Fun-Da-Mental - Political Approach

Political Approach

Fun-Da-Mental are an explicitly political and controversial band with an outspoken concern with social justice (particularly in regard to Britain's treatment of its Asian and Afro-Caribbean citizens) and have been described as "articulat(ing) eclectically a kind of militant Islamic-influenced, pro-Black anti-racist identity politics." The group takes pride in its militant stance, stating "We are hard politically, uncompromising musically and we won't be led by marketing angles. We try to give people a bit of confidence. People have to start educating themselves, respecting themselves." Because of their political stance, the group have earned the label "the Asian Public Enemy."

"We have always been about information and not messages - discussion and debate as opposed to ranting. It's always been about destroying all the stereotypical ideas about us and others and fighting against the preconceived misconceptions of a host society that has been poisoned by the past."

The themes of Fun-Da-Mental raps and spoken samples are frequently concerned with Asian and British Asian issues, often combined with broader issues of the problems of white hegemony and generalised racism as directed against non-white people. The name of the group itself deliberately invokes the idea of Islamic fundamentalism, while the hip-hop-inspired hyphenation implies and indicates another purpose, that of combining pleasure ('fun') with thought ('mental').

Sometimes criticised for writing "extreme" or "hard left-wing" lyrics, the band's stated aim is to try to educate the British youth about the presence of Islam and about the causes of extreme behavior. Fun-Da-Mental frequently sample the voices and rallying speeches of historically significant protest leaders from the past such as Gandhi, Malcolm X, Louis Farrakhan and the Black Panthers. The group have also promoted the merits of militancy and self-defense through the lyrics of their songs.