{"id":18972,"date":"2020-11-19T14:07:23","date_gmt":"2020-11-19T14:07:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/?p=18972"},"modified":"2025-06-11T11:54:17","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T18:54:17","slug":"essam-muhammad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/ias\/news\/2020\/11\/19\/essam-muhammad","title":{"rendered":"Hip hop artist and alum Essam Muhammad shares his story and creative practice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"essam<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Essam Muhammad is a UW Bothell alum, South Seattle-based rapper\/poet, and community organizer. On October 20, he connected with students over Zoom for the event “Coming Home: Songs, Stories, & Conversation with Essam Muhammad” organized by UW Bothell\u2019s Campus Events Board (CEB) and IAS faculty member Georgia Roberts<\/a>. Muhammad spoke on his childhood, social issues, and the liberation he\u2019s found through creative expression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Muhammad\u2019s career took off in 2016 with the release of his debut video \u201cWest Is My Home<\/a>.\u201d In the four years since, he\u2019s been invited to perform on different continents, sharing his journey and creativity in countries like South Africa, Malaysia, United Kingdom, Switzerland, and 足彩app哪个是正规的 Netherlands. He has also maintained a constant presence in the South Seattle community where he grew up, helping to cultivate safe spaces for young poets to grow and share their work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Muhammad barely graduated high school, and higher education wasn\u2019t on his radar until friends enrolled at Seattle Central College. Not sure about school, Muhammad took a chance, and the poet who wrote his first rap at age 8, found his passion for writing. \u201cI wrote a personal narrative essay \u2013 it was the first time it wasn\u2019t research \u2013 and I realized that writing is for me.\u201d From there, he began performing and recording, eventually transferring to UW Bothell where he continued to develop his creative practice and graduated in 2016 with a bachelor\u2019s in Media & Communication Studies<\/a>. UW Bothell was a positive space for Muhammad, who only knew two other students from the south end when he started. Eventually, he found community through CEB, the Muslim 足彩app哪个是正规的 Association, the Black 足彩app哪个是正规的 Union, and African 足彩app哪个是正规的 Association. \u201cIn my last quarter, May 2016, I released \u201cWest Is My Home.\u201d It dropped at 3pm, and I remember walking into the ARC. Everyone was playing it; I was so overwhelmed by the love I was receiving.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Muhammad has released two albums, “12.12,” (2018) and “Chapter20six,” (2020) with acclaimed producer, Petty Pro, and his music and videos<\/a> have received praise worldwide. In September, Muhammad\u2019s video \u201cRunnin<\/a>\u201d was selected for the American Muslim Futures<\/a> exhibit, an online gallery of work that pairs the creativity of visual and performing artists with the conviction of civil rights advocates to realize new civic futures where all Americans live free from hate and discrimination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Chapter20six<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEverybody has a story,\u201d Muhammad told students. \u201cFor me, as a creative artist, I\u2019m constantly tapping into experiences I\u2019ve had in life.\u201d When asked his advice for aspiring creatives, he referenced Rainer Maria Rilke\u2019s \u201cLetters to a Young Poet,\u201d saying, \u201cIf you feel like you can live without writing, walk away from it. If you feel you need creativity to live, continue on this journey.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

足彩app哪个是正规的s like Danielle Chi, a Culture, Literature & the Arts<\/a> major, were moved by Muhammad\u2019s presentation. \u201cI really loved Essam’s philosophy on the importance of a community and the relationship it has on a person’s psychological and moral development,\u201d she reflected. \u201cOur surroundings shape us and how we react to the past impacts the future. It’s a really powerful statement to return to the proverbial roots even with our trauma, but to try to develop and lay groundworks for the next generations in the hopes that they won’t have to undergo the same experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Asked what motivates him, Muhammad responded, \u201cWhat makes me happy in life is being in service to people, others, your body, family, campus. I do this for the people.\u201d Muhammad\u2019s work can be found at masse.one<\/a> and on YouTube<\/a>, Twitter<\/a> and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Essam Muhammad is a UW Bothell alum, South Seattle-based rapper\/poet, and community organizer. On October 20, he connected with students over Zoom for the event "Coming Home: Songs, Stories, & Conversation with Essam Muhammad" organized by UW Bothell’s Campus Events Board (CEB) and IAS faculty member Georgia Roberts<\/a>. Muhammad spoke on …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_is_archived":false,"_archived_contact_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12,9],"tags":[],"school":[],"class_list":["post-18972","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-alumni","category-diversity"],"acf":{"related_links":{"toggle_visibility":false,"link_1":"","link_2":"","link_3":"","link_4":"","link_5":""},"highlight_box":{"toggle_visibility":false,"title":"","content":"","button":"","button_style":"angled-purple-button","button_screen_reader_text":""},"contact_type_1":{"toggle_visibility":true,"contact_title":"Contact Type","email":"sample@uwb.edu","phone":"(206) 999-9999","box":"Box 358500","address_line_1":"18115 Campus Way NE","address_line_2":"Bothell, WA 98011-8246","location":""},"contact_type_2":{"toggle_visibility":false,"contact_title":"","email":"","phone":"","box":"","address_line_1":"","address_line_2":"","location":""},"social_media":{"toggle_visibility":false,"facebook_url":"","instagram_url":"","linkedin_url":"","twitter_url":"","youtube_url":""},"blog_archive_sidebar_visibility":false},"yoast_head":"\nHip hop artist and alum Essam Muhammad shares his story and creative practice - School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/ias\/news\/2020\/11\/19\/essam-muhammad\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hip hop artist and alum Essam Muhammad shares his story and creative practice - School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Essam Muhammad is a UW Bothell alum, South Seattle-based rapper\/poet, and community organizer. 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