Songs of Protest: The Muslims Rewrite Frustrations With Racism And Police Brutality Into A Classic Song

The Muslims took one one of the most beloved pop punk anthems of the late ‘90s  and put their own political, punk rock spin on it.

Music is one of society’s best teachers. In Songs of Protest, writers analyze some of music’s greatest hits, using their findings to make sense of the world around them. 

Written by Miranda Garza

Photos courtesy of Jeff Hewit 

Fueled by rage and motivated by vindication, The Muslims have a lot to say and aren’t afraid of hurting any feelings. Hailing from North Carolina, the group is an all-queer, Black and brown, genre-bending punk trio consisting of Abu Shea on bass, FaraH BaHbaH on drums, and QADR on vocals and guitar. The Muslims combine their punk and Afropunk roots with hardcore, rap-rock, and venomous commentary on politics and personal experiences. Inspired by the uproar that followed Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration in 2017, the Muslims formed shortly after, intent on creating a vision of political change through music.

The group’s discography is unflinching, touching on topics such as gentrification, discrimination, and gun violence. In an interview with Indyweek, BaHbaH discussed how the band uses its music as a vessel for all the members’ rage and resentment, giving them a platform to say everything they’ve ever wanted to say without ever apologizing. Their lyrics are perfectly paired with instrumentals like no other, including ear-splitting guitar riffs, thrashing drums, and resonant bass lines. 

On its latest album, Gentrified Chicken, The Muslims released “Blink 9-11 (What’s My Race Again?),” a hard-hitting spin on blink-182’s “What’s My Age Again?” The two songs are distinct opposites, with the original encouraging immaturity and the latter centering on the more serious topics of racial injustice and police brutality. The first half of the title acknowledges the relentless xenophobia against Muslims after 9/11, and the second is based on the unfortunate reminder that one should take the perception of their race into consideration by means of self-preservation. The song begins with the familiar and fragmented guitar intro, before telling the story of a Black narrator whose weekend starts off with being racially profiled and denied entry into a club for wearing baggy jeans, when they were actually wearing tights. The narrator proceeds to express their harrowing reaction in the chorus, where they have a satirical epiphany and remind themselves that these racist experiences should come as no surprise, given the state of the world and continuous racial tensions:

That’s about time it f-ckin dawned on me

Nobody loves you when you’re Black and free

I shoulda checked the demographics first 

What the hell is wrong with me? 

After QADR rhetorically questions, "What's my race again?" the vocalist launches into the next chorus and goes into depth about racial double standards, drawing from the same satirical twist in the previous verse. This line adds great significance to the song’s musings on racial injustice because it emphasizes the narrator's hyper consciousness of how their race affects the way people interact with them. After their first encounter with uncivil, white police officers, the narrator’s frustration grows when they realize they're in a one-on-one situation with law enforcement and no witnesses are present ("I should have gone with at least one white friend"). This line underscores the drastic difference in how law enforcement treat white people compared to people of color: the narrator regrets not bringing "a white friend" because the friend's presence likely would have eliminated any of the officer's unjust suspicions. In the following line, the narrator refers to code switching, which is the act of changing one’s behavior and appearance in exchange for fair treatment or extended opportunities, implying that the narrator, who was "too drunk" to do so, would have changed their demeanor to appease the police officer in any other situation ("I'm too drunk to code switch, clearly he's a racist b-tch / What's my race again? What's my race again?). 

At the song’s third verse, where blink-182’s version originally featured a melodic guitar solo, The Muslims took a different approach. The track sonically shifts into pure chaos as each instrument abruptly increases in tempo and every note becomes louder and angrier. The storyline escalates when the narrator is pulled over again by another police officer for no justifiable reason. After the narrator talks back to the officer, they are quickly met with violence: 

I told that f-ckin cop

To kiss my f-ckin ass

He didn’t like my attitude

He pushed me in the grass

These lines explore how common it is for encounters between law enforcement and people of color to rarely end well, and sometimes, in brutality. QADR's rapid vocals are layered over another track filled with yells and pleads for the police officer to stop, bringing the disturbing nature of police brutality to life. 

The final chorus drips with venom and comes full circle as the narrator realizes the struggle of trying to live "Black and free" under systemic oppression, before ultimately deciding they should just embrace the stereotypes perpetuated against them:

And that’s about the time it f-ckin dawned on me

I can not live in white supremacy

I should really mug white people, that’s what they expect of me

I'm sure they will blame my race. What's my race again?

The false criminalization of Black identities has painted the community in an unjust light, and ultimately resulted in the wrongful killings of many. The narrator even goes as far as to predict that their race will be to blame for their actions, although the two are in no way related. 

Over the course of the song, the narrator realizes that their race is what people find so threatening, an epiphany that many Black people are inevitably faced with. The final lines of the song depict a third encounter with the police, this time at a store, after the narrator’s car broke down on the freeway. It is here that they fully anticipate a negative encounter, taking their past experiences into consideration:

That’s about the time the cops rolled up on me 

When I walked in to buy some antifreeze 

Because my car broke down on 85 

Clearly I deserve to die, though white people invented this 

What's my race again? What's my race again?

When identifying the stark contrast of themes in blink-182's version of the song compared to The Muslims', race presents itself as a defining factor in each. The narrator in "What's My Age Again?" has the privilege to be carefree and reckless because they aren't concerned with the anxieties of racial profiling or discrimination. However, The Muslims’ narrator faces the harsh reality of police brutality and mistreatment solely because of their race. Had blink's narrator been Black, the original song may have been very different. The contradictions between these two songs put into perspective how people with marginalized identities navigate the world compared to those who are white and cishet. 

The Muslims' reinvention of this blink-182 classic was essential, not only because the band's rendition perfectly embodies the rage the band explores in its music, but because the track draws heightened awareness to tough topics. The decision to reinvent such a popular song is significant because it gives listeners a familiar introduction to ideas that may be new to them, such as racial injustice and political activism. Songs like "Blink 9-11 (What's My Race Again?)" contain a message so powerful and teeming with the potential to educate and influence future generations of listeners all around the world. The Muslims took the notion of channeling one's anger into something productive to an entirely new level, and gathered a following that is as ready for political and social change as the queer, Black and brown punk rockers are.