WATCH: The Story of Ahmed Mohamed Told Via Trap Music and Magical Realism

By Sameer Rao Jun 01, 2016

Muslim-American high school student Ahmed Mohamed captivated the nation last year when he was arrested for bringing a homemade clock—which officials suspected was a bomb—to school. Multimedia artist and activist Jamel "Jam No Peanut" Mims channeled inspiration from Mohamed’s case for the trap rap track, "Ahmed Mohamed." 

"I like electronics, for my science project, made me an alarm clock, suitcase from the closet/they got me in my NASA tee, the audacity, wouldn’t go down if I was a different shade or opacity," Jam No Peanut raps on the song. The video for "Ahmed Mohamed," which you can see above, features a Mohamed lookalike as he walks school halls with support from breakdancing students. Jam No Peanut described the music video in a statement emailed to Colorlines:

The video, shot by Alex Seel (Al Jazeera, Borderlands) is a re-telling of Ahmed Mohamed’s arrest—with elements of magical realism that blur the lines between documentary footage, satire and music video.

The music video forms one part of a bigger multimedia project (also titled "Ahmed Mohamed") that includes "augmented reality features" and "an interactive ‘Fight The Power’ Final Exam about police terror." The MC debuted the project in New York City last Wednesday (May 25). 

Jam No Peanut previously garnered attention when, as he described in a Medium post, he went on trial in May for "climbs on statue" charges stemming from his arrest during the #RiseUpOctober anti-police brutality protests in New York. 

Check out the "Ahmed Mohamed" video above.