#salloum

I live near the city center. right up from what's considered the "old city". whenever the Israeli forces come into Nablus they like to post up in the city center so as to have control. and right near the city center is the old city, filled with alleyways and shops. that's where the Israeli's fear entering because it's a cramp and intricate maze. during the day it's packed of course, with shops and food places doing business as usual. but at night everything is shut down, and when you walk it , you really get a feel for it. cats are every 50 steps, eating from the remnants of food and litter from that day’s market transactions. and the lighting is faint. and you see posters of martyrs every 20 steps you take. it's nice. but eerie. an authentic experience. you can see holes in the walls and doors where bullets once entered / ricocheted. there's this one guy, whose photo is sprawled across the downtown area of Nablus. he was well regarded and well respected as a fighter, a sharpshooter and strategic leader. about 4 days ago in the afternoon i was strolling down the street mid-afternoon when a kid amidst the traffic on his bike stopped and asked me what time it was. then yesterday, as i'm hanging out right outside my grandmothers apartment home with a kid who runs his convenient store, a kid is there with his little remote control car toy just hanging around us as he's friends w/ the other kid who runs his father's convenient store. one thing leads to another and i look up the street at a large photo of 2 martyrs that are hanging up, and i ask the convenient store kid the name of the leader on the left side, mentioning that his photo - i see it everywhere..,. he replied, "that's his father", pointing to the kid with the remote control car. it turns out this was the same kid on the bike who asked me what time it was days previous.

My t-shirt reads “Free Palestine” in Hebrew, courtesy of www.AmericaHates.us.

i tell ppl who ask me about Islam: want to know what islam is about? practice being a muslim for 1 month straight. pray 5x a day. read Qur'an at least 20 minutes a day. listen to islamic lectures by hamza yusuf or tariq ramadan or other imams for at least 1 hour each day.... bam. before you know it, you know what sort of msg and meaning and life energy islam gives you... want to learn about buddhism and what it means? do the same thing, and practice the religion for a whole month or two....  i mean, makes sense... right? it is so practical. ppl say islam or christianity is a religion of this or that... well how about we stop all the speculation and you practice the religion truly for what it asks of it's followers personally... then you will see first-hand how it changes the heart, and mind. the effects it has upon the spiritual and material self.......... some religions are for some ppl. others for others. and none for some. to each their own. journal your experience and feelings day by day, or week by week. that will give you your brightest reflections on the impact such tradition has on the self (whether it be Islam, Buddhism, Satanism, etc). Form follows function.

it's been real New York. New york, new york! Half the challenge i was expecting. I pushed myself more than the city pushed me. And the city pushed me more when i pushed myself to the brink. On two occasions i almost found myself in financial squalor. Physically i pushed myself. Spiritually i experienced love and the indefinite letting go of such shackles; accomplishment, persistence, and achievement for my first self-established business. I was fired from two jobs for being myself. I survived using my two skills of hip-hop showmanship and giving tennis lessons. I put myself in the eyes of strangers, overcoming the mass-mind's doubts and judgments, earned love from the disenfranchised who always gave a buck when they were one's with the least to have, and yet most importantly genuinely connected heart-to-heart in the form of sincere due regards and praise for the boy's talent. I made $377+ busking the city over a 4-month period, performing about 3x a week. I made $2,500+ giving tennis lessons (SulayTennis.com) over a 3-month period. I spent 5 months in NYC. Never receiving a parking ticket, #hamduillah. I sharpened my art of persistence. To not burn bridges no matter what events soured relations. I experienced The fucked up culture of judgment, of a material driven society and environment. The realness of NYC absorbing mental energy and bringing mental illness to mofuckas having experienced episodes of lack in myself. It was about The test, i came for the test. My NYC Strategic Plan and Vision Statement from day one read,

“Whether i succeed or not is beyond the point... I want to face the challenge of NYC.... to build my character through trial and error. Through fear and failure. To elevate to a stature I've never felt before through my  perseverance, persistence, and courageous resilience.” - suleiman

In the end, I think living in the real world and yet maintaining and holding high ideals, is the road toward greatness. No matter who you are or what your occupation is, to quote my close brother and roommate, my jewish New Yorker brother who eloquently introduced me to his unique, well rounded, wise, and valuable perspective on life, as he so often said upon waking up from sleep as gracefully as-if amidst conversational dialogue in wide-awakeness just minutes before:     "What's important is how well you feel about what you did. Not how other people feel about how you did. you know..”  -Chris Jacobs

S/o to the middle eastern vendors for the inexpensively good-tasting chicken and rice meals that delivered the appetite's wants; the Bengali mesjids that provided a station for wudu, introspection, and recuperation; the NYU MSA for the free meals during Ramadan and the sometimes stellar khutba's; Sara for the experience and spiritual challenge and indirect strengthening of thyself through the ebb and flow of what was; and Universe for the opportunities, the blessings, the serendipitous openings of doors and the timely closure of an entropic and reinvented love. To Iram, for the blessed friendship and being the unique warrior. To Shahn for sustaining my survival unbeknownst to him in such a consistent manner as a result of his own discipline and focus to become the best tennis player possible. To Derek Pankaew for the opportunity and open-heartedness and genuine support when you were levels advanced. Maybe i'll see New York again. I hope to meet Atlanta; #1 in tennis and the epicenter of the rap industry.  I'm headed to Palestine. My goal: to evermore manifest thy vision for self. . to evolve. to surely begin another chapter. . . Special shoutout to Deeksha. And to Bumble Bee Tennis. Shoutout to Tareq from AHUS; For all who are reading my blog post right here and now, feel free to use the promo code “suleiman” if you buy from this dope clothing company, based out of Brooklyn -- www.AmericaHates.us. And last but not least, much love and thanks to Tina Valentina for her hospitality, cordiality, and inexpensive rental cost of $400/month (utilities included) in Kensington, BROOKLYN.

Stretch yourself. Push the limits....Most achievement involves some leaps of faith. This is how human beings grow.. by stretching. If you keep doing what you've always done you'll keep getting what you've always got. If you continually look for bigger challenges, then you grow. Stretching means moving out of your comfort zone. It is important to have big dreams so you can grow into them.  The bigger the challenge is, the greater the reward.

More clips of me performing in the NY City underground:

https://instagram.com/p/BXTyAeulqTM/

https://instagram.com/p/BVhvpTYFa3H/

https://instagram.com/p/BVn2UNtFCiJ/

https://instagram.com/p/BV5_fDmFGDm/

In the end, it's not about the money. It's about the story-line.

I released this mix-track like 3 years ago.. Hip-hop at it's finest - freedom and leadership rhetoric unto boom bap dope productions

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvnRmf_fE-U

 . . . There's always two sides to a story. Free-Will is the true force of the land. The Creator's Law encompasses all. Yin and yang, sin and grace All One in the same.That's what it really is.Always has been. Always will be. Know where you stand and you'll reach your utmost insofar as your lens extends to the truths, umbrella'd under the Truth. It ain't a fluke who the greatest are #EpitomePerennialSotA's will get theirs too. DMind's got that fiar. What was, was. Steady mobbin......Intention is the language of the universe. not math.

Why should you read or listen to Salloum? I bring an honest and unfiltered perspective marked by Truth/reasoning, unity, and self-commanding respect.

Why should you believe in what Salloum has to say? It's based on virtues & goodness. It will bring a rich value and sense of awareness to your world. The journey is linear; the sooner you tune in, the greater the profundity you'll meet.