LOS ANGELES, 10 February 2003 — Gangsta rapper Napoleon has a new name this week: Pilgrim.
The rapper, whose real name is Mutah Wasin Shabazz Beale, is joining more than two million other Muslims in making the annual Haj to Makkah.
Beale says the trip to Saudi Arabia symbolizes his emergence from a world of drugs and violence.
“I didn’t care about living or dying,” says the 25-year-old, who lives with his partner and three-year-old son in Santa Clarita. “Now I recognize how beautiful life is. I love to have another day to pray to Allah.”
Yesterday was the start of the five-day annual pilgrimage. Although Beale’s trip comes at a time of heightened tensions in the Middle East, the possibility of war does not frighten him.
“I found Allah, I’m not worried,” Beale said. “And I’ve been in many Jersey neighborhoods worse than any war.”
Beale, a member of the rap group Outlawz and a protege of the late Tupac Shakur, is best known for an incident at MTV’s 20th anniversary special in 2001 when, during a rehearsal, he grabbed the microphone from Sean “Puffy” Combs and started a shoving match.
Beale’s transformation began two years ago in a North Hollywood recording studio. Record producer Mikal Kamil said he saw the rapper with a malt liquor bottle in one hand and a marijuana cigarette in the other.
“He was a beast, a barbarian,” Kamil said. “But he also impressed me as a leader who could get people to move in any direction.”
Kamil said he began introducing Beale to his faith, sharing scripture and prayers and offering advice based on Islamic teachings.
During Ramadan in 2001, Beale observed the month-long fast and gave up alcohol, which is forbidden to Muslims.
“That broke me,” said Beale, who started attending mosque prayer services regularly. “I was still doing some wild stuff but I was getting closer and closer to God. You feel it when God wants you to do something.” (AP)
