Bilal Salaam is an American professor, art

historiographer Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term "historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific to ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

. He is currently a lecturer at Istanbul Ticaret University.

Education

Through a

Fanon Frantz Omar Fanon (, ; ; 20 July 1925 – 6 December 1961) was a French West Indian psychiatrist, political philosopher, and Marxist from the French colony of Martinique (today a French department). His works have become influential in the fiel ...

ian framework, Salaam’s historiographical Master of Arts dissertation entitled American Ventriloquism focused on specific genres of American art, not as products of

cultural appropriation Cultural appropriation is the adoption of an element or elements of one culture or cultural identity, identity by members of another culture or identity in a manner perceived as inappropriate or unacknowledged. Such a controversy typically ari ...

, but cultural projection, wherein majorities project their cultures on to minorities. His Master of Science in Education capstone employed Patricia Carini’s descriptive review as formulated vis a vis

Edmund Husserl Edmund Gustav Albrecht Husserl (; 8 April 1859 – 27 April 1938) was an Austrian-German philosopher and mathematician who established the school of Phenomenology (philosophy), phenomenology. In his early work, he elaborated critiques of histori ...

’s

phenomenology Phenomenology may refer to: Art * Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties Philosophy * Phenomenology (Peirce), a branch of philosophy according to Charles Sanders Peirce (1839� ...

through the lens of

Paulo Freire Paulo Reglus Neves Freire (19 September 1921 – 2 May 1997) was a Brazilian educator and philosopher whose work revolutionized global thought on education. He is best known for ''Pedagogy of the Oppressed'', in which he reimagines teaching ...

’s Pedagogy of Hope, Pedagogy in Process, Pedagogy of the Heart, Pedagogy of Freedom and Education for Critical Consciousness.

Musical career

As a graduate of

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

's Music Historiography Master of Arts program, and under the program's chair

Lewis Porter Lewis Robert Porter (born May 14, 1951) is an American jazz pianist, composer, author, and educator. Education and career Porter was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, but raised primarily in the Bronx in New York City. Porter decided at age 10 that ...

, Bilal Salaam's thesis
American Ventriloquism
framed

vocalese Vocalese is a style of jazz singing in which words are added to an instrumental soloist's improvisation. Definition Vocalese uses recognizable lyrics that are sung to pre-existing instrumental solos, as opposed to scat singing, which uses nonsen ...

through a theoretical deconstruction of

. Salaam's musical sound was described by Soul Culture magazine as "a left of centre, soulful "

Kid A ''Kid A'' is the fourth studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released on 2 October 2000 by Parlophone. It was recorded with their producer, Nigel Godrich, in Paris, Copenhagen, Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire. Departing from their ...

". Washington D.C.'s City Paper characterized "Heart Alarm", the single from Salaam's third album, ''Pedagogia Do Oprimido'', as "calm", "quirky", and "acquired". Kevin Nottingham called ''Bilal's Boulder'', a 2012 release, "seven tracks of sheer aural orgasms". Prior to recording as a solo artist, Bilal Salaam toured internationally with the Morgan State University Choir, and

Raheem DeVaughn Raheem DeVaughn (born May 5, 1975) is an American singer and songwriter. His debut album, '' The Love Experience'' (2005), reached No. 46 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 album chart. It featured the singles "Guess Who Loves You More" and "You". His ...

. Salaam's ''Swordlord'' series is inspired by

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

's swords.

Discography

Albums

Production

*''Ruff Drafts Volume 1'' (track: 8) – JapaNUBIA Musik 2006 *''Langue De Rasoir'' (tracks: 1, 3, 5 & 6) – Noohustle 2008 *''Peau Noire, Masques Blancs'' (all tracks) – Noohustle 2008 *''Dirty Soul Electric'' (track: 5) – BBE 2008 *''The Awakening'' (track: 5) – JapaNUBIA Musik 2008 *''Border Breaker'' (all tracks (vocal production)) – Ghetto Falsetto 2009 *''Before Taxes'' (track: 5) – Mello Music 2010 *''the Earn'' (track: 10 (vocal production)) – Mello Music 2011 *''Pedagogia Do Oprimido'' (all tracks) – Noohustle 2011 *''Bilal's Boulder'' (all tracks) – Noohustle 2012

Guest appearances

*''Thinking Back, Looking Forward'' (track: 5) – Neosonic Productions 2004 *''Ruff Drafts Volume 1'' (track: 4) – JapaNUBIA Musik 2006 *''Artifact Hearts Volume One'' (track: 15) – Ankh Ba 2006 *''93 Million Miles & Rising'' (track: 1) – Ankh Ba 2006 *''Cuba After Market'' (tracks: 1 & 12) – Humble Monarch Music/Rawkus 50 2007 *''Develop'' (track: 2A) – Soul Step 2007 *''Zen Badism'' (track: 9) – Freedom School 2008 *''Dirty Soul Electric'' (track: 5) – BBE 2008 *''Distraction City'' (track: 13) – Tasteful Licks 2008 *''Conflict'' (track: 4) –

Sy Smith Sy Smith is an American singer. Early life and career beginnings Smith grew up in Washington, D.C. She began her career leading a six-person Washington D.C. go-go band called "In Tyme". After graduating from Howard University with a bachelor ...

2008 *''Mental Liberation'' (track: 3) – Mello Music 2009 *''Random Joints'' (track: 3) – Low Budget 2009 *''Before Taxes'' (tracks: 5 & 16) – Mello Music 2010 *''the Earn'' (track: 5) – Mello Music 2011 *''Oakwood Grain'' (track: 2–10) – Humble Monarch Music 2012 *''The Many Districts of Soulful Shanghai'' (tracks: 3, 10 & 14) – Kindred Spirits 2012 *"Fleeting Physical" – (produced by Ya'koob of Sons of Yusuf) The Base Productions 2012 *''(Vibe)Rations'' (track: 11) – Iman Omari Music 2013 *''The Booth Shall Set You Free'' (track: 12) – Soul Spazm 2014 *''Persona'' (track: 16) – Mello Music 2015 *''Odds & Ends'' (track: 5) – Mello Music 2015 *''I'm The Bridge You Must Burn'' (track: 18) – Mello Music 2016 *''Being You Is Great, I Wish I Could Be You More Often'' (track: 14) – Mello Music 2017 *''Sunday Mass'' (track: 9) – Mello Music 2019 *''Straight Shot'' (track: 10) – Mello Music 2019

References

External links

Official website"Ecstatic Utterance", official videoBilal Salaam discography
at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salaam, Bilal Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Historiographers 21st-century American academics American lecturers 21st-century American rappers American music arrangers American electronic musicians 21st-century American composers Musicians from Newark, New Jersey Record producers from New Jersey Songwriters from New Jersey Morgan State University alumni University of the Arts (Philadelphia) alumni Rutgers University alumni