Isa Muhammad: An Origin Story

With Maybach Music Group’s Priorities 5 mix tape releasing this past month, one rapper stands out among the rest for his unique origin. Inglewood rapper Isa Muhammad is starting to become a sensation, not only for his thoughtful and well-constructed lyrics, but also for how he got into the rap game. In July 2016, Isa Muhammad met Rick Ross in the streets of Inglewood and surprised the owner of MMG and a crowd of people surrounding them by showcasing his free styling skills. Rick Ross was apparently impressed enough to sign him onto his label straight away, and the video clip went viral on YouTube overnight. The newly signed rapper’s inventive and sometimes hilarious punch lines had the crowd cheering for him by the end of the video, with rhymes like,

Same unadulterated properly appropriated

Foreign not domesticated green light of mine manipulated

Thought generated like Professor X made it

Many people don’t know that a few years before he met Rick Ross, Isa Muhammad was homeless. This definitely plays into the rapper’s purpose in rapping, which he says is to “uplift the people” After hearing his street side performance, I hoped that he could carry this style into Maybach Music Group, and he didn’t disappoint in Priorities 5. His single, “Chemtrails & Muslim Wars” demonstrates his rap abilities once again.

The song starts with an intro where Isa reps his hometown and MMG, he jumps right into rapping in a very methodical, deliberate way. His lyrics are a mixture of spiritual commentary and talk about the struggles of his life, held together by his witty references to movies, games, and fictional characters. Also included on the mixtape is a remix of this song, where Rick Ross and Talib Kweli get in a few bars.

If you want to listen to either of these songs, the whole mixtape is available for free streaming here. You should give it a listen, there’s some great things to be heard on it.