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@eman_elawad

Rap initially stands for “rhythm and poetry”. In the 1980s, it was used as a way of depicting harsh realities all while criticizing oppression and violence. Artists like Grandmaster Flash, with his song “The Message”, shed light on the harsh conditions that people lived in. However, rap came to be perceived as a genre of music which promotes crime, drugs and sex. A lot of rappers criticize this, such as J Cole, Kendrick Lamar, etc. And there are also rappers who use Gangsta Rap (like NWA) to depict their reality. Sometimes, it seems as if they are glorifying crime. However, Ice Cube, a member of NWA, claimed that when he mentions violence in his songs he is only doing that to paint a picture and to illustrate the reality that many people live in. Ice Cube even compares his music to journalism. Sadly, although there are lots of rappers who make conscious music, many mainstream rappers (like Gunna, Future, Young Thug, Drake, etc) glorify sex, crime and the consumption of drugs without actually criticizing oppression. These rappers also say horrendous things about women, depicting them merely as sexual objects. This causes people to view rap music as something that promotes crime and violence.

This is what I meant when I said that rappers depict themselves as criminals. I did not want to claim that rap music as a whole is criminal. I was only stating that many mainstream rappers claim to be criminals, even when they aren’t. In some way, these specific artists are glorifying violence.

The search for "authentic food" has been a frequent and animated topic of discussion among Iranians at various gatherings. This recurring conversation within the Iranian diaspora made me reflect on the significance of "authentic" Persian cuisine and the deep cultural connection it represents. Having been in Canada for just a year, I still consider myself a new immigrant. Yet, alongside family, friends, and my city, the flavors of home-cooked meals are among the things I miss most. I vividly remember the joy I felt when I first tasted authentic Persian food at a friend’s gathering, about six months after I moved. The familiar taste transported me back home in a way that music or literature—my usual comforts—hadn’t managed to.

Gradually, I discovered Iranian cafes and restaurants in Montreal and found myself spending time there—studying, meeting friends, or simply being around something familiar—more often than anywhere else. Observing the atmosphere in these spaces, I saw firsthand how Persian food becomes a unifying force in exile, bringing people together. I noticed that many Iranian cultural or literary gatherings are held in these cafes, where people enjoy Persian tea after a good meal, a customary tradition in Persian culinary culture.

These cafes have become havens for Iranians seeking a sense of comfort; as many have told me, they feel as though they’re briefly back in Iran. This fleeting but familiar experience is unique to the act of sharing food, embodying what Mannur insightfully describes in Chapter 1 of Culinary Fictions, where food becomes central to creating a sense of home after immigration.

''They claimed that Islam was semi-civilized. Thus, they claimed that Africans were not uncivilized, but that Islam is what brought them to be (GhaneaBassiri, 49)''. I just realized I wrote the opposite of what I meant to write. Muslim Africans were seen as superior to pagan Africans since Islam brought them to be semi-civilized. I apologize for that mistake.