Guardian interview with Immortal Technique

Felipe Andres Coronel, aka Immortal Technique, is more than just an underground hip-hop legend – he's an activist, humanitarian and a revolutionist. Born in Peru and raised in Harlem, New York, the 34-year-old has struck a chord with those seeking an alternative voice in hip-hop. He represents a thorn in the side of the mainstream with his messages about class struggle, religion, government and institutional racism.

Where does the anger in your music come from?
I think it's righteous fury. If someone shot your mother you'd be angry, right? But would you be wrong for being angry? No. I've heard people criticise me for the most ridiculous things, calling my music abrasive. If you're troubled by the words I speak, then you should probably hang yourself because the world is going to tear you apart or is too real for you to accept. I'm not offended by fuck, shit, pussy, dick, motherfucker. You know what I'm offended by? I'm offended by seeing a child in Gaza who has had his skin burned off by white phosphorus. I'm offended by seeing the graves of civilians that are there because they are the "collateral damage" of a drone strike in Afghanistan or Pakistan. I'm offended when I see people perverting Christianity, Islam or Judaism for their own political purposes so they can justify taking land or killing people in the name of something.

Your lyrics contain a lot of religious messages. What does religion mean to you and do you follow a faith?
If I told people I was a Muslim, people wouldn't say: "Wow, that's wonderful you've found inner peace in your life by embracing Islam." They'd ask: "What type of Muslim are you? Are you one of them fucking Wahabbi, Sunnite, Salafi psycho-niggas? Are you down with Hezbollah and them?" If I told people I was Jewish, they'd ask: "Do you support Israel and do you support the colonisation of Palestine?" It's irrelevant whether you call yourself a Christian, Muslim or Jew because if you don't reflect that in your life, you aren't that at all. I have always been hounded by people about it; people try and pry it out of me. I believe in God and have a faith that's very personal to me. That faith is between me and God. We have polarised religion, rather than it being a personal reflection of your relationship with God and how you communicate with God. I'd rather be friends with a good atheist than a bad religious person. Your religion is suppose to ennoble you, but if all it makes you do is become contemptuous of other people, or make you say other people are going to hell, your religion has failed you, or rather, you have failed your religion.


read the full interview here