For students like me, Black and Brown, we grew up embracing Black music whether that meant Gospel, hip-hop, rap, or R&B. Personally, my twin and I enjoyed hip-hop from the 90s, listening to artists like Lauryn Hill, Sista Souljah, and Arrested Development. Unfortunately, most rap and hip-hop artists engage in exploitation and dehumanization, particularly of Black and Brown women. Generally, finding uplifting, positive, and powerful music has been quite a journey for us. Luckily, early last spring semester, my twin and I discovered this group who happened to be Black twin artists. Aint Afraid is a rising musical duo performing hip-hop, spoken word, and R&B. The 22-year old Mulsim twin sisters, Sakinah and  WiZdumb — who are often referred to as Straingth and WiZdumb — were born in Baltimore, though they have spent most of their lives in Detroit. 

They have always been involved in the music world, as their mom was an artist herself. They have been performing in their hometown since they were young, but it was not until around June of 2020 when they made their debut and started to go viral on TikTok. 

I remember first listening to Rover and Benz  and sharing this song with my sister. I began to watch and follow them on Spotify and Youtube. I was in awe at all of the similarities that my sister and I seemingly had with this amazing duo. They are so humble and authentic in telling their story through their music. I loved the important topics they chose to write and sing about. They explained in a podcast interview with TMZ Verified that they have so many lived experiences within being Black, Muslim, and women, which is the epitome of intersectionality. Having a single mother raise them and their siblings, as well as living in poverty, informed their intentionality in making music that not only relates to multiple audiences but also uplifts them. 

Aint Afraid stays true to their faith and to the main focus of hip-hop, which is creating socially conscious music, they explained in an interview with GQ. “Hip-hop, in its essence, has a strong message of uplifting the people and keeping the history of time.”

Of course, with their success, there was a wave of praise, but also hate, which the twins navigate by being empowered rather than following the pressure of others.  When asked about overcoming the challenges of the music industry and not being accepted into certain communities, they responded, “Being Black Muslim women navigating this industry, we feel like first and foremost we are authentically ourselves.” They stand tall and are constantly proud of who they are. “We dress the way we want. If you want to deal with it, deal with it. If you don’t want to deal with it, don’t deal with it.” The twins have released two albums, their most recent collection titled “Heavy Guarded Heart,” but their work goes beyond their art. They collaborated with the SPOT project in an effort to build schools in Gambia; they raised funds particularly for girls between the ages of six and fifteen. The sisters are multi-talented and extremely humble. We, especially the young Black sistas, can’t wait to see what their future holds.