New Music Tuesday: Songstress, Ihsan Makes the Urban Go Green

Songwriter, vocalist and eco-activist with New York based Urban Go Green, Ihsan Muhammad, has always known her voice was destined for greatness. At the tender age of five, Ihsan was making up her own songs and getting people to sing along. Today, she uses her powerful vocal skills and lyrical expertise to create a soundtrack for change in her world and her community. As part of our New Music Tuesdays series, Checktheweather.net sat down with Ihsan to discuss how she's using her talent to advocate for Green Jobs, not Jails and help urban America Go Green.

Ihsan Live 2003-2005


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Every movement requires music and I wanted to be a part of the creation of music that would inspire the mood and the movement.

CTW: When did you start singing?

Ihsan: I started singing at five. I was on a boat traveling down the Nile river in Egypt and I made up this song and everybody on the boat started singing my song with me. I became a professional singer in 2001 and it became somewhat meditative for me. It [singing] gave me something else to do with my voice. At the time I starting taking singing seriously I was working as a youth mentor and I noticed that singing was oftentimes more effective in getting my message across than talking.

CTW: What inspired you to write your two Green songs, Go Green Get Green and Ain't Goin' Let it Burn?

Ihsan: Go Green Get Green came from reading more and more about the green movement, learning about what it was and looking at it as an opportunity for our communities to go back to sustaining and supporting ourselves like we used to during the 40's and 50's. I want to communicate this movement as a way to healthfully sustain ourselves.

Ain't gonna let it burn is a call and response song inspired by "the Roof is on Fire" It[ain't gonna let it burn] makes the audience feel accountable for the wellness of the planet. It's a little more "angsty". I wanted to make a song that would make the audience want to do something. If you don't do anything than you are aiding and abetting. Every movement requires music and I wanted to be a part of the creation of music that would inspire the mood and the movement.

CTW: What is your vision of success for the Green Movement?

Ihsan: Artist who are activists tend to be marginalized but I think we can be helpful in the creation of a movement. My goal is that we will be able to get to a point where we reach a critical mass of awareness of what the Green Jobs movement is about. I have brothers in jail and I hope the energy I have created will help them get jobs once they get out. I see Green Jobs as redemptive for all who have contributed to demise of our culture whether they wanted to or not. They can give back in ways that can make them feel good about themselves and make them strong again.

CTW: Your vision is amazing do you have any last words for the readers of Checktheweather.net?

Ihsan: I want to commend ya'll for what you're doing building up checktheweather.net. This is a youth movement and we are the ones making it happen. We are all connected whether we feel it or not.

Want to hear Ihsan live in concert? She will be performing this weekend, July 11th along with Dead Prez, Green Lantern and the So-So Glo's at the City Sol Concert at Stuyvesant Cove Park in New York City. You can also visit her myspace page myspace.com/ihsanmusic to listen to and download some of Ihsan's hottest tracks.

Shouts out to Urban Go Green doing it up in Harlem! visit their page here