohamed's band is called ITD and his stage name is "Big Dize", apparently a reference to gambling.
      The band has been together for a couple of years and has already had a number of gigs. The name is an acronym of "In Too Deep".
      "It means we are already deep in Finnish society, with roots here. But there is another opposite meaning, too."
     
Mohamed came to Finland at the age of five. He has gone through comprehensive school here, and has also taken a course to prepare him for working life. He is currently employed in the Kannelmäki public library. Aside from band rehearsals, some of his free time goes on voluntary work in the Somali community.
      "I don't really know who I am. Am I an Afro-Finn, or a Finnish Somali, or what? Maybe the Finns wouldn't accept the idea of me saying I'm a Finn. Perhaps I'm a Somali citizen living in Finland."
     
When he travels on a bus, more often than not if he sits down next to someone, that someone takes a tighter hold of his or her bags.
      "Yeah, they think I'm going to steal the bag or something. But I don't call them racist so much as prejudiced. That security guard, too, he didn't make me angry so much as feel pity for the man. It's not that easy to get me down and depressed. I'm an active young guy."
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 10.2.2007
     
Note: The article appeared in Saturday's paper, coinciding with a concert arranged on behalf of peace in Somalia, held that evening.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Hundreds take part in Helsinki demonstration for peace in Somalia (15.1.2007)
  Clansmen, Helsinki-style (1.1.2007)
  Cultural diversity on "Mogadishu Avenue" in Helsinki (7.11.2006)

Helsingin Sanomat