Monthly Archives: June 2011

Why would I go to the cinema to watch a wildlife documentary?

Most people would have pretensions about going to the cinema to watch a wildlife documentary – as I did of course – but One Life shatters every stereotype about a wildlife film as it takes cinematography to a completely new level.

The visuals are breathtaking, the music spot on and there’s even a narrative which is cleverly told to bring the film to life. From Madagascar to Kenya, to Indonesia and Venezuela, One Life catapults you throughout the world to the most remote locations known to man. The story is told by Daniel Craig who wonderfully guides us through a story of trial and hope.

Naturally, you would expect the visuals to play an integral part in the film, but they were so profound and intricate that, at times, I thought I was watching a computer animation. Of course, high definition does do wonders, but the quality of the cinematography was stunning.

The film, although about wildlife, portrays a distinct narrative about trial and hope, and, in the process, powerfully personifies animals. The anthropomorphism is so potent that you’ll forget you are watching a documentary about wildlife, but when you see predators and prey battling for survival, you’re submerged straight back into the animal kingdom.

The only criticism, perhaps, is the way the film moves from one species to another without any real correlation. Maybe it was intended, but the way David Attenborough’s documentaries move seamlessly through each type of species has set a precedent.

One Life hits the cinema on July 22

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Why is the world in such a bad state?

From rapists to murders to the gangstas who walk around with permanent wrinkles on their forehead as they look to intimidate others, to girls who walk around in the skimpiest of clothes, to the university student, to every professional and every homeless person, you, me and every other person on this planet- what do we all have in common..? We’re all searching for meaning, for happiness, for love and for peace.

Our soul – which predates our physical body – replied in the affirmative when our Lord asked us the following question in our primordial existence: ‘Am I not your Lord? ‘Yes, we do testify!’ we all said. This primordial covenant is ingrained deep down within our consciousness.

Our descent into this lowly existence caused us to forget our Lord and the covenant. Because most of us lack this intrinsic bond with the Divine, we are in a natural state of agitation and disquietude. We search far and wide in our quest for meaning, and often, we end up lost, in strange places and even more confused.

There can be no world peace if we do not first find peace in ourselves. [click here to read my article on the search for inner peace]

If we look around the world, we can see that some of the most devoutly religious countries are plagued with corruption, whereas some of the most secular, like Finland, don’t suffer from such problems. Hamza Yusuf (pictured left), the American intellectual believes – and so do I –that religion is not the absolute solution per se, but what’s important is a strong middle-class in society and tax laws that help prevent the vast accumulation of wealth to an elite few. This, in turn, prevents wealth disparities; a society can therefore become much more just and secure. Peace and security are synonymous and one often fails without the other.

When poverty and corruption become endemic in a society, seldom is peace attained. Why? Because people are not free. Poverty prevents people from reaching their potential and corruption causes anger and hostility amongst the people.

There therefore needs to be a more just economic system, not one based on capitalism or any other permutation of a system which allows for greed and the neglect for the poor, and not one based on Pharaonic corporate and individual wealth. Economics governs most of our day to day affairs and a just system is imperative. There needs to be some modifications in our use of fractional reverse banking; we shouldn’t sell on debt neither should we exploit people through interest re-payments, for example. By no means am I an economics expert, but these things are two examples of unjust policies.

The way we elect our leaders also needs, perhaps, a rethink. Even though, in the west, we elect our leaders in a democratic fashion, we still find that our leaders often become war-mongers, and, really, are just as bad as the tyrants in the East (just a bit less crude and more sophisticated).

Our leaders, in my opinion, should be people who are asked to become Prime Ministers and Presidents, not those who are determined to become our leaders at any cost. Of course, the leaders we ask should be qualified to do the job, but most importantly, they should be people of honour and prestige. These leaders (hopefully) will be less concerned about the countries’ interests, but the countries’ virtues. And as Socrates believed, if a country is more concerned about its virtues than its interests, its interests will naturally be taken care of.

The paradox of being perplexes even the most profound philosophers: we find it hard to comprehend life. But, really, all the answers we need lie within us. Although intellect is important, it is not everything. The most important thing is to understand and learn who we are, so we can work on our inner state. Once we realize who we are, we can then start to find peace within ourselves. Then, of course, we’ll find peace elsewhere.

Omar Shahid

Follow me: @omar_shahid

My Phone Call With ‘The Best MC In The Country’: Ghetts

For those of you who don’t know who Ghetts is, he is an MC associated with the music genre ‘Grime’, and has been played on national radio like BBC Radio 1 and KISS 100. His fans will testify to his unique flow and witty lyrics.

I’ve lost count how many times my friends have said to me: “Omar, Ghetts is the best MC, hands down.” But then again, I’ve come across plenty of people who have said to me: “I don’t like Ghetts, I don’t feel his music.” I personally stand more with the first group of people, but defining what constitutes the best MC is subjective and depends exactly what you’re looking for. I rate MC’s higher if they have something positive to say and if their lyrics convey deep meanings which can change people for the better. Ghetts, I found, feels the same way: “You see me, I like Akala, I like Lowkey, we have deep conversations. I like that sort of thing when it’s got a message behind it. But no one is saying anything real these days, I can’t listen to these kids chatting about guns and drugs I cant listen to that,” he admits.

A bit hypocritical, some of you may say, Ghetts saying he can’t listen to music about ‘’guns and drugs’’, when he has incorporated exactly that into his own music. What’s his response? “The pictures we painted and the way we talked about all of that [guns and drugs] wasn’t us running on the mic, man was doing it with an edge to make man forget man was talking about a madness.” That’s fair enough, but as I elucidated on in an earlier post called ‘The truth about music nobody will tell you’ was that music can enter the subconscious mind and have an effect on people’s behavioral patterns. “That argument about music making people do things, that argument is deadout. That argument is dead! Music is a very powerful thing though. When you got a visual it’s often much more powerful. How many man are shotters because of scarface? It [music] can have an effect on you but not like a film.”

There is no doubt that Ghetts is one of the most talented MC’s in the country, but, saying that, a lot of people wont even read this because they don’t know who Ghetts is. “Of course I want to keep getting bigger but you see me yeah, I know what would work on radio and what would get played on TV. I always try and go against the grain,” he tells me.  It’s not for the money, nor is it for the fame Ghetts expounds to me, but he does exactly the type of music he believes in. “In my album Ghetto Gospel, I filmed ‘Top 3 Selected’, but if I shot ‘Understand’ instead, I could have got more mainstream attention but I didn’t because as a person I’m like that.”

Our conversation then heads in a similar direction to the one I had with P Money [click here to read my discussion with P Money].  Why is that DJ’s are too scared to play different types of music? Why is it that 95% of all mainstream music is crap? And why is it that they wont give people like Ghetts a chance? He says: “As a DJ yeah, you want to stick to what everybody likes. When you watch the music channels most of the videos look the same, they fix it all so nothing seems out of place. So if they were to play me, it would seem out of place.” It’s all about marketing he tells me: “How do you market my type of music? They don’t put it out there because they don’t think they can market it. But its deeper, much deeper than that. If you’re an artist and you’re not willing to play the ‘game’ you wont make it into the mainstream.”

Ghetts is notoriously known for his claim that he is ‘the best’, but does he think there are some other MC’s who are over-rated? “I do actually like a lot more people these days but I don’t want to call anyone shit. I don’t really listen to grime. Honestly.  I understand why people would think I’m lying but its true. I rate Maxsta but not many other people. The grime that’s put out these days I don’t like. And the people who I did like, they don’t do grime anymore…Grime is deadout. Grime is dead!” he re-iterates. But why is grime dead? “In grime only one thing is appreciated. There has to be different things. It can’t be one sort of sound.”

Ghetts will be performing at Hackney Empire on the July 7 in an event called RE:DEFINITION with a host of other talented artists, with the headline act being Kano. How does he feel that Kano will end up stealing the show and not him? “The truth is this: Kane isn’t meant to be the main act,” he jokes, “it should be me and Kane going on together. “

Ghetts was watching Wimbledon as we talked, and I found out he’s a fan of Serena Williams. But it’s not her tennis skills he is a fan of… “See the women there playing, I like all of that,” he jokes.

One thing is clear when speaking to Ghetts -as I have encountered when seeing other interviews with him. He is actually a fun and bubbly person, who, believe it or not, is a pretty clever guy. Don’t be fooled just because he said stuff to me like: “Man is just here to make music,” the slang he uses is a product of the environment he was brought up in and doesn’t reflect his intellectual capabilities. I mean, to be able to think of thousands upon thousands of lyrics which make people laugh, get people excited and are satirically clever, you have to possess a pretty special talent.

Follow me on Twitter: @omar_shahid

Follow Ghetts on Twitter: @TheRealGhetts

Reviews Of Four Classic Films: The Godfather, The Lion King, The Matrix & Law Abiding Citizen

If there is one thing all of these films have in common, it is that not only are they brilliant films, they all have deeper, internal meanings.

The Godfather

The Godfather is more than just a film, it’s a brand. Finding somebody who hasn’t heard of the film would be a rare spectacle, and would probably because they have lived in isolation for the past 40 years. The Godfather, 1972, is about an aging patriarch who wants to transfer the authority of his covert dynasty to his son. Packed with house hold names such as: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino and James Caan, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola, the film is probably the most widely imitated and quoted movies of all time.

The Corleone clan become caught up in a bloody gang war, fulled by betrayal and assasination attempts, which ultimately ends in Michael – once fully groomed – becoming the new don, taking over from his father Vito. The film portrays how a respected war hero and lawyer (Al Pacino) completes his moral downfall by being sucked into a life of violence and murder.

The film offers you a nuanced masterpiece which not only is saturated with classic lines like: ‘I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse’, but unfolds something new upon every re-watch.

The Lion King

I think I have only come across one person in my life who hasn’t seen the Lion King. If you haven’t seen it, you really owe it yourself. Despite the fact that it is a Disney animation – but probably Disney’s greatest ever work – it can, and should, be watched by those of all ages. The story is of a young cub, Simba, who is heir to his father’s throne, but when his nefarious uncle (Scar) murders his father (Mufasa), he runs of feeling guilty. He unites with two bubbly and humorous characters, Timon and Pumba, a Meerkat and a Warthog respectively, and enjoys a care-free youthful existence in the wild jungle, incognizant to the fact that his uncle Scar is ruling the Kingdom with an iron fist.

When Simba one day sees his father’s spirit in the heavens, instructing him to return home to re-claim his rightful throne, he leaves and defeats his dictator of an uncle. The story incorporates elements from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, ancient mythology and explores themes like good vs evil, guilt and redemption, the importance of courage and the inevitability of death.

The Matrix

What if everything you believed was a lie? This is the basis for the epic science-fiction classic The Matrix. The film explores the ideas of reality vs illusion, much like the platonic philosophy did, and asks whether we are actually unknowingly imprisoned.

Keano Reeves, who plays Thomas Anderson, is a computer hacker trapped in a dreamworld built by sinister machines to control human minds. Neo, Thomas Anderson’s alias ID, receives a message on his computer monitor one day reading: “Wake up Neo. The Matrix has you.” The idea of ‘waking up’ denotes that the matrix has people in a state of somnolent sleep who are blind to the truth.

Morpheus, played by Laurence Fishburne, sees Neo as a messianic figure who can restore humanity’s freedom and so does Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss). Neo, however, is dubious and must face Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) to discern whether it’s true.

Law Abiding Citizen

Although this film came out only a few years ago, it is definitely worthy of the title ‘classic’. Don’t be put off by the beginning of the film if you’re watching it for the first time, it’s gruesome and seems unnecessary, but it actually sets the scene for the rest of the film. Gerard Butler, who plays the protagonist, sets out to seek revenge for the two psychopaths who molest his wife and kill his young daughter. After being told that they may never face justice, he decides himself to inflict the worst types of punishments on the criminals who have destroyed his life.

The film is cleverly written and has a twist that most people wouldn’t guess. The themes embedded within the film are synonymous with a lot of the problems we face in society. The idea that criminals do not face justice will be testified to by those families who have suffered at the hands of rape, murder or burglary. Furthermore, what happens to the psyche of a person when oppressors shatter their lives is explored. The best quote in the film has to be: “I’m gonna bring the whole ******* diseased, corrupt temple down on your head. It’s gonna be biblical.”

Omar Shahid

Follow me on Twitter: @omar_shahid

An interview with the talented artist: Francis Joseph

Francis Joseph, 20, is an up and coming artist whose unique drawing ability has catapulted him from drawing for just friends, to illustrating album covers for MC’s. His story includes: struggling at school with his studies but realising he possesses a hidden talent for art – which he believes is a “God given talent” – he now has his work sold in Oxford Street.



1) Why do you draw and why is it important to you?

I draw because I feel that I have a natural affinity with art; drawing is like second nature to me. Give me a pen and paper, and I’m just going to have to start doodling. I’ve always been a terrible student academically, even since primary school. I just thank God my parents were so supportive. It seemed the only subject that really grabbbed me and I was good at was art; since I was young it was the only way I could honestly express myself.

I think I have an overactive mind of which my wild imagination is fuel, you can see it with the drawings I come up with, some good, some bad, bad as in I would get in trouble at class for drawing them…

2) Does your art have any particular message?

It depends, I tend to just freestyle, I’ll draw an object, an animal or a person and quite often, a sentence or word. Depending on how it comes out, I get an idea of what to add to it and it just comes together naturally.

3) Which artists inspire you?

I cant list them all, mainly comic book artists and Japanese comic cartoonists (Mangakas) like: Mike Mignola, Jim Lee, and my personal favourite- Yoshirio Togashi. I love his dark style and line work, it really inspires me. I try not to let my inspirations influence my work too much visually, I try and keep my own style so you know its my work straight away.

4) Do you have anything big planned at the moment?

I have quiet a lot of plans lined up at the moment, my art is up for display at Urban Outfitters in Oxford Street, my piece ”Was it All a Dream?!” is being sold as a limited print of 100 copies. I plan to draw about 20 new pieces at least before the end of the year.

I’m working on some Illustrations for musicians to use for album/mixtape work. I’ve finished art for east London rapper Kaos’s follow up mixtape to Heir to the Throne and recently finished illustrating album cover art for Margers release KushWave the Album coming out soon.

I’m continuing to develop a story I began two years back, I plan to create a comic out of it called “Sirius the Wishing Star”, this is a comic I want to start drawing out from once I’ve graduated.

Also, I’m starting up my own clothing label, fusing my art with clothing, Im aiming to launch it before the year ends, this is something I’m really excited about.

5) Do you work from imagination or life experiences?

Everything I work on is from my imagination, its all pure fantasy.

 

 

 

 

6) You seem to draw the same girl in many of your pictures, who is she or what does she represent?

Beauty. But also, what is hidden behind the beauty! Looks can be deceiving and the women in my drawings may seem beautiful but they hide there true selfs inside. I like to show strong women who are at the same time beautiful, my piece “She’s Coming” is the best example of that…

 

 

 

7) Does any of your art have a deeper meaning?

Yes, each of my work has a distinct narrative. Usually, I add a phrase or simply a word and that becomes the theme of that particular piece. What brings all of my pieces together is the style, I’d say my work is a bit dark and as such they all link all my separate pieces together. It’s a matter of how people interpret it, I’ll have work up and people will come up with different ideas of what it means to them, its really interesting!

8)Where do you see yourself in ten years time?

I see myself just living life to its fullest, with my wonderful family, my amazing girlfriend and closest friends, I want to be able to have a biillion reasons to be happy and smile. Work wise, I see my art being successful, and all of my future projects to be running smoothly. I plan for my clothing line to be running smoothly and my comic to be published. I want to do a lot of charity work too !

by Omar Shahid

Follow me on Twitter: Omar Shahid

Follow Francis:@TeamPaccuJayiDS

Understanding The Paradox of Hell and Judging Other People

The idea of Hell is a very human problem. For theists, it seems to go against God’s love and mercy. But for some, it is a necessary punishment for those who have constantly transgressed. Many problems are raised, especially, by the idea of eternal damnation. What need is there for God to burn people eternally? Does anyone really deserve to be punished for eternity?

I, personally, believe that it is so much deeper than what we think. When God speaks to us in human language, about something that is metaphysical and transcends our universe, we can only think about the idea very narrowly and without any real, piercing insight. Many theists believe that those who deny God’s existence will go to Hell, but again it is much deeper than that. There are different permutations of disbelief. Many people are deeply spiritual and although there is some belief in their heart, at the tip of their consciousness, they, for some reason or another, refuse to believe in God.

Furthermore, it is important that we neither condemn anybody -  or say they are ‘evil’ – neither do we have a right to say ‘such and such’ are going to Hell. Nobody knows what is in people’s hearts and we don’t know what God’s divine and perfect judgement will be. Life is far too complex and is replete with far too many variables for us to make wild assumptions. We don’t know whether people have been assaulted as children and whether they have been psychologically damaged as a result, neither do we know the tests other people are faced with and what their personality predisposes them towards. Therefore, we can say yes, we can judge the outwardly i.e. people’s actions, but never judge somebody as a human being because we do not know their inward state. Maybe they are closer to God then you.

As for those who are certain there is a God, we need to accept that we may never understand these paradoxes. But this is why the day of judgement is something to look forward to, it’s the day when the secrets of the unseen world will become manifest.

Islam Exposed: Not To be Read By Non Muslims

If you are not a Muslim and you are reading this, you are either a) curious to see what this is about, b) an obstinate person who deliberately opposes instructions, or c) somebody who accidentally came across this. Either way, I warn you to read no further.

Okay, now that I know just Muslims are reading this, I can start to be open and expose the truth about this religion.

Life is short, and before we know it, our soul will be extracted from our body to return to its Lord. What we do in this transient sojourn will determine our ultimate fate. Knowing this, we all seem to be in a somnambulant state – we are sleeping. Islam is a religion about waking up, to wake up to the opportunity of life.

As we know, every baby is born with the fitrah, the natural disposition towards a belief in God. Humanity is in a state of heedlessness, totally oblivious to their innate dispositions. We are not allowed to realise our purpose because we are fed with junk, quite literally, but our minds are also fed with constant mindless entertainment so that we remain in a state of sleep. So what do we do?

We must first wake up and realise Islam is the haqq, truth/reality. Before telling people about Islam, it is important to clarify to people the misconceptions expounded by those who hate Muslims. For example, Islam is the antithesis of a misogynistic religion, and that is why more women revert to the religion than men. We need to subvert the myth that Islam is a radical or extreme religion, and elucidate that any terrorist – who in the name of Islam commits a terrible crime – has not done so because of the religion, but because of their own foolishness. That the verses in the Quran and Hadith (teachings of the Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him) need to be contextualised and explained to us by exegetes.  And that Shariah Law is actually profoundly nuanced and is not as absolute as many think.

Once the misconceptions have been removed, the discourse can move on to the purpose of life. That we have not been created in this marvellous universe without a purpose. What is our purpose? The answer is simple. It is to fulfil our innate purpose which is to worship the Creator. Worshiping, however, does not merely mean bowing down in submission, but encapsulates a whole way of life: every good deed one does with a good intention is a form of worship.

Now that we come to understand our purpose, we should know the proof of the existence of God. Providing there is overwhelming evidence in the religion of Islam about the existence of God, we can say that there is indeed proof God exists. The evidence can be categorised into two: the Quran and the life of Muhammad pbuh. So what is the evidence?

The Quran being the Final Testament, which was revealed after the books given to Moses and Jesus, is, without doubt, a linguistic miracle. It was revealed at a time when the Arabs loved literature and prided themselves as being highly eloquent people. The Quran superseded everything they could do. Not only was it written in the most beautiful form, but unlike other books, it is free from any contradictions. Anybody who thinks otherwise has either not contextualised the verse or is misinformed. Furthermore, the challenge in the Quran to the whole of humanity to produce a book similar to it has never been matched.

The subsidiary miracles, which also appeal to the intellect, are the scientific miracles like the description of the human foetus in the womb (before the invention of the microscope) and many more, like the legislative miracle: there are no discrepancies between the legislation in the Quran and Hadith.

The life of Muhammad, peace be upon him, is also an evident miracle. From young, he was known as a truthful and sincere human being- this trait never left him. He was offered everything to give up his mission, but he never succumbed. If one looks at what the likes of Michael Hart, Gandhi, George Bernard Shaw and even the encyclopaedia Britannica says about this extraordinary man, it becomes clear that he was indeed a messenger from God.

Of course, many will still deny the veracity of our religion, but a Muslim’s role is not to convert anyone, but just to convey the message. If one accepts it or not, is down to their own volition.

Omar Shahid

Follow me on Twitter: @omar_shahid

Religion Has Failed, But So Has Atheism, Secularism & Capitalism

Let’s face it. The world is in a mess and nothing seems to be working. The reason religion is becoming more and more unpopular and is being replaced by materialistic systems like atheism, secularism and capitalism, is because of religious followers. The ‘followers’ of the world’s major religions can broadly be categorised into two: those who forward a distorted version of their religion, and those who aren’t doing anything to counter the distorted version put forward. Both are just as bad. Religion has failed to tame its followers, atheism has provided a shield of arrogance to atheists, secularism has stripped the world of a moral foundation and capitalism has promoted greed.  

Let me start with the failure of the religious. How can a Christian, Muslim or Hindu or any other religious follower, claim their religion is the correct one without understanding or studying the others? And when I say study, I don’t mean listening to your pastor, Imam or Guru, I mean study the religion yourself.   

Muslims need to understand the time in which they are living, and realise that their religion is compatible with any time and age. Just because it was revealed over 1400 years ago in the desert of Arabia, this does not mean that the religion can’t move with the times. The teachings remain the same, but our understanding of the teachings have to conform with the era in which we live. Muslims need to become more diplomatic, while using rationalism and science to propound their message. Muslims are so concerned about what other people are doing  they often neglect their own character and ego. In the pursuit of denouncing other Muslims - calling them names like ’kafir’ (non-believers) - they often end up renouncing their own faith by labelling people with names they have no right to. My advice to Muslims would be to rectify your own faults before worrying about others.

Christianity, like Islam, is a proselytising religion that calls for the word of God to be spread. But when radical Christians claim Jesus is humanities only saviour, and without believeing Jesus died on the cross for our sins we will end up in Hell, people become profusely put off the faith. I have a Christian friend who once said ‘I can do what I want because the Bible says I’m going to Heaven anyway.’ It is this sort of hubris which is grossly off putting to those of other faiths. Christianity is a great religion which provides hope and exudes love. My advice would be to understand the true teachings of Jesus and understand the Bible in its true context.

The terms Judaism and Zionism have become synonymous, when, in fact, they are the antithesis of each other. The obvious difference between the two is that one is a great religion, which, at its core, has a set of moral principles, and the other, is an ideology bent on ethnic cleansing and the stealing of land. My advice would be for Jews to vehemently disassociate themselves from Zionism (if they are against it) so that the two terms are no longer conjoined.

The less proselytising religions like Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism don’t have the same problems. The only issue is that we hardly hear what these religions are actually about. People need to familiarise themselves with the beautiful teachings of many of the Hindu scriptures like the Bhagvad Gita and with Hinduism’s essential teachings of spirituality and harmony. Most Sikhs are genuine, harmless and devout people who just like to do bhangra and drink alcohol all the time (just joking).  Sikhism, in fact, actually combines many of the best traits from the Islamic and Hindu faith and therefore is profoundly prudent. When one hears the word Buddhism, it naturally commands respect. True Buddhists live a life of sacrifice and peace with themselves and others, but interestingly, remain quiet on the issue of whether there is a God or an afterlife. Furthermore, their scriptures are a deep ocean of knowledge which, after a lifetime of study, will still elude the most erudite of scholars.

When I say religion has a problem, I don’t mean it in a literal sense. I mean the followers of the faith have problems; often quite profound and deeply psychological. The problem arises when the ‘followers’ use their religion as a tool to further their own selfish agendas. People often fight in the name of their religion when they don’t even understand the essence of their religion, and even worse, don’t understand the religion of those whom they are fighting. It’s oxymoronically stupid.  

All religious believers need a more holistic and pluralistic understanding of their religion. We need to understand the essence of our own religions before trying to preach every intricate detail of our religion to others. Often, rationalists, skeptics, agnostic and atheist thinkers claim to be open minded but then assert their open mindedness gives them a natural superiority. The non- religious need to understand that religion is not based on ignorance but on the intellect and it is only the followers who use the former and not the latter.

One humanity.

Omar Shahid

Follow me on twitter: @omar_shahid

The Secret We’re Not Suppose To Know: The Extraodinary Power of The Human Mind

‘Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve’,  Napoleon Hill once said. It is believed that we only use 10% of our brain’s potential during the course of our lives (many though, would dispute this). So what about the remaining 90%? Why don’t we use it? What stops us from using it? The simple answer is: us.

When we are born and in our early years, we have no inhibitions; we do things without fear of reprisal. Upon birth, we enter a new phase of life. Our first existence was with our Creator, in another dimension unknown to us. We then descend into our mother’s womb and descend again, upon birth, into the world. When we are born, we are pure, innocent, but we soon forget our purpose. Every baby is born with innate knowledge, but it escapes us so that we can start our journey. Our purpose is to rediscover it. Interestingly, the Arabic word for ‘human’ comes from the root word ‘to forget’.

We soon become engrossed in our worldly affairs, in things, which frankly, have no real importance. We are never really given the opportunity to use our mind. But it is because we are trained, indoctrinated if you like, to busy ourselves with trivial matters.

No one really knows how powerful the mind is. What we do know is that our mind is capable of curing the body from ‘incurable’ illnesses and creating, inventing and designing things that change the world. Look up people like Chao Lu who memorised 67,890 digits of Pi without error, Kim Peek (pictured left) who knew every zipcode in America and could read two pages of a book at once (0ne with each eye) in 8 seconds with 98% accuracy and Ramon Campayo, who can memorise 17 numbers in half a second. True, these are all to do with the memory, but it shows some of the things we are capable of.

If we knew how powerful we actually are, the world would be a totally different place. Tyrants can only oppress their people if they keep the majority uneducated, poor and in conflict with one another. These three things keep people in a state of heedlessness and more concerned about survival rather than using our mind to challenge the status quo.

In developed countries where we live under ‘democracy’ we are constantly kept entertained with food, music, TV, films, billboards etc and we therefore become trained to use our mind merely for the pursuit of hedonistic pleasure. If one doesn’t believe in God or an afterlife, then sure, there is nothing wrong with the pursuit of hedonistic pleasure. But again, this is the trap we fall for. The secular society of today diverts us from realising our real purpose.

So how do we start using our minds for its intended purpose. Well, fundamentally, everything that exists is comprised of energy. We too are made up of energy. If we can use our mind to channel this energy in a positive way, positive things are bound to happen. Why? Because positive energy attracts positive energy. And this is why it is important to discard negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones.

But then again, this could all be a load of nonsense. There’s only the here and now. There’s no God, it’s just a big fairy tale. There’s no afterlife, it’s just something to appease our fear of death. Let’s all just carry on as we are…

Omar Shahid

Follow me on Twitter: omar_shahid

My Discussion With P Money about The Music Industry & Grime

I had an interesting talk with P Money today in Nandos, Lewisham. Ay, how did Omar get talking to P Money in Nandos-you’ll be asking? I was one of the winners of a competition held by Live Magazine. The criteria to enter was: ‘Tell us something interesting you’ve done recently’; so I told them about my blog. They happened to quite like it and selected me as one of the five winners.

I went to the lunch not really knowing what P (Paris) Money was going to be like. There is no doubt that he is extremely talented in what he does, but I wasn’t sure if I would like somebody who raps about violence and ‘his anaconda’. I was pleasantly surprised to find that P was soft spoken, humble and lacked pretentiousness.

So I started chatting to him and asking him questions. He told me about his upbringing and the environment he was brought up in. How he never involved himself with gangs and violence – but was often caught up in it because of the area he lived in. Consequently, this has had a huge influence on his music and lyrics. He tells me how he doesn’t rap about what people want, but about what’s going on in his mind and what is immediately affecting him. “But what if somebody offers you a multi-million pound contract to become commercial, but they tell you to veer away from your natural style of music, are you telling me you would say no to this?” His answer to my question was immediate and certain: “I wouldn’t accept it. I don’t do music for the money.”

We then talk about the grime scene. “Grime is just as good as it use to be, it just doesn’t have the same support. It’s because people who were around back in the day have grown up and have matured now.” P then goes on to complain about how radio stations feel reluctant to play grime, and feel more safe playing commercial music- even though the lyrics are often worse and more negative.

“There are people at the top who control what we listen to. People like Lady Gaga aren’t born like that; why would somebody want to dress up in a meat costume? They’re told to dress like that and they are told what type of music to produce.”

Before meeting him I had a lot of respect for his MC’ing ability, but now I have respect for him as a person. He seems to be grounded and despite the sudden popularity and success in his life, he is probably the same person as he was before. Salute.

Follow P Money on Twitter: @KingPMoney

Follow me on Twitter: @omar_shahid